Dry gourd, commonly referred to as gourd shreds, native to Mibu in Kanto Region of Japan, has a cultivation history of more than 200 years. It wan introduced in 1980’s by Dalian Foreign Trade Company, since then it has been successfully cultivated in China.
As the dry product made from fresh gourd (commonly known as vegetable gourd or sweet gourd), dry gourd is mainly used as a raw material of Japanese Sushi, and it can also be used to bind foodstuffs (such as kombu roll, cabbage roll and bean curd roll) and be used as a herbal health care food. Dry gourd contains rich nutritious elements, of which the contents of calcium and magnesium come to the top of vegetables. The ancient Japanese women would drink dry gourd soup to supplement calcium and magnesium after parturition. Nowadays, the Japanese government provides a type of rice with dry gourd for school children to meet the demand for their growth. The dietary fiber of the dry gourd can effectively control such diseases as edema, abdominal distension and constipation etc., therefore it has certain values of medical and health care effects.
Nutritious component of dry gourd (100g)：
| Dry gourd (gourd strip) contains 76g edible part per 100g |
| Heat（therm）：219 |
B1 aneurin (mg): 0.05 |
Calcium(mg): 114 |
| Protein (g): 4.3 |
B2 riboflavin(mg): 0.03 |
Magnesium(mg): 80 |
| Fat (g): 1.8 |
B5 nicotinic acid(mg): 1.4 |
Iron(mg): 8 |
| Carbohydrate(g): 46.5 |
Vitamin C (mg): 0 |
Manganese(mg): 1.64 |
| Dietary fiber (g): 18.1 |
Vitamin E (mg): 0 |
Zinc (mg): 2.8 |
| Vitamin A (mg): 0 |
Cholesterol (mg): 0 |
Copper(mg): 0.56 |
| Carotene (mg): 3.9 |
Potassium(mg): 480 |
Phosphorus(mg): 187 |
| Retinol equivalent(µg): 25.4 |
Sodium (mg): 36.3 |
Selenium (µg): 1.7 |
