Stachys affinis

Last updated

Stachys affinis
Stachys sieboldii1.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Stachys
Species:
S. affinis
Binomial name
Stachys affinis
Synonyms
  • Stachys sieboldiiMiq.
  • Stachys tuberiferaNaudin

Stachys affinis, commonly called crosne, Chinese artichoke, Japanese artichoke, knotroot, or artichoke betony, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Lamiaceae, originating from China. Its rhizome is a root vegetable that can be eaten raw, pickled, dried or cooked. [1]

Contents

Description

Tubers of S. affinis Crosnes.jpg
Tubers of S. affinis

S. affinis is a perennial herbaceous plant with red to purple flowers and reaches a height of 30–120 cm (12–47 in). [1] The green leaves are opposite arranged on the stem. The rough, nettle-like leaves can be ovate-cordate shaped with a width of 2.5–9.5 cm (0.98–3.74 in) or ovate-oblong with a width of 1.5–3.5 cm (0.59–1.38 in). The leaves are separated into a leaf blade and a petiole. The petiole has a length of 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) and becomes shorter towards the stem apex. [1] Similar to the potato, S. affinis grows rhizomes which are approximately 8 cm (3.1 in) long and 2 cm (0.79 in) thick. By medullary primary growth they thicken primarily on the internodes and less on the nodes. This way at irregular intervals constricted tubers are formed, which are usually thinner on both ends. The tubers are covered with a thin, pale-beige-to-ivory skin. The flesh underneath is white and tender. [1]

Compounds

Vacuoles in the tuber of S. affinis are rich in stachyose. [2] Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide, consist out of galactose, glucose and fructose. Stachyose is evaluated to be about 230 mg/kg in dry tubers. [3]

Origin and history

S. affinis originates from central and northern China. [1] It had been cultivated in China by the 13th century. [4]

Before S. affinis was introduced to Europe, a related crop named S. palustris was collected in nature to be consumed as a vegetable. Later on the Germanic peoples used S. recta, which is a further relative of S. affinis, as a medicinal plant. The plant was then cultivated from the 18th century onwards. In 1882 the crop was cultivated on a farm for the first time in Crosne. [5] S. affinis is the only labiate which is cultivated as vegetable in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century S. affinis became more and more popular until it was abandoned again in the 1970s due to problems with viruses and the plant's strong vagility (tendency to spread). [6] [7] Since 1990 there has been a rise in the cultivation of S. affinis again and it is available in some markets and in some grocery shops. Today the plant is listed in the "Handbook of Alien Species in Europe" as an invasive plant in Europe. [8]

Taxonomy

The plant is part of the family Lamiaceae. A later described species, named S. sieboldii, in dedication to the German-Dutch botanist and japanologist Philipp Franz von Siebold, is considered to be a synonym.

Cultivation

S. affinis is planted as a bulb (vegetative) in spring (March–May). Multiple bulbs are planted 5 to 8 cm (2.0 to 3.1 in) deep into a hole of dimensions 30 by 30 cm (12 by 12 in). The plant can achieve a height of 30 cm (12 in). Weeding is necessary but it is important not to damage the root system. A sufficient water supply during summer is important. [9]

Harvest is from November to March. It is important that the soil is not frozen when harvesting. [10]

The storage of S. affinis tubers is difficult. Because of their thin skin, they can be stored only for a few days, about a week in a fridge. An alternative can be a fresh ongoing harvesting out of humid sand, thereby the tubers stay fresh for several months.

Usage

Culinary

The tubers have a crunchy texture and a sweet, nutty flavour. They can be eaten raw, pickled, dried or cooked. A wide range of uses for this vegetable leads to various dishes in the cuisine of many countries. [11] They can be prepared similarly to Jerusalem artichokes. The leaves can be dried and made into a tea.

In Chinese and Japanese cuisine, S. affinis is primarily pickled. In particular, its tuber is a part of Osechi , cooked for celebrating Japanese New Year. [12] Dyed red by leaves of Perilla (red shiso) after being pickled, [13] it is called chorogi. [14] [15] In Korea it is called choseokjam (초석잠).

In French cuisine, its cooked tuber is often served alongside dishes named japonaise or Japanese-styled.

Medicinal

In traditional Chinese medicine, the entirety of S. affinis is used as an agent to treat colds and pneumonia. [16]

In addition, root extract of S. affinis has shown antimicrobial activity. [17] Furthermore, Baek et al. observed antioxidant activity in 2004. Also in 2004 inhibitory effects on acetylcholine esterase, monoamine oxidase and xanthine oxidase activities were observed in rat brains after 20 days of feeding with methanolic extracts of S. affinis. [18] Ethanol extract from this plant also seems to have antitumour activity. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger</span> Species of plant used as a spice

Ginger is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems about one meter tall, bearing narrow leaf blades. The inflorescences bear flowers having pale yellow petals with purple edges, and arise directly from the rhizome on separate shoots.

The globe artichoke is a species of thistle cultivated as a food. Artichoke may also refer to:

<i>Beta vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root vegetable</span> Plant root used as a vegetable

Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots such as taproots and tuberous roots as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerusalem artichoke</span> Species of sunflower native to eastern North America

The Jerusalem artichoke, also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.

<i>Stachys</i> Genus of plants in the sage family

Stachys is a genus of plants, one of the largest in the mint family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species vary from about 300, to about 450. Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae and its type species is Stachys sylvatica. The precise extent of the genus and its relationship to other genera in the subfamily are poorly known.

<i>Nelumbo nucifera</i> Species of aquatic flowering plant

Nelumbo nucifera, also known as sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often refers to members of the family Nymphaeaceae.

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

The yacón is a species of daisy traditionally grown in the northern and central Andes from Colombia to northern Argentina for its crisp, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots. Their texture and flavour are very similar to jícama, mainly differing in that yacón has some slightly sweet, resinous, and floral undertones to its flavour, probably due to the presence of inulin, which produces the sweet taste of the roots of elecampane, as well. Another name for yacón is Peruvian ground apple, possibly from the French name of potato, pomme de terre. The tuber is composed mostly of water and various polysaccharides.

<i>Lepidium meyenii</i> Plant species native to South America grown for its edible fleshy hypocotyl

Lepidium meyenii, known as maca or Peruvian ginseng, is an edible herbaceous biennial plant of the family Brassicaceae that is native to South America in the high Andes mountains of Peru and Bolivia. It was rediscovered for commercial purposes at the Meseta de Bombón plateau close to Lake Junin in the late 1980s. It is grown for its fleshy hypocotyl that is fused with a taproot, which is typically dried, but may also be freshly cooked as a root vegetable. As a cash crop, it is primarily exported as a powder that may be raw, or processed further as a gelatinized starch or as an extract. If dried, it may be processed into a flour for baking or as a dietary supplement.

<i>Ipomoea aquatica</i> Species of plant

Ipomoea aquatica, widely known as water spinach, is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. I. aquatica is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivated in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It grows abundantly near waterways and requires little to no care.

<i>Arctium lappa</i> Species of flowering plant

Arctium lappa, commonly called greater burdock, gobō (牛蒡/ゴボウ), edible burdock, lappa, beggar's buttons, thorny burr, or happy major is a Eurasian species of plants in the family Asteraceae, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable. It has become an invasive weed of high-nitrogen soils in North America, Australia, and other regions.

<i>Alpinia galanga</i> Species of flowering plant

Alpinia galanga, a plant in the ginger family, bears a rhizome used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Arab cuisine and Southeast Asian cookery. It is one of four plants known as "galangal". Its common names include greater galangal, lengkuas, and blue ginger.

<i>Stachys byzantina</i> Species of flowering plant

Stachys byzantina, the lamb's-ear or woolly hedgenettle, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. It is cultivated throughout much of the temperate world as an ornamental plant, and is naturalised in some locations as an escapee from gardens. Plants are very often found under the synonym Stachys lanata or Stachys olympica.

<i>Andrographis paniculata</i> Species of herb in the Acanthaceae family

Andrographis paniculata, commonly known as creat or green chiretta, is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.

<i>Alternanthera sessilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Alternanthera sessilis is a flowering plant known by several common names, including sissoo spinach, Brazilian spinach, sessile joyweed, dwarf copperleaf. It is cultivated as a vegetable worldwide.

Perennial vegetables are vegetables that can live for more than two years.

<i>Flemingia vestita</i> Species of legume

Flemingia vestita, famously known as sohphlang, is a nitrogen fixing herb with characteristic tuberous root, belonging to the genus Flemingia. The root is edible and is a common vegetable in some Asian tribal communities. In addition, it has been traditionally used as an anthelmintic, the basis of which is scientifically validated.

<i>Stachys floridana</i> Species of flowering plant

Stachys floridana is a species of betony in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the United States, where its true native range is probably limited to Florida, but today it is known throughout the Southeast as an introduced species and common weed. It occurs as far west as Texas, and it has been recorded in California. Its common names include Florida betony, Florida hedgenettle, and rattlesnake weed. It has been called wild artichoke, but it is not closely related to artichoke. The plant was the Florida Department of Agriculture's "Weed of the Month" for February 2010.

<i>Peucedanum japonicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Peucedanum japonicum, also known as coastal hog fennel, is a species of Peucedanum, a genus rich in medicinal species belonging to the parsley family, Apiaceae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 T.K. Lim, Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 11, Modifi ed Stems, Roots, Bulbs, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-26062-4_3
  2. Greutert, H.; Keller, F. (1993-04-01). "Further Evidence for Stachyose and Sucrose/H+ Antiporters on the Tonoplast of Japanese Artichoke (Stachys sieboldii) Tubers". Plant Physiology. 101 (4): 1317–1322. doi:10.1104/pp.101.4.1317. ISSN   0032-0889. PMC   160655 . PMID   12231787.
  3. YIN, J; YANG, G; WANG, S; CHEN, Y (2006-08-15). "Purification and determination of stachyose in Chinese artichoke (Stachys sieboldii Miq.) by high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection". Talanta. 70 (1): 208–212. doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2006.03.027. ISSN   0039-9140. PMID   18970754.
  4. Luo, Gui-Huan (2014). "History of culture and spread of Chinese artichoke" (PDF). Agricultural History of China (in Chinese) (6): 21–24.
  5. "L. Bussard: Crosne du Japon. In: Culture Potagère et Culture Maraîchère. 1909, S. 183–184".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "J. Y. Péron, D. Dubost: Revalorization of lost vegetables: a contribution to preservation of genetic resources. In: ISHS Acta Horticulturae 318: II International Symposium on Specialty and Exotic Vegetable Crops. 1992, S. 685".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "H. Settegast u. a.: Der Gemüsebau - Stachys. In: Illustriertes Handbuch des Gartenbaues. 1909, Abschnitt VIII, S. 685".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. "Species Accounts of 100 of the Most Invasive Alien Species in Europe", Handbook of Alien Species in Europe, vol. 3, Springer Netherlands, 2009, pp. 269–374, doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8280-1_13, ISBN   9781402082795
  9. Hermann., Laber (2014). Gemüsebau. Ulrmer. ISBN   9783800178469. OCLC   896805155.
  10. Philippe., Collignon (2018). Mehrjähriges Gemüse: Einmal pflanzen, dauernd ernten. Verlag Eugen Ulmer. ISBN   9783818605582. OCLC   1029730840.
  11. ANDERSON, E. N. (March 2006). Food Plants of China ShiuYing Hu . 2005. Chinese University Press. Hong Kong. xvi + 844 many figures and photographs, bibliography; indices of scientific, Chinese, and English names. $98.00 (hardcover). Vol. 26. pp. 165–167. doi:10.2993/0278-0771(2006)26[165:fpoc]2.0.co;2. ISBN   978-9622018600. ISSN   0278-0771. S2CID   85759773.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  12. Funabiki, Takeo. "Transcreating Tokyo, part 21 – The most Japanese day in Japan". Time Out Tokyo. Time Out Tokyo Co., Ltd. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  13. Weaver, William Woys (3 March 2016). "3 Rare Root Crops: Growing Crosnes, Salsify and Skirret". Mother Earth News. Ogden Publications, Inc. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. Small, Ernest (2011). Top 100 Exotic Food Plants. CRC Press. p. 163. ISBN   978-1439856888 . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  15. Quattrocchi, Umberto (May 3, 2012). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. CRC Press. p. 3551. ISBN   978-1420080445 . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  16. Paton, Alan; Wu, Zheng-yi; Raven, P. H. (1995). "Flora of China Vol. 17: Verbenaceae through Solanaceae". Kew Bulletin. 50 (4): 838. doi:10.2307/4110257. ISSN   0075-5974. JSTOR   4110257.
  17. "Antimicrobial activity of the hexane extract of Stachys sieboldii MIQ leaf". Journal of Life Science. 12 (6): 803–811. 2002-12-01. doi: 10.5352/jls.2002.12.6.803 . ISSN   1225-9918.
  18. "Antioxidant Activities of Stachys sieboldii MIQ Roots". Journal of Life Science. 14 (1): 1–7. 2004-02-01. doi: 10.5352/jls.2004.14.1.001 . ISSN   1225-9918.
  19. Ryu BH, Bg P, Song SK (2002). "Antitumor effects of the hexane extract of Stachys Sieboldii". Biotechnol Bioeng. 17 (6): 520–524.