If you have spent most of your life under the impression that FOOFAHs are a kind of maritime sponge and that these rough natural exhalers are the last thing you would like to use on your body, you are not alone. But in fact, the Luffa Aegyptiaca (Often known as Loofah in the United States) is the taxonomic name of a kind of gourd that grows on earth, and it is a genetic descendant of wild cucumber. In addition, if it is cultivated locally with minimal treatment, it is quite soft not only for your skin, but also many other applications.
What is a Luffa?
In the United States, you would be apologized for not being familiar with this unique plant, because Luffa is much more popular in Asia and tropical regions. In fact, very few farmers cultivate the factory commercially for the American market – there are only two farms in the country and, according to Brooklynn Gamble, agricultural supervisor at the The Luffa Farm In Nipomo, California, both are located in the state of the west coast. But the plant is not endemic for countries so far north, so cultivating it requires a lot of care and attention.
Fortunately, the farmer of Luffa Deanne Coon was willing to offer the two, this is how the Luffa farm was born in 2000 after having cultivated the plant as part of the biology class experience of a friend, then spending almost two decades to experiment. Thanks to the location of Nipomo in a resolutely non -tropical climate, Coon had to account for things like cooler seasons (it grows in greenhouses), coastal winds (also greenhouses) and gophes (it cultivates plants in pots instead of directly in the ground).
Now semi-retired, she and a team lead the small farm dotted with lawyers and citrus and decorated with an original personalized court art. They also offer visits during opening hours so that visitors can learn something about Luffa a little.
Customers penetrate through a scorching greenhouse where long green squashes that look like zucchini hang trellis in impressive quantities. They learn that if certain Asian cultures raise smaller varieties that are green, tender and edible when they are young, it is not popular as a culinary ingredient in the United States and when they learn about the reasons why crisp brunettes are always hung on the vineyard, they learn that Luffa is not harvested until you are dead. “When it is completely brown and dry, we cut it from the vine,” explains Gamble.
It is only then, and after he is taken off, he will finally be recognizable as the fibrous exfoliating sponge that many know and love.
This is what is inside that counts
Go to this point, however, takes time and unique biological functions that are not visible to the naked eye. It takes six to nine months after planting Luffa seeds so that they are ready to harvest, explains Gamble (longer in winter, shorter in summer). It takes three to four months just so that the slim green baby gourdes begin to germinate vines and male flowers, which are necessary for pollination, to flower.
Once this happens and pollination is over, the squash is technically edible and mature for picking. The inner fruit tends to be viscous like the Gombo, so it's a bit acquired. However, there are certainly recipes from around the world that incorporate this nutritional vegetable.
But the Luffa firm is not in the field of unpopular products, so the fruit is left on the vine where it can become as large and heavy as the lattice vines can manage, the game continues. As this happens, the fibers of the inside plant act like the veins that feed water and nutrients with seeds, the number one care of the plant. These veins become thicker and denser to nourish the seeds as the gourd grows.
When the squash becomes too large – on the size of an oversized zucchini – the vine, which can push 30 to 40 feet in any direction, cuts the water supply to the entire fruit in order to redistribute resources to other plants on the vine which are still developing. “While the vine sucks water and recycle, [the gourd] Dries Up, “describes Gamble. When this happens, instead of rotting like most other products, Luffa goes from deep green to yellow to brown and hard.
When this happens, the gourd is light as the air because all the liquid and vegetable material has dried, leaving only a fibrous network of cellulose inside the now hard skin and the shell. It is then that it is time to harvest. The skin is open and the seeds, which can be replanted, are shaken. The harvesters dip all the gourd in the water for five minutes, which rehydrates the thin layer of vegetable residues on the bottom, then “the skin so that it slides immediately”, explains Gamble.
What remains is a network of airy epide, light and in the shape of a vegetable fiber sponge which make an excellent natural natural sponge which is flexible when it is dry and even softer when it is humid. This is what makes it such an attractive option among lovers of skin care.
Not all luffa are created equal
If this does not look like the rigid and compressed luffa at all that you see for sale in your local natural food store, you are not wrong. Most Luffa are imported, and as they are a plant, they must be treated in advance to ensure that they will not transport insects, diseases or other agricultural burns, explains Gamble.
“These thermal treatments in particular are what damages the fibers,” she says. It narrows the structures of otherwise light and cowardly cellulose and makes luffa hard, compact and less flexible. The compromise of the structure also makes them more subject to bacterial growth, as they do not dry as easily or completely between uses.
Luffa grew up in the United States, like those of the Luffa farm, does not have to be treated with anything because they are not imported from overseas. They just get a quick rinsing before they are sold. As a result, they are softer, more pleasant on the skin, more versatile and more durable. We could last up to one year of regular use. In addition, because they are very porous, “they do not create the same breeding ground for bacteria”, offers Gamble.
A plant with unlimited uses
But exfoliation is not that all these plants are good. On the contrary, Gamble says that there are many uses for Luffa. Sweeter varieties can be used as a facial sponge instead of a toilet glove. They can even be thrown into the washer for deep cleaning, although you should avoid putting them in the dryer. They make excellent flat sponges and potators in pots. Gamble uses one on sound stainless steel stove.
A humid Luffa also does your car washing work, especially when it comes to cleaning your grill insects, recommends Gamble. The fibers will not even scratch the arrival. They were even used as Insulation in mud brick houses And like industrial filters and may have inspired a porous hydrogel in sunlight that could potentially purify water. The best part: the sponges of untreated Luffa are compostable, which makes it an ecological alternative to synthetic sponges.
“They are so unique as a plant,” explains Gamble, a really multifunctional and durable natural product whose uses go far beyond the exfoliation of bath time. And yes, it is the one that grows on earth, not underwater.
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