Why rub the end of a cucumber

It is also more prevalent in the peel and in the light green area just beneath the peel — and less likely to be found in the deeper interior of the fruit. I read a quit satisfying answer on reddit.

This bitter compound is called cucurbitacin and it can be found in the skin of cucumber. This skin has microscopic tunnels for liquids to flow through. When you put the ends together, you create a seal between the flat parts. When you slide them, water tension causes the fluid to stick to itself and to the cucumber solid. This pulls a tiny bit of fluid out of the capillary, which sucks against the rest of the fluid in the capillaries like sucking through a straw.

It is the same effect a tree uses to get water from the roots up to the leaves. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Does rubbing the end of a cucumber improve its taste? Ask Question. Asked 2 years, 5 months ago. Active 1 year, 6 months ago.

Viewed 3k times. Also if the cucumber grows with less water it tends to be more bitter. The bitter compounds are much less prevalent in the bred varieties compared to wild cucumbers. This makes sense because my cucumbers in the US are almost never bitter when bought at stores, but I have experienced bitterness in cucumbers from the farmers market.

This makes me wonder about all the different traditions that we follow and pass it off as superstition or habit. I am sure there is a science to most. Cooking Classes. Next question that came to mind was why some cucumbers are bitter and some not? Are cucurbitacins safe to eat and nontoxic? Yes just not very appetizing. Keep rubbing till it stops producing foam. WonderHowTo explains that cucurbitacin mostly occurs in the skin of the cucumber, regardless of the temperature, so you can continue to store it at room temperature.

But the skin is also the healthiest part. The internet is divided on whether this is scientific or not , but a large number of people agree that it works, so there's no harm trying it out. Stop counting sheep today.