The Egyptian cucumber is also called sponge gourd or vegetable sponge. The young fruits can be eaten as a vegetable, but older fruits are very fibrous and become inedible. They are then used to make bath sponges.
The Egyptian cucumber is sometimes also called “smooth luffa” to distinguish it from the “ridged luffa”, a related species in the same genus. (Luffa acutangula).
Names
Scientific
Luffa aegyptiaca
Synonym
Luffa cylindrica
English
Dishrag gourd
Egyptian cucumber
Rag gourd
Smooth loofah
Smooth luffa
Sponge gourd
Vegetable sponge
Vietnamese luffa
Dutch
Sponskomkommer
French
Courge du hammam
Courge éponge
German
Schwammkürbis
Taxonomy
Order
Cucurbitales
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Genus
Luffa
Species
Luffa aegyptiaca (Egyptian cucumber)
Crop categories
Fiber crops
Fruit vegetables
Minor crops
Subtropical crops
Tropical crops
Vegetable oils
Vegetables