Wax gourd
| Wax gourd | |
|---|---|
| Wax gourd plant, flower and immature and mature fruit | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Benincasa |
| Species: | B. hispida |
| Binomial name | |
| Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. | |
| Synonyms | |
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List
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| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Energy | 54 kJ (13 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dietary fiber | 2.9 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.2 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.4 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water | 96.1 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Link to USDA Database entry
values are for edible portion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Benincasa hispida, the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is native to South and Southeast Asia. The wax gourd is widely grown throughout Asia, including Java and Japan, the places where it is thought to have originated.
One variety of the plant, called chi qua (Benincasa hispida var. chieh-qua), is commonly used in Asian cuisine.