Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the pumpkin, squash and gourd family (Cucurbitaceae).

[7] The fruit section of L. aegyptiaca may be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything except the network of xylem fibers.

If the loofah is allowed to fully ripen and then dried on the vine, the flesh disappears, leaving only the fibrous skeleton and seeds, which can be easily shaken out.

In Paraguay, panels are made out of luffa combined with other vegetable matter and recycled plastic.

Torai is reserved for ridge gourd and is less popular than gilki in central western India.

They are simple yet popular vegetables, usually made with a plentiful tomato gravy and garnished with green chillies and fresh coriander.

When cooked roti is shredded by hand and mixed into it, it is colloquially known as "rotli shaak ma bhuseli".

In the Odia language of Odisha, ridge gourd (luffa acutangula) is known as janhi (ଜହ୍ନି), while sponge gourd (luffa aegyptiaca) is called tarada(ତରଡ଼ା), both accompanying many vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, most notably in dishes like "khira santula", where it is boiled with minuscule spices and simmered in milk.

Another popular version involves mashing it in groundnut oil, herbs, peanuts and topping it with the peeled skin pieces.

In Assamese speaking areas of Assam, it is called bhula (ভোল, luffa aegyptiaca) and is cooked with sour fish curry along with taro.

A related species is called jika (জিকা, Luffa acutangula), which is used as a vegetable in a curry, chutney and stir fry .

It is used as a vegetable in curries, but also as a snack, bhajji, dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried.

In Meitei language of Manipur, ridge gourd is called sebot (ꯁꯦꯕꯣꯠ) and sponge gourd is called sebot hekpa (ꯁꯦꯕꯣꯠ ꯍꯦꯀꯞ), which is cooked with other ingredients like potato, dried fish, fermented fish and served.

In Sri Lanka, it's called වැටකොළු (Waeṭakola, the Luffa acutangula variety) in Sinhalese and is a common ingredient in curries, even in dried forms.

In Vietnamese cuisine, the gourd is called "mướp hương" and is a common ingredient in soups and stir-fried dishes.

It is commonly used as a green vegetable in traditional dishes of the Ryukyu Islands (where it is called naabeeraa).

In Japan, in regions other than the Ryukyu Islands and Kyushu, it is predominantly grown for use as a sponge or for applying soap, shampoo, and lotion.

As with bitter melon, many people grow it outside building windows as a natural sunscreen in summer.

When compressed longitudinally, a luffa sponge is able to absorb comparable energy per unit mass as aluminum foam.

[15] Uniaxial tensile tests of fiber bundles isolated from the inner surface provide insight this basic strut element of the luffa sponges.

[16] The stress-strain response of the fiber bundles is nearly linear elastic all the way until fracture, suggesting the absence of work hardening.

[15][16] Block samples (height: 12.69 ± 2.35mm, width: 11.30 ± 2.88mm, length: 13.10 ± 2.64mm) cut from the core region and hoop region of the luffa sponge exhibit different mechanical behaviors under compression depending on both the orientation they are loaded in as well as the location in the sponge they are sampled from.

Samples from both the hoop and core regions exhibited yielding when compressed in the longitudinal direction due to the buckling of fibers.

With the highly aligned fibers from the inner surface removed from the hoop region block samples, this yield behavior disappears.

[15] Overall, the stress-strain curves of block samples exhibit three stages of mechanical behavior common to porous materials.

Segment samples created from cross sections of the entire luffa sponge (diameter: 92.51 ± 6.15mm, height: 19.76 ± 4.95mm) when tested in compression exhibit this same characteristic behavior.