VeggieSensations.com

Loofah or Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) is in the pumpkin family. Smooth loofah is a fast growing annual vine that produces pretty yellow or white flowers that look similar to the flower of a Hibiscus. The flowers are edible when free of insecticide.

The vine grows to more than 30 ft long. It is recommended to support the vine on a trellis or it will grow over everything in its way. Its fruits are edible when picked while they are immature. The immature fruit should look like okra and measure between 3�6 inches long. When let to mature they are used as scrub brushes. The fruits are green and will grow up to 24 inches long and 3 inches in diameter.

The outer skin of older fruits which are left on the vine will eventually dry and turn brown and papery. Just soak the dry loofah in water for a few days, then peel the skin off and shake the seeds out for use as back scrubbers or kitchen pot scrubber. You may soak the loofah brush in 1 part bleach and 10 parts water to bleach it white and to disinfect it.

Copyright by VeggieSensations.com 8/19/2006