Persian cucumbers: small, seedless and built to be eaten raw

Persian cucumbers are the short, thin-skinned, nearly seedless cucumber that Los Angeles kitchens reach for when the cucumber will be eaten raw and seen on the plate. King Quality Produce receives them every day of the year from growers in Mexico and California, packs them in 20 lb and 22 lb boxes, and grades them Fancy, Extra Fancy and #2. Here is what buyers should know.

What a Persian cucumber is

Horticulturally, the Persian belongs to the mini or Beit Alpha type. University of Florida extension horticulturists describe it this way: most Beit Alpha cultivars produce fruit 5 to 8 inches long, with a thin skin like the long European greenhouse cucumber, and the fruit is seedless³. The type was developed in Israel and is produced extensively in Mexico and Canada³. The plants are gynoecious and parthenocarpic, meaning all-female flowers that set fruit without pollination, which is why the fruit comes out seedless and uniform, and growers pick it very immature for the highest quality³.

Harvested before the seed cavity develops, the flesh is dense, the skin is thin enough to leave on, and the flavor is mild and slightly sweet. It is the cucumber that needs no peeling or seeding.

KQP carries Persians in three house grades. Extra Fancy is the top of the box: straight, uniform in length and diameter, deep green end to end, with glossy unblemished skin. Fancy is our everyday grade, with a little more variation in size and shape. #2 is sound, firm fruit with cosmetic variation such as curve, lighter color or scuffing, priced for kitchens that chop, pickle or juice. All three come in 20 lb and 22 lb boxes.

Where it grows and when

Our Persians are available all twelve months because the supply follows the weather. In the cool months most of the fruit comes from Mexico, much of it from protected agriculture. A University of Florida analysis found that Mexico's protected cucumber area grew from 1,614 acres in 2009 to 14,160 acres in 2018, and that about 85 percent of Mexican cucumber shipments to the U.S. between 2015 and 2020 arrived from October through May⁵. The Packer reported in 2022 on a Nogales, Arizona shipper growing Persians in hothouses in Culiacan and Ensenada, calling it a trendy, easy-to-prepare product⁶. As the season warms, California growers add volume through summer and early fall.

The bigger picture explains the Persian's rise. USDA's Economic Research Service reported that imports accounted for about 35 percent of U.S. fresh cucumber availability in 1990 to 1994, 80 percent in 2015 to 2020, and almost 90 percent by 2020, with nearly 2.2 billion pounds imported that year⁴. ERS credits the rise in demand mainly to salads and to mini or snacking varieties⁴. The Persian is that snacking variety.

How to buy: grades, packs and what to check on receiving

The U.S. grade standard for cucumbers, effective September 2016, was written for the American slicer⁷. It defines U.S. Fancy as well colored, well formed and not overgrown, with a diameter of not more than 2-3/8 inches and a length of at least 6 inches, and U.S. No. 2 as moderately colored and not badly deformed, at least 5 inches long⁷. Well colored means at least three-fourths of the surface is medium green or darker⁷. Those dimensions describe a slicer, not a Persian, so the trade borrows the color and shape language and applies it to the smaller fruit.

On receiving, check four things. Fruit should be firm along its full length with no give at the blossom end. Skin should be glossy and dark; the UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center lists yellowing as a very common postharvest defect caused by advanced maturity at harvest, ethylene exposure or storage at high temperature². Look for water-soaked areas or pitting, the signs of chilling injury from a cold ride². Check the ends for shriveling, a sign of lost humidity.

• Pack: 20 lb box or 22 lb box
• Grades: Fancy, Extra Fancy, #2
• Availability: year-round, Mexico and California

Storage and shelf life

Cucumbers are a warm-storage item. UC Davis recommends holding them at 50 to 55 F (10 to 12.5 C) and 95 percent relative humidity, and says storage is generally less than 14 days because visual and sensory quality decline quickly². Chilling injury sets in below 50 F when fruit is held more than a day to three days, depending on temperature and cultivar, and shows up as water-soaked areas, pitting and accelerated decay². Transit at 45 F is common in the trade but causes chilling injury after two to three days, and the damage is cumulative². Freezing injury begins at 31 F².

Cucumbers are also highly sensitive to ethylene: 1 to 5 ppm during distribution accelerates yellowing and decay, so UC Davis says not to store or ship them with bananas, melons or tomatoes². In practice, a Persian box should not sit in the 38 F walk-in next to the ripening room. Give it the warmest reach-in you have, keep it in the box to hold humidity, and turn it within a week.

Nutrition

USDA's FoodData Central does not break out Persian cucumbers, so the reference is its entry for cucumber with peel, raw, which is how a Persian is eaten. Per 100 grams it lists 15 calories, 95.23 grams of water, 3.63 grams of carbohydrate, 0.5 grams of fiber, 1.67 grams of sugars and 0.65 grams of protein, with 147 mg of potassium, 16.4 micrograms of vitamin K, 2.8 mg of vitamin C, 7 micrograms of folate, 16 mg of calcium, 13 mg of magnesium and 2 mg of sodium¹.

The number worth noticing is the vitamin K. At 16.4 micrograms, 100 grams of Persian cucumber provides about 14 percent of the 120 microgram Daily Value^{1, 8}. The National Institutes of Health describes vitamin K as a coenzyme for proteins involved in blood clotting and bone metabolism, and sets the adequate intake at 120 micrograms a day for adult men and 90 for adult women⁸. Beyond that, the cucumber is about 95 percent water and 15 calories per 100 grams, a hydrating vegetable that adds crunch¹.

In the kitchen

Los Angeles runs through a lot of Persian cucumbers because of the mix of kitchens. Persian and Armenian restaurants in Glendale and Westwood dice them for salad shirazi and fold them into mast-o-khiar. Koreatown smashes and dresses them for oi muchim. Sushi bars cut them for kappa maki and poke shops dice them for bowls, because the small seed cavity means no watery seeds in the fish. Salad concepts slice them into coins because every slice looks the same.

For markets, uniformity is the selling point. Persians sell by the bag or by count as well as by the pound, and the ERS finding that snacking varieties are driving cucumber demand matches what produce managers see⁴. The thin skin shows scuffs, so keep the display cool but not refrigerator-cold and rotate from the box rather than piling fruit high.

For purchasing, Extra Fancy is the grade for anything served whole or in visible slices. Fancy covers most prep work. #2 is the right buy for quick pickles, tzatziki, chopped salads and juice, where a curve or a pale patch costs nothing.

Call the KQP office at (213) 627-7181 or email office@kingqualityproduce.com for this week's Persian cucumber counts, grades and pricing.