Snow pea

Last updated
Snow pea
Snow Pea on Plant.JPG
Species Pisum sativum
Cultivar group Macrocarpon Group [1]
Cultivar group membersMany; see text.

The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls. [2] It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and the pod, while still unripened.

Contents

Names

The common name snow pea seems to be a misnomer as the planting season of this pea is no earlier than that of other peas. Another common name, Chinese pea, is probably related to its prominence in Chinese dishes served in the West. [3] It is called mangetout in the United Kingdom and Ireland (from the French for "eat-all" and pronounced monge-too; /mɒnʒtuː/).[ citation needed ]

Snow peas and snap peas both belong to Macrocarpon Group, [3] [4] [1] [5] a cultivar group based on the variety Pisum sativum var. macrocarpum Ser. named in 1825. [6] It was described as having very compressed non-leathery edible pods in the original publication.

The scientific name Pisum sativum var. saccharatum Ser. is often misused for snow peas. The variety under this name was described as having sub-leathery and compressed-terete pods and the French name petit pois. [6] The description is inconsistent with the appearance of snow peas, and therefore botanists have replaced this name with Pisum sativum var. macrocarpum. [7] Austrian scientist and monk Gregor Mendel used peas which he called Pisum saccharatum in his famous experiments demonstrating the heritable nature of specific traits, and this Latin name might not refer to the same varieties identified with modern snow peas. [8]

Composition

Nutrition

Snowpeas
Snow peas.jpg
Snow peas (Pisum sativum)
Nutritional value per 100g
Energy 176 kJ (42 kcal)
7.55
Sugars 4.00
Dietary fiber 2.6
Fat
0.3
2.8
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins Quantity
%DV
Vitamin A equiv.
6%
630 μg
740 μg
Vitamin A 1087 IU
Thiamine (B1)
13%
0.150 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
6%
0.08 mg
Niacin (B3)
4%
0.6 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
15%
0.75 mg
Vitamin B6
9%
0.16 mg
Folate (B9)
11%
42 μg
Vitamin B12
0%
0 μg
Choline
3%
17.4 mg
Vitamin C
67%
60 mg
Vitamin D
0%
0 μg
Vitamin E
3%
0.39 mg
Vitamin K
21%
25 μg
Minerals Quantity
%DV
Calcium
3%
43 mg
Iron
12%
2.09 mg
Magnesium
6%
24 mg
Manganese
11%
0.244 mg
Phosphorus
4%
53 mg
Potassium
7%
200 mg
Sodium
0%
4 mg
Zinc
2%
0.27 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water88.89
Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, [9] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. [10]

Uses

Culinary

A child holding an edible pod pea in Kenya 2DU Kenya 83 (5366710925).jpg
A child holding an edible pod pea in Kenya

Snow peas, along with sugar snap peas and unlike field and garden peas, are notable for having edible pods that lack inedible fiber [11] (in the form of "parchment", a fibrous layer found in the inner pod rich in lignin [12] ) in the pod walls. Snow peas have the thinner walls of the two edible pod variants. Two recessive genes known as p and v are responsible for this trait. [11] p is responsible for reducing the sclerenchymatous membrane on the inner pod wall, while v reduces pod wall thickness (n is a gene that thickens pod walls in snap peas). [13]

Pea shoots (Chinese :豆苗; pinyin :dòu miáo) are the stems and leaves of the immature plant, used as a vegetable in Chinese cooking. [14] They are commonly stir-fried with garlic and sometimes combined with crab or other shellfish. [15]

Nitrogen fixers

As with most legumes, snow peas host beneficial bacteria, rhizobia, in their root nodules, which fix nitrogen in the soil—this is called a mutualistic relationship—and are therefore a useful companion plant, especially useful to grow intercropped with green, leafy vegetables that benefit from high nitrogen content in their soil. [16]

Cultivation

Snow peas can be grown in open fields during cool seasons and can thus be cultivated during winter and spring seasons. [13]

Storage

Storage of the pea with films of polymethylpentene at a temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) and controlled atmosphere with a concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide of 5 kPa augments the shelf life, internal and external characteristics of the plant. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pea</span> Species of flowering plant with edible seeds in the family Fabaceae

Pea is a pulse, vegetable or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name Pisum sativum in 1753. Some sources now treat it as Lathyrus oleraceus; however the need and justification for the change is disputed. Each pod contains several seeds (peas), which can have green or yellow cotyledons when mature. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a (pea) flower. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea, the cowpea, the seeds from several species of Lathyrus and is used as a compound form for example Sturt's desert pea.

<i>Lathyrus</i> Plant genus in the pea family Fabaceae

Lathyrus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 species in North America, 78 in Asia, 24 in tropical East Africa, and 24 in temperate South America. There are annual and perennial species which may be climbing or bushy. This genus has numerous sections, including Orobus, which was once a separate genus. The genus has numerous synonyms, including Pisum, the ancient Latin name for the pea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legume</span> Plant in the family Fabaceae

Legumes are plants in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, but also as livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden cress</span> Species of edible herb

Cress, sometimes referred to as garden cress to distinguish it from similar plants also referred to as cress, is a rather fast-growing, edible herb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalapeño</span> Hot pepper

The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum. A mature jalapeño chili is 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 25–38 mm wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usually between 4,000 and 8,500 units on the Scoville scale. Commonly picked and consumed while still green, it is occasionally allowed to fully ripen and turn red, orange, or yellow. It is wider and generally milder than the similar Serrano pepper.

<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> Species of plant

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, along with other Phaseolus species, is as a member of the legume family Fabaceae. Like most members of this family, common beans acquire the nitrogen they require through an association with rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapini</span> Species of edible plant

Rapini is a green cruciferous vegetable, with the leaves, buds, and stems all being edible; the buds somewhat resemble broccoli. Rapini is known for its bitter taste, and is particularly associated with Mediterranean cuisine. It is a particularly rich dietary source of vitamin K.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snap pea</span> Edible-pod pea

The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout can apply to snap peas and snow peas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green bean</span> Unripe, young fruit of cultivars of the bean

Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean, although immature or young pods of the runner bean, yardlong bean, and hyacinth bean are used in a similar way. Green beans are known by many common names, including French beans, string beans, and snap beans or simply "snaps." In the Philippines, they are also known as "Baguio beans" or "habichuelas" to distinguish them from yardlong beans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeydew (melon)</span> Melon cultivar

The honeydew melon is one of the two main cultivar types in Cucumis melo Inodorus Group. It is characterized by the smooth, often green or yellowish rind and lack of musky odor. The other main type in the Inodorus Group is the wrinkle-rind casaba melon.

Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives meaning cultivated. It is often associated botanically with plants that promote good health and used to designate certain seed-grown domestic crops.

<i>Solanum torvum</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum torvum, also known as pendejera, turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affecting the root system, thus allowing the crop to continue for a second year.

Black peas, also called parched peas or dapple peas, are cooked purple-podded peas. They are a traditional Lancashire dish usually served with lashings of malt vinegar, and traditionally on or around Bonfire Night. The dish is popular in Bury, Preston, Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan, Bolton, Atherton, Tyldesley, Leigh and Heywood. The dried peas are soaked overnight and simmered to produce a type of mushy pea. Parching is a now-defunct term for long slow boiling.

<i>Choanephora cucurbitarum</i> Species of fungus

Choanephora cucurbitarum is a fungal plant pathogen that causes fruit and blossom rot of various cucurbits. It can also affect okra, snap bean, and southern pea, and may cause a stem and leaf rot of Withania somnifera. Recently Das et al. 2017 added few more patho-index on aubergine, teasle gourd (Momordica subangulata Blume subsp. renigera de Wilde, hyacinth bean, green pea from India. Wet weather, high temperature and high humidity favor disease development from inoculum that is typically soil-borne. Signs of infection on fruits or leaves include water-soaked, necrotic lesions, which progress rapidly under ideal conditions. As the fungus begins to produce spores, affected tissues become dark grey-brown and hairy as a result of the superficial sporangia.

<i>Lathyrus niger</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus niger, also known as black pea, blackening flat pea and black bitter vetch, is a perennial legume that is native to Europe. Its common name is reference to the blackening of the plant's foliage as it dies.

<i>Didymella pinodes</i> Species of fungus

Didymella pinodes is a hemibiotrophic fungal plant pathogen and the causal agent of ascochyta blight on pea plants. It is infective on several species such as Lathyrus sativus, Lupinus albus, Medicago spp., Trifolium spp., Vicia sativa, and Vicia articulata, and is thus defined as broadrange pathogen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marrowfat peas</span> Green peas that have dried out naturally

Marrowfat peas are green mature peas that have been allowed to dry out naturally in the field, rather than being harvested while still young like the normal garden pea. They are starchy, and are used to make mushy peas. Marrowfat peas with a good green colour are exported from the UK to Japan for the snack food market, while paler peas are used for canning. Those with thin skins and a soft texture are ideal for making mushy peas.

<i>Luffa aegyptiaca</i> Species of plant

Luffa aegyptiaca, the sponge gourd, Egyptian cucumber or Vietnamese luffa, is an annual species of vine cultivated for its fruit, native to South and Southeast Asia.

References

  1. 1 2 Stephens, James M. (2018-11-05). "Pea, Snow—Pisum sativum L. (Macrocarpon Group)". edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  2. Myers, James R.; Baggett, James R.; Lamborn, Calvin (2010-06-22), Janick, Jules (ed.), "Origin, History, and Genetic Improvement of the Snap Pea ( Pisum sativum L.)", Plant Breeding Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 93–138, doi:10.1002/9780470650196.ch3, ISBN   978-0-470-65019-6
  3. 1 2 Kiple, Kenneth F.; Ornelas, Kriemhild Coneè (2000). The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-40215-6.
  4. "Definition of SNOW PEA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  5. Stephens, James M. (2018-11-05). "Pea, Snap—Pisum sativum L. (Macrocarpon Group)". edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  6. 1 2 Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de (1825). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta. Vol. 2. Paris, France: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. p. 368.
  7. "Pisum sativum var. macrocarpum". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
  8. Ellis, T. H. N.; Hofer, J. M. I.; Timmerman-Vaughan, G. M.; Coyne, C. J.; Hellens, R. P. (2011). "Mendel, 150 years on". Trends in Plant Science. 16 (11): 590–596. Bibcode:2011TPS....16..590E. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2011.06.006. PMID   21775188.
  9. United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  10. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN   978-0-309-48834-1. PMID   30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  11. 1 2 Singh RJ; Jauhar PP (2005). Genetic Resources, Chromosome Engineering, and Crop Improvement. CRC Press. pp.  74. ISBN   978-0-8493-1430-8.
  12. McGee, RJ; Baggett JR (1992). "Inheritance of Stringless Pod in Pisum sativum L." (PDF). J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 117 (4): 628–632. doi: 10.21273/JASHS.117.4.628 .
  13. 1 2 De Ron, AM; et al. (2005). "Identifying superior snow pea breeding lines" (PDF). HortScience. 40 (5): 1216–1220. doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI.40.5.1216 .
  14. "Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic (蒜蓉炒豆苗)". 10 April 2019.
  15. "Snow Pea Shoots Photo - Chinese Vegetable Photos". Chinesefood.about.com. 2011-10-17. Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  16. "Peas Companion Planting Guide: 10 Plants to Pair With Peas". MasterClass. June 7, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  17. Pariasca, JAT; et al. (2001). "Effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere (CA) storage on the quality of snow pea pods (Pisum sativum L. var. saccharatum)". Postharvest Biology and Technology. 21 (2): 213–223. doi:10.1016/S0925-5214(00)00149-6.