Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa

Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa

Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa is a product with a geographical indication for agricultural products.

　　Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa is a specialty of Hechuan District in Chongqing.

　　The Fuzhou Wrinkled Luffa is an outstanding local variety from Hechuan District. Through three consecutive years of self-pollination purification of superior variant strains in the field, directional selection of individual plants and individual fruits, and two years of within-strain directional selection, three stable strains were developed. These strains exhibit consistent traits, possess the fundamental characteristics of Hechuan Fuzhou Wrinkled Luffa, and feature earlier female flowers, lower first fruiting nodes, higher fruit-setting rates in the first 25 nodes, and higher early yields. These three superior strains have been preserved and utilized as quality germplasm resources. Among them, strain A8-4-1 shows its first female flower 6 days earlier than the farmer-retained seeds of Fuzhou Wrinkled Luffa, with the first fruiting node 5 nodes lower, a 9 percentage point increase in fruit-setting rate in the first 25 nodes, an average single fruit weight increased by 22 grams, and early yield (before July 20) increased by 731.4 kg per 666.7 m², a 29.87% increase. It has been promoted as an improved variety of Hechuan Fuzhou Wrinkled Luffa. Meanwhile, using the preferred variant strain A8-4-1 of Hechuan Fuzhou Wrinkled Luffa as the female parent and crossing it with the hybrid offspring F8-1-1 of an external variety “Heyin-530,” the resulting hybrid has its first fruiting node at the 6th node, with a fruit-setting rate of 59% in the first 25 nodes, and an early yield (before July 20) of 3589.1 kg per 666.7 m². Compared to A8-4-1, it shows its first female flower 4 days earlier, the first fruiting node 1 node lower, a 12 percentage point increase in fruit-setting rate in the first 25 nodes, and an early yield (before July 20) increase of 408.94 kg per 666.7 m², a 12.86% increase. However, its overall performance is slightly inferior to the Chunsui Luffa developed by the Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences and may be further studied for improvement.

　　In 2014, the "Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa" application submitted by the Vegetable Technology Guidance Station of Hechuan District, Chongqing, passed the review of the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and expert evaluation, and was granted national geographical indication registration protection for agricultural products.

　　Region:

　　Chongqing

　　Applicant:

　　Vegetable Technology Guidance Station of Hechuan District, Chongqing

　　Region:

　　2014

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected production area of Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa includes the current administrative regions of 30 towns and streets: Nanjinjie Subdistrict, Heyangcheng Subdistrict, Diaoyucheng Subdistrict, Yunmen Subdistrict, Dashi Subdistrict, Yanjing Subdistrict, Caojie Subdistrict, Shuangfeng Town, Shitan Town, Tuchang Town, Qingping Town, Sanhui Town, Laitan Town, Longshi Town, Qiantang Town, Xiaojia Town, Shayu Town, Guandu Town, Xiaomian Town, Shuanghuai Town, Xianglong Town, Tongxi Town, Weituo Town, Taihe Town, Gulu Town, Longxing Town, Sanmiao Town, Longfeng Town, Yanwo Town, and Erlang Town. The geographical coordinates are between 105°58'37" and 106°40'37" east longitude, and 29°51'02" and 30°22'24" north latitude, spanning 69 km from east to west and 58 km from north to south. The protected production scale of Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa as a geographical indication agricultural product is 1,334 hectares, with an annual output of 50,000 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Characteristics: The fruit of Hechuan Lake Wrinkled Luffa is long and cylindrical, light green in color, with dark green stripes on the surface, covered in dense short white fuzz and wrinkles. A single tender fruit weighs 300–500 grams, is 25–30 cm long, 4–5 cm in diameter, and nearly round in cross-section. The flesh is white, with few seeds, easy to peel, and has a dense, crisp, and delicate texture. 2. Internal Quality: Hardness ≥7.6 kg/cm², soluble sugar ≥3.0%, protein ≥0.20%, crude fiber ≤7.8%. 3. Quality and Safety Standards: The growing environment meets the requirements of NY5010-2002 "Environmental Requirements for Pollution-Free Vegetable Production Areas," and the product quality complies with GB18406.1-2001 "Safety Quality Requirements for Pollution-Free Agricultural Products – Vegetables."