The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving and zucchini fun facts. As we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Zucchini fun facts.

Zucchini Fun Facts: Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) is a popular variety of summer squash that can be consumed raw or cooked.

• One zucchini is a “zucchina.”
• Zucchinis were first brought to the United States in the 1920s by the Italians.
• April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day.
• The flower of the zucchini plant is edible. Fried squash blossoms are considered a delicacy.
• Mild bitterness in zucchini, like that in related species like cucumbers, may be result from environmental factors such as high temperature, low moisture, low soil nutrients, etc. The bitterness is caused by compounds called cucurbitacins.
• The world’s largest zucchini on record was 69 1/2 inches long, and weighed 65 lbs. Bernard Lavery of Plymouth Devon, UK, grew it.
• Nutrients and vitamins found in zucchini can help prevent cancer and heart disease.
• A zucchini has more potassium than a banana.
• The word zucchini comes from ‘zucca’ the Italian word for squash.
• Biggest is NOT best. The most flavorful zucchinis are small- to medium-sized and the darker the skin, the richer the nutrients.
• Zucchini is the only fruit that starts with Z. (h/t Lylanna)

Zucchini Facts We Missed

Please feel free to let us know if we may have missed some zucchini fun facts in the comment section below. We always love to add to these lists. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Wikipedia: Fun Facts about Zucchini

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