TRICHOSANTHES CUCUMERINA L. A NEW SPECIES ACCLIMATIZED AND BRED IN ROMANIA.

Vegetable Research Development Station Buzau is known as an important research centre for acclimatizing and breeding vegetables in Romania. The climate is changing due to numerous factors and is crucial to adapt new species in different areas in order to explore the wonderful world of plants. Trichosanthes cucumerina L. also known as snake gourd and long tomato is grown for consumption and also for various medicinal uses, but some other aspects are still unexplored. Snake guard is studied at VRDS Buzau from 2010 and is a monoecious annual herb climbing with over 5-6 meters high. The plant is vigorous, with many (12-16) slender stems. The male flowers are arranged in raceme and the female are solitary. The fruits are long, over 2 m, at physiologically maturity, but usually for fresh consumption the fruits are harvested at 50-100 cm long. The fruits can be consumed when immature, as it gets a bitter taste with age. The studies have completed so far with patenting of a new cultivar according DUS test, suitable for growing in greenhouse and field, conventional and organic farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]