Bule, Guaje or Tecomate seeds

Bule or Guaje
(Lagenaria siceraria)

Known as: Bule, Guaje, Tecomate, Jícara or Pilgrim's Gourd. It is a climbing plant of the cucurbitaceae family, whose fruit—edible when tender—is grown mainly to be used dry as a container and crafts.

Pollinated by insects, it produces a peponid fruit, the shape of which varies depending on the subspecies. Immature has green skin and a white, fleshy interior, similar in texture to pumpkin. It can reach 1 m long in some varieties. Its interior is white, with a sweet and oily flavor. The shape of the fruit varies widely, from more or less regular globes to bottle shapes or twisted cylinders.

It is believed that the gourd was one of the first cultivated plants, especially to store water in its fruits. With a cosmopolitan habitat, it has been recorded since ancient times in numerous cultures.

Crop

Skin color is bright green when ripe, turning light green and then tan or brown when dry.

prefers soils, shelters from the wind, high humidity and a warm summer. It resists drought and frost poorly, but it is very resistant to pests and insects.

It is generally planted in spring, and is protected in a greenhouse if the climate is not favourable.

SOWING TIME

Sow preferably at the beginning of spring; this will reduce the problems caused by pests, diseases and weeds, whose incidence is lower at this time. Low temperatures slow the growth of gourd

APPLICATIONS:

Gastronomy

The still green fruit is used as a vegetable; in good quality cultivars it is very similar in flavor and texture to Butternut Squash (Cucurbita pepo).

Medicinal

The fibrous pulp together with the seeds has laxative and emetic effects, while the tender skin and the decoction of the bark act as diuretics. Boiled it is highly digestive, and helps in the treatment of indigestion and heartburn.

as a container

In rural areas of Mexico, the gourd is dried and hollowed out to store water, in this form it is known as guaje or bule and in El Salvador and Guatemala as tecomate and it is covered with a cob (what remains when the corn is removed). grains of corn) or cork. When only the base is cut to make a small plate, it is known as a jícara. It is also used for canaries to build their nests when they live in captivity. In Chiapas, southeast of Mexico, the bottle-shaped one is known as pumpo, to carry water when going to the plot, and as tol, the globose-shaped one, to put the tortillas with or without a blanket and to keep them warm for more time. Around the world, some varieties, the so-called zucchini, "botija" or "bottle", have been used for the storage and transportation of liquids as canteens.

As a musical instrument

It is used as a sound box for the tambura, a type of guitar; other percussion and string instruments also use it, such as the berimbau in Brazil, used in Capoeira. It is used for the construction of various stringed instruments.

 As a craft

There is a long tradition in the manufacture of carved bule.

more information on the packaging