Question
I’d like to know why cucumbers are so bitter. I’ve noticed a difference in taste depending on the time of harvest.
Answer
The bitterness of cucumbers is due to a chemical compound called curcubitacin, naturally present in the plant’s leaves and fruit. In fact, it is the presence of curcubitacin that causes belching after eating cucumbers. However, curcubitacin levels vary according to climatic conditions, and are at their highest when conditions are dry and hot, and the soil is low in organic matter. It therefore goes without saying that, to obtain bitter-free cucumbers, you need to try to keep the soil rich and also cool and moist, especially in hot weather. To this end, vegetable gardeners should learn to use organic mulches (shredded leaves, cocoa husks, forest mulch, etc.), as they often already do in their flower beds. Avoid cedar mulch, however, as it impoverishes the soil.
How to Reduce Bitterness?
If your cucumbers are bitter, remember that curcubitacin is mainly present in the skin and also at the end of the fruit closest to the stem. So, by peeling the cucumber and removing the tip, you can reduce the bitterness a little.
You should also know that it’s curcubitacin that makes cucumbers indigestible for some people. So, if you can’t tolerate cucumbers at all, try growing “burpless” cucumbers (i.e. cucumbers that don’t contain curcubitacin), like ‘Marketmore 80’ (warning: ‘Marketmore 76’, with a similar name, contains cucurbitacin!). And don’t tell me you don’t know where to find them! These days, with the Internet, it’s possible to locate all seeds quickly… and even if the variety isn’t available from a Canadian source, you can import seeds from abroad without the slightest complication.
Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This article on bitter cucumbers was originally published in Le Soleil on October 21, 2004.