Asparagus
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| Asparagus officinalis L. |
Asparagus is a type of vegetable obtained from one particular species of the many within the genus Asparagus, specifically the young shoots of Asparagus officinalis. It has been used from very early times as a culinary vegetable, owing to its delicate flavour and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius's 3rd century CE De re coquinaria, Book III.
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[edit] Varieties
White asparagus is cultivated by denying the plants light and increasing the amount of ultraviolet light exposed to the plants while they are being grown. Purple asparagus is different to its green and white counterparts, mainly as it is characterised by high sugar and low fibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy and was commercialised under the variety name 'Violetto d'Albenga'. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries such as USA and New Zealand.
[edit] Etymology
The English word "asparagus" derives from classical Latin, but the plant was once known in English as sperage, from the Medieval Latin sparagus. This term itself derives from the Greek aspharagos or asparagos, and the Greek term originates from the Persian asparag, meaning "sprout" or "shoot." The original Latin name has now supplanted the English word. Asparagus was also corrupted in some places to "sparrow grass"; indeed, John Walker stated in 1791 that "Sparrow-grass is so general that asparagus has an air of stiffness and pedantry."[citation needed] Another known colloquial variation of the term, most common in parts of Texas, is "aspar grass" or "asper grass." Asparagus is commonly known in fruit retail circles as "Sparrows Guts," etymologically distinct from the old term "sparrow grass," thus showing convergent language evolution.
[edit] As Food
In their simplest form, the shoots are boiled or steamed until tender and served with a light sauce like hollandaise or melted butter or a drizzle of olive oil with a dusting of Parmesan cheese. A refinement is to tie the shoots into sheaves and stand them so that the lower part of the stalks are boiled, while the more tender heads are steamed. Tall cylindrical asparagus cooking pots have liners with handles and perforated bases to make this process foolproof.
Unlike most vegetables, where the smaller and thinner are the more tender, thick asparagus stalks have more tender volume to the proportion of skin. When asparagus have been too long in the market, the cut ends will have dried and gone slightly concave. Meticulous cooks scrape asparagus stalks with a vegetable peeler, stroking away from the head, and refresh them in ice-cold water before steaming them; the peel is often added back to the cooking water and removed only after the asparagus is done, this is supposed to prevent diluting the flavor. Small or full-sized stalks can be made into asparagus soup. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried with chicken, shrimp, or beef, also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers, for an infusion of smoke flavor. Asparagus is one of few foods which is considered acceptable to eat with the hands in polite company, although this is more common in Europe.
Some of the constituents of asparagus are metabolised and excreted in the urine, giving it a distinctive, mildly unpleasant odor. The smell is caused by various sulfur-containing degradation products (e.g. thiols and thioesters). Studies showed that about 40% of the test subjects displayed this characteristic smell, and a similar percentage of people are able to smell the odor once it is produced; whether there is any correlation between production and detection of the smell is unknown.[1] The speed of onset of urine smell is rapid, and has been estimated to occur within 15-30 minutes from ingestion.[2]
The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.
- See also: List of asparagus diseases
[edit] Nutrition
Asparagus is one of the more nutritionally valuable vegetables. It is the best vegetable provider of folic acid. Folic acid is necessary for blood cell formation and growth, as well as liver disease prevention. Folic acid is also important for pregnant women as it aids in the prevention of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in the developing fetus. Asparagus is very low in calories, contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. Asparagus is a great source of potassium, fiber, and rutin, a compound that strengthens the walls of capillaries.
Asparagus rhizomes and roots are used ethnomedically to treat urinary tract infections, as well as kidney and bladder stones.
[edit] Popularity
Peru is currently the world’s leading asparagus exporter, followed by China, then Mexico.[3] The top asparagus importers in 2004 were the United States (92,405 tons), followed by the European Union (external trade) (18,565 tons), and Japan (17,148 tons).[4]
The United States' production for 2005 was on 54,000 acres and yielded 90,200 tons, making it the world's largest producer and consumer when import quantities are factored in. Production was concentrated in California, Michigan, and Washington.[5]
Stockton, CA hosts the Asparagus Festival, which takes place annually during the last weekend of April. While initially a regional event, the attendance of asparagus enthusiasts has increased in the past few years.
Importers in the United States import both green fresh asparagus and white fresh asparagus from Peru. While both types are imported and marketed in the United States, the color requirements of the current U.S. grading standards only provide for the grading of green asparagus.
White asparagus is very popular in Germany where it is known as spargel. Germany produces 57,000 tons of spargel a year; however, that is only enough to meet 61% of its consumption demands.[6] Asparagus was the last known food to infect an Australian with botulism. This event occurred in 1991.[7] However, dozens of outbreaks of food-borne botulism occur each year in the United States.
[edit] Other plants called asparagus
Many related and unrelated plants may be called "asparagus" or said to be "used as asparagus" when eaten for their shoots. In particular, the shoots of a distantly related plant, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, may be called "Prussian asparagus". This could be because Asparagus derived its name from the ancient Greeks, who used the word to refer to all tender shoots picked and savored while very young. Widely cultivated for its tender, succulent, edible shoots, asparagus cultivation began more than 2,000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean region. Greeks and Romans prized asparagus for its unique flavor, texture, and alleged medicinal qualities. They ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter.
Asparagus is known as being in the Lily family to some taxonomists, as it's in the family Asparagaceae, which is treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Roger JG Stevens (August , 2000). "Why does urine smell odd after eating asparagus?". studentBMJ. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
- ^ Elizabeth Somer (August 14, 2000). Eau D'Asparagus. WebMD. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.
- ^ United States Department of Agriculture. World Asparagus Situation & Outlook. World Horticultural Trade & U.S. Export Opportunities. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ According to Global Trade Atlas and U.S. Census Bureau statistics
- ^ USDA (January 2006). Vegetables 2005 Summary. National Agricultural Statistics Service.
- ^ Molly Spence. Asparagus: The King of Vegetables. German Agricultural Marketing Board. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
- ^ Hocking, A.D.. Foodborne Microorganisms of Public Health Significance. Foodborne Microorganisms of Public Health Significance.
- ^ L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz. "The Families of Flowering Plants". Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
[edit] External links
- Everything About Asparagus - comprehensive information from the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board
- Asparagus officinalis - Plants for a Future database entry
- World Asparagus Situation and Outlook - 2005 USDA report (PDF file)
- Asparagus Production Management and Marketing - commercial growing (OSU bulletin)
- Asparagus - nutrition data
