Asparagus Medicinal

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Asparagus medicinal (lat. Asparagus officinalis) - a species of herbaceous perennials of the genus Asparagus (Latin Asparagus) from the Asparagus family (Latin Asparagaceae). The very name of the plant speaks of its healing abilities. In addition, young shoots of Asparagus officinalis have been included in the human diet for three thousand years, helping him to maintain health and vitality for many years.

What's in your name

The Latin generic name of the plant has very deep linguistic roots, going back centuries, when completely different languages prevailed on Earth. After all, the friendship of a person with a plant was born a long time ago.

The following chain can be traced: the modern Latin word "asparagus" is based on the medieval Latin word "sparagus", which in turn is based on the Greek word "asparagos" or "aspharagos", and the Greek word comes from the Persian word "asparag", which is equivalent to the Russian word " sprout ". Such is almost a detective story.

The situation with the specific epithet is simpler, since the Latin word “officinalis” in Russian means “medicinal”.

The wide area of growth of Asparagus gave birth to many popular names. For example, the shape of the plant gave birth to the Turkish name, which in Russian sounds like this - "The bird cannot land." In Vietnamese and Thai, Asparagus is called "European bamboo shoots" and its green shoots are widely used in national dishes.

Description

The powerful rhizome of Asparagus officinalis is overgrown with numerous adventitious roots, which go deep into the soil to obtain nutrients, and vertical underground shoots, which are of interest to humans.

Smooth stems grow up to half a meter in height, acquiring numerous branches with scaly leaves. From the axils of scaly leaves, the so-called cladodia are born - flattened modified shoots that act as leaves of ordinary plants.

Whitish-yellowish small female flowers (asparagus is a dioecious creation of nature) are transformed into red berries.

Uses of Asparagus in Ancient Times

The delicate aroma of asparagus and its diuretic properties have been used by people for the benefit of their health since ancient times. On the Egyptian frieze, whose age is determined by scientists at 5,000 years, Asparagus is depicted as an offering.

Medicinal asparagus has been known since ancient times in Spain, Syria, Greece and Rome. The Romans and Greeks ate Asparagus fresh when it was ripe, and dried it for future use so that it was with them in winter.

The founder of the Roman Empire, Octavian Augustus, who lived at the turn of two eras (born in 63 BC, died in 14 AD), even created a flotilla to transport asparagus. The ships were so fast that the emperor coined the expression for them: "faster than the time to cook asparagus."

Chemical composition and healing abilities

It should be noted that young shoots of Asparagus are used for food and healing procedures. As soon as the buds begin to open, the shoots of the plant quickly lignify, losing their useful qualities.

The main constituent of Asparagus is the most valuable substance on the planet - water, which makes up 93 percent of all constituents. Therefore, Asparagus is low in calories and very low in sodium.

In the 7 (seven) remaining percent, many useful microelements (including chromium, which enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the blood to cells) and macronutrients, as well as vitamins "C" and "E", beta-carotene, amino acids (in including asparagine, which the body needs for the normal functioning of the nervous system and the synthesis of ammonia), dietary fiber.