TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         i

Certification –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         ii

Dedication   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iii

Acknowledgements         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         iv-v

Table of Contents   –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         vi-vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION        –         –         –         –         1-2

CHAPTER TWO

2.1     Description of Cucumber           –         –         –         –         –         3-4

2.2     Yield of Cucumber          –         –         –         –         –         –         4-5

2.3     Varieties of Cucumber     –         –         –         –         –         –         5

2.3.1  Slicing         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         5-6

2.3.2  Pickling       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         6

2.3.3  Gherkin       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         6-7

2.3.4  Burpless       –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         7

CHAPTER THREE

3.1     Nutritional Benefits of Cucumber  to Man     –         –         –         8-10

3.2     Health Benefits of Cucumber to Man            –         –         –         10-11

3.3     Medicinal Benefits of Cucumber to Man       –         –         –         12-16

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

4.1     Summary     –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         17

4.2     Conclusion  –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –         18

             References

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

The cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plant is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family widely cultivated for its edible fruit. In this family different types of melon such as bitter melon and squash are also included. Cucumbers provide many nutrients and are low in fat calories, sodium and cholesterol. The flavor of cucumber is very good though its nutritional value is low. Cucumbers are very popular for salads. Small fruits of cucumber are often pickled. The cucumber can be grown in home gardens or used as vegetables. There are three main varieties of cucumber. The cucumber, with large, green skin, and few or no seeds are called English cucumber. Armenian, or snake cucumbers, which are long and twisted. They are used as pickles (Lee et al., 2010).

Fresh cucumbers are available throughout the season and can be eaten raw, in vegetable salads, soups, sauces or can be preserved into processed products such as cucumber powder, jam, oil and juice (Lee et al., 2010).  Cucumber contains important compounds known to possess medicinal potency against hypertension, cancer, and cholesterol synthesis inhibition, microbial agents (Jony et al., 2013).

They impart health benefits beyond basic nutrition with antioxidants having potentials in reducing the risk of several deadly diseases in man (Uzuazokaro et al., 2015). They are of nutritional value in preventing chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Thus study intends to review the important nutritional and health benefits of Cucumber to man.