Mangelwurzel

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Mangelwurzel
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Mangelwurzel
Species Beta vulgaris
Subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Cultivar group Crassa Group
Origin Sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima)

Mangelwurzel or mangold wurzel (from German Mangel/Mangold, "chard" and Wurzel, "root"), also called mangold, [1] mangel beet, [1] field beet, [2] fodder beet and (archaic) root of scarcity, [3] [4] [5] is a cultivated root vegetable. It is a variety of Beta vulgaris , [5] the same species that also contains the red beet (beetroot) and sugar beet varieties. The cultivar group is named Crassa Group. [6] Their large white, yellow or orange-yellow swollen roots were developed in the 18th century as a fodder crop for feeding livestock.

Contents

Uses

Harvested mangelwurzels in Cornwall UK, circa 2009. Wurzels at Winnanton Farm.jpg
Harvested mangelwurzels in Cornwall UK, circa 2009.

Contemporary use is primarily for cattle, [5] pig and other stock fodder, although it can be eaten – especially when young – by humans. Considered a crop for cool-temperate climates, the mangelwurzel sown in autumn can be grown as a winter crop in warm-temperate to subtropical climates. Both leaves and roots may be eaten. Leaves can be lightly steamed for salads or lightly boiled as a vegetable if treated like spinach or chard, which is a member of the same subspecies. Grown in well-dug, well-composted soil and watered regularly, the roots become tender, juicy, and flavourful. The roots are prepared boiled like potato for serving mashed, diced, or in sweet curries. Animals are known to thrive upon this plant; both its leaves and roots provide nutritious food. George Henderson, a 20th-century English farmer and author on agriculture, described mangel beets as one of the best fodders for dairying, as milk production is maximized. [7]

The mangelwurzel has a history in England of being used for sport ("mangold hurling"), [8] for celebration, for animal fodder, and for the brewing of a potent alcoholic beverage. The 1830 Scottish cookbook The Practice of Cookery includes a recipe for a beer made with mangelwurzel. [9] In 19th-century American usage, mangel beets were sometimes referred to as "mango".

During the Irish Famine (1845–1852), Poor Law Guardians in Galway City leased (on a 999-year-lease) an eight-hectare (twenty-acre) former nunnery to house 1,000 orphaned or deserted boys ages from five to about 15. Here, the boys were taught tailoring, shoe making, and agricultural skills. On a two-hectare (five-acre) plot, they grew potatoes, cabbage, parsnips, carrots, onions, Swedish turnips, and "mangold wurtzel", both for workhouse consumption and for a cash crop. [10]

Manglewurzels are used in dairy cows as winter food, especially in New Zealand. Veterinarians used to believe that the plant contains too much oxalate for cattle to eat, but farmers found out that very high amounts of grazed manglewurzel only killed a very small portion of cows, with the rest thriving. It is now known that these deaths were due to rumen acidosis and had nothing to do with oxalate. Safer protocols to transition cows onto manglewurzel feed were then provided, making the entire process quite safe. [11]

As with most foods, subsisting on solely one crop can produce dietary deficiency. The food shortages in Europe after World War I caused great hardships, including cases of mangel-wurzel disease, as relief workers called it. It was a consequence of eating only beets. [12]

Growing requirements

In general, mangelwurzel are easy to grow. They may require supplementary potassium for optimum yields, flavour, and texture, and foliage readily displays potassium deficiency as interveinal chlorosis. This can be corrected with either organic or inorganic sources of potash.

Mangelwurzel is very susceptible to damage from frost. [5] It is suited to southern parts of England where the climate is too warm and dry for the successful cultivation of turnip. [5]

In tradition

In South Somerset, on the last Thursday of October every year, Punkie Night is celebrated. Children carry around lanterns called "Punkies", which are hollowed-out mangelwurzels. Mangelwurzels also are, or previously were, carved out for Halloween in Norfolk, Wales, parts of Yorkshire and northwest Cumberland (Workington) and Devon.

John Le Marchant, a British Army cavalry officer and swords instructor, recommended cutting the "mangel-wurzel" to learn the proper mechanics for a draw cut with the broadsword in his historic manual on swordsmanship.

In an early article in The Lancet, Thompson A and Minx M cite Mangelwurzel seeds as an effective relief for constipation when taken per anum (through the anus) after scoring the husk. [13]

Mangelwurzel seeds were sent by Benjamin Rush to George Washington. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The turnip or white turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock. The name turnip – used in many regions – may also be used to refer to rutabaga, which is a different but related vegetable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugar beet</span> Plant grown commercially for sugar production

A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet. Together with other beet cultivars, such as beetroot and chard, it belongs to the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris but classified as var. saccharifera . Its closest wild relative is the sea beet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutabaga</span> Root vegetable in the Brassica family

Rutabaga or swede is a root vegetable, a form of Brassica napus. Other names include Swedish turnip, neep (Scots), and turnip. However, elsewhere, the name "turnip" usually refers to the related white turnip. The species Brassica napus originated as a hybrid between the cabbage and the turnip. Rutabaga roots are eaten as human food in various ways, and the leaves can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. The roots and tops are also used for livestock, fed directly in the winter or foraged in the field during the other seasons. Scotland, Northern and Western England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Ireland had a tradition of carving the roots into Jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radish</span> Root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae

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Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet.

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References

  1. 1 2 Wright, Clifford A. (2001) Mediterranean Vegetables: a cook's ABC of vegetables and their preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and north Africa with more than 200 authentic recipes for the home cook Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Common Press, page 52, ISBN   1-55832-196-9
  2. Raynbird, Hugh (1851) "On the Cultivation of Mangold-wurzel or Field-beet" Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland; New Series pp. 534–38, page 534
  3. Washington, George (23 November 1785). "To Elizabeth French Dulany". Founders Online. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. "Root of Scarcity". Culpeper's Complete Herbal. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mangel-Wurzel"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 571.
  6. "Sorting Beta names". Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. The University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  7. Henderson, George (1943), The Farming Ladder, Faber and Faber, ISBN   978-1446508794, OCLC   2273477. The early editions of this book (1943 and 1956) are now collectible and expensive, but they have been republished in more affordable paperback and Kindle formats.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. "Home". Mangoldhurling.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  9. Dalgairns, Mrs. (1830) The Practice of Cookery: adapted to the business of every day life (third edition) Cadell & Company, Edinburgh, Scotland, page 498, OCLC   24513143
  10. Lord Sydney Godolphin Osbourne (1850), Gleanings in the West of Ireland, London: T & W Boone, pp. 56–58.
  11. Laven, Richard (2 March 2020). "The return of the mangelwurzel". UK Vet Livestock.
  12. MacMillan, Margaret Olwen (2002) [2001]. "We are the League of the People". Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (1st U.S. ed.). New York: Random House. p.  60. ISBN   0375508260. LCCN   2002023707. Relief workers invented names for things they had never seen before, such as the mangel-wurzel disease, which afflicted those who lived solely on beets.
  13. Mohammadi, Dara (2017-01-01). "The twists and turns of colorectal cancer screening". The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2 (1): 10–11. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(16)30184-4. ISSN   2468-1253. PMID   31787222.
  14. Rush, Benjamin. "To George Washington from Benjamin Rush 26 April 1788". Founders Online. National Archives. I received a small quantity of the mangel wurzel or Scarcity root Seeds a few days ago from Dr Lettsom of London. In distributing these Seeds among the friends of Agriculture in this country, I should have been deficient in duty, and patriotism, to have neglected to send a small portion of them to your Excellency.

Further reading

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