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What Makes Home Grown Cucumbers Bitter?
What Makes Home Grown Cucumbers Bitter?. Cucumbers frequently have a bitter taste whether grown at home or on commercial vegetable farms. Although the source of the bitterness has been isolated, it remains a mystery as to how to eliminate the sporadic bitterness that occurs in some cucumbers.
Cucumbers frequently have a bitter taste whether grown at home or on commercial vegetable farms. Although the source of the bitterness has been isolated, it remains a mystery as to how to eliminate the sporadic bitterness that occurs in some cucumbers.
Root of the Bitterness
Domestic cucumbers, like their wild cucumber cousins, contain cucurbitacin, a naturally occurring organic compound. Garden-variety cucumbers are bred to reduce the bitterness, but sometimes it occurs anyway. The bitter taste is normally most prevalent in the cucumbers' leaves, stems and roots but it sometimes spreads into the white flesh and seeds.
Contributing Factors
Cucumbers that have been underwatered or cultivated in unusually cold temperatures are more apt to be bitter. Oddly shaped cucumbers suffer from bitterness more than normally formed ones. Fertilizers and plant spacing may also affect the cucumber flavor.
Possible Serving Solutions
Since the bitterness is more common in the stem end of the cucumber, cut it from the opposite end. The bitter flavor should also dissipate toward the center of the cucumber near the seeds.
