A man in China who continued eating homegrown cucumbers despite their strong bitter taste was hospitalized with acute poisoning symptoms. Experts warned that when cucumbers or squash have an unusually strong bitter taste, they may contain toxic substances, and people should immediately spit them out and stop eating.
According to Chinese media including Modern Express on the 16th, a man living in Fujian Province made a seasoned dish using cucumbers harvested from his own garden.
The cucumbers were unusually bitter, but the man dismissed it and ate about half of one. However, roughly an hour later, he developed severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in succession, and was eventually taken to the emergency room.
Hospital tests confirmed that his liver function had significantly declined. Medical staff diagnosed the man with "cucurbitacin poisoning."
Cucurbitacin is a substance that cucurbit plants such as cucumbers, squash, and oriental melon produce to protect themselves from external threats. Its content can increase when the plants are attacked by pests or grown in poor conditions such as high temperatures or drought. Concentrations may also rise when the plants are crossbred with wild species.
The problem is that cucurbitacin has strong acute toxicity. Eating vegetables with high content can trigger poisoning symptoms even in small amounts, and its characteristic strong bitter taste can serve as a warning of the danger.
Heating offers no reassurance either. Cucurbitacin is heat-resistant and does not easily break down even when boiled, stir-fried, or deep-fried. Adding plenty of seasoning may make the bitterness seem reduced, but the toxic component does not disappear.
Poisoning symptoms often appear within minutes to several hours after consumption. Repeated vomiting, severe abdominal pain, abdominal cramps, and watery diarrhea are typical. Dehydration symptoms such as abdominal bloating, lethargy, dizziness, and cold sweats may also accompany them.
If symptoms are not severe, a person can recover by adequately replenishing fluids and electrolytes and resting. However, if vomiting and diarrhea persist, or if severe abdominal pain or dizziness occurs, one should immediately seek medical treatment at a hospital.
Experts stressed that if a cucumber or squash tastes unbearably bitter on the first bite, people should not think "it will be fine once cooked" and should immediately stop eating.
