16 Being taste-compatible with such a variety of other foods proves to be very advantageous and many cultures adopted and adapted it to their respective traditional dishes. It was successfully introduced in the cuisine of “exotic” and culturally very different countries from Latin America, such as Nepal and Taiwan. Cyclanthera pedata is also interesting due to its medical properties. It is recognized as an efficient hypocholesterolaemic and hypoglycaemic and also-presents anti-inflammatory qualities. For these reasons, companies in both Europe as well as the USA started to process Cyclanthera pedata into a powder which can be easily added to a wide variety of foods or encapsulated and taken as a nutritional aid. Although an excellent food and a promising “medicinal” plant, its acceptance and mass cultivation outside its area of origin is a slow process. In certain countries it is now commercialized in frozen form in order to ensure longer shelf life. Conditions for growth Cyclanthera pedata grows at high elevations, of over 2000 m and is consequently quite tolerant to cold weather conditions. As in the case of oca and mashua, the altitude of its natural habitat compensates for the cooler temperatures of Europe, but attention must be paid to the selection of varieties and the process of acclimatization. In terms of soil requirements, it is not a pretentious plant and it can be grown in the same manner as a cucumber. So far, farmers from Great Britain have been the pioneers of cultivating it in the northern part of Europe, but they mainly used greenhouse space for their tests. It also seems to do well if the plants are started in the greenhouse and then transplanted to the field during the warmer weather in springtime. In countries with gentler weather, such as Italy, it can be planted directly in the field where it grows without difficulty. The slipper gourd is propagated through seeds and is extremely fast-growing, producing fruit after approximately 3-4 months from planting. It is not a pretentious plant in terms of soil requirements: it can grow in alkaline as well as acidic conditions, but it does need sun, moisture and good drainage. It is generally harvested before it reaches the stage of full maturation. If it benefits from proper conditions, it produces about 7t/hectare. Selected sources of planting material Rarepalseeds.com Tobias W. Spanner Am Schnepfenweg 57 80995 Muenchen Germany Pagina 25
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