Vegetables Petola

petola is a genus of tropical and subtropicalvinesclassified in the cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) family. In everyday non-technical usage the name, also spelledloofah, usually refers to the fruit of the two speciesLuffa aegyptiacaandLuffa acutangula. The fruit of these species is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable. The fruit must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in China and southeast Asia.When the fruit is fully ripened it is very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens as asponge tool.Luffaare not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature.