Choko
Food · Vegetable · Food, Typed Supps
A mild, watery vegetable that takes on whatever it is cooked with.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Chewing): Thin-walled, water-filled flesh breaks apart with minimal effort.
- Stomach (Little to digest): Almost no starch, fat or protein means brief gastric processing.
- Small intestine (Vitamin absorption): Folate and vitamin C absorb here — the two nutrients boiling most easily removes.
- Large intestine (Bulk and fermentation): Insoluble fibre adds bulk; a small fermentable fraction feeds gut bacteria.
Time to effect
- During the meal: Bulk and satiety act immediately; there is no delayed metabolic effect.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.
Satiety
The satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings. At 21 kcal per 100 g that is 1.1 kg of this, which is not a serving anyone eats — so the index has nothing to say about it.
Environmental footprint
0.5 kg CO2e and 108 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other vegetables" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 21
- Protein: 0.5g
- Carbohydrate: 3.6g
- of which sugars: 3.1g
- Fat: 0.2g
- of which saturated: 0g
- Fibre: 1.4g
- Sodium: 8mg
Food vs. supplement
Not a supplement food. Its folate is real but modest, and easily beaten by a serve of green leafy vegetables.
Kitchen tip
Steam or stir-fry rather than boiling and draining — that is the difference between the two entries in this family. Peel under running water to avoid the sticky sap.
Common myth
"Choko has no nutritional value at all." In reality: Energy, protein and fat are genuinely negligible, but raw choko carries useful folate and vitamin C. Both are water-soluble and largely lost when it is boiled and drained, which is how most Australians have met it.
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