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COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

ASPARAGUS


Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. I
is called in Britian sometimes "Sparrow-grass" a term with no meaning. The plant is one of the lily tribe, and, although cultivated in gardens for table use, is not unfrequently met with growing wild along the sea-shore.

There are two varieties of asparagus, one is red and the other green. The first is a larger kind, groing fuller and closer, which, though handsomer in appearance, is not considered of so good a flavour as the green.

Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.
is the tender young shoots of a tall plant of the lily family, eaten as a vegetable. -
ORIGIN via Latin from Greek asparagos

Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is a plant from the Mediterranean regions. The young shoots are eaten in Italy, Spain, Portugal and by the Greeks in Sicily. They are thin, bitter and often stringy.

Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is a plant of Europe, Caucasian regions and Siberia. This plant, so much esteemed in its cultivated state, is a plant of the seashore and river banks of southern Europe and the Crimea, It is now naturalized in many parts of the world. In the southern parts of Russia and Poland, the waste steppes are covered with this plant. Unger says it is not found either wild or cultivated in Greece, but Daubeny says at the present time it is known under the name of asparaggia, and Booth says it is common. Probably the mythological mention of the asparagus thickets which concealed Perigyne, beloved of Theseus, - the plant, in consequence, being protected by law among the Ionians inhabiting Caria - referred to another species.

Cultivated asparagus seems to have been unknown to the Greeks of the time of Theophrastus and Disocorides, and the word asparagos seems to have been used for the wild plant of another species. The Romans of the time of Cato, about 200 B.C., knew it well, and Cato's directions for culture would answer fairly well for the gardeners of today, except that he recommends starting with the seed of the wild plant, and this seems good evidence that the wild and the cultivated forms were then of the same type as they are today. Columella, in the first century, recommends transplanting the young roots from a seed-bed and devotes some space to their after-treatment. He offers choice of cultivated seed or that from the wild plant, without indicating preference. Pliny, who also wrote in the first century, says that asparagus, of all the plants of the garden, receives the most praiseworthy care and also praises the good quality of the kind that grows wild in the island of Nesida near the coast of CampaniABUTILON In his praise of gardens, he says: "Nature has made the asparagus wild, so that any one may gather as found. Behold the highly-manured asparagus may be seen at Ravenna weighing three pounds." Palladius, an author of the third century, rather praises the sweetness of the wold form found growing among the rocks and recommends transplanting it to such places otherwise worthless for agriculture, but he also gives full directions for garden culture with as much care as did Cato. Gesner quotes Pomponius, who lived in the second century, as saying that there are two kinds, the garden and the wild asparagus, and that the wild asparagus is the more pleasant to eat. Suetonius, about the beginning of the second century, informs the more pleasant to eat. Suetonius, about the beginning of the second century, informs us how partial the Emperor Augustus was to asparagus, and Erasmus also mentions it.

ARGENTEUIL

Excerpted from Montagne, Prosper. 1961. Larousee Gastronomique. The Encyclopedia of Food, Wine & Cookery. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York.
is asparagus cultivated in the Argenteuil region, in Sein-et-Oise, enjoys world-wide reputation.
Excerpts from Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. A World of Vegetable Cookery. Simon and Schuster, New York.
Asparagus (a member of the Lily Family, known botanically as Asparagus officinalis) is a native of Europe. It still grows wild in fields in France, and has been in more or less extensive cultivation for more than two thousand years, having been known and prized by the Greeks and the Romans.

Several other kinds of Asparagus are frequent ornamentals in our warm climes, and in greenhouses elsewhere. Asparagus fern (A. plumosus) and Asparagus Sprengeri are the best known of these.
United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Assn. 727 N. Washington, Alexandria, VA 22314
OCTOBER 1966 original authors, G.R. EHLERT & R.A. SEELIG; scanned and edited by ZoeAnn Holmes

Asparagus, a genus of the Liliaceae, or lily, family, has some 150 species, both ornamental and edible. The lily family includes such plants as onions, garlic, leeks, lilies, tulips, hyacinths, and gladioli. The garden variety of asparagus, Asparagus officinalis altilis, is described by the Baileys as, "A developed or ameliorated form of the native Asparagus officinalis of the seacoasts of Europe and Asia, hardy perennial, grown for its edible spring shoots, the indigenous plant in its native countries is short-branched and more or less prostrate at base whereas the domestic asparagus (var. altilis) is strongly erect, to 3 feet or more."

"To be of best quality," says USDA, "asparagus should be fresh and firm with closed compact tips and the entire green por tion tender. Asparagus ages rapidly after cutting; tips become Partiallv open, spread, or wilt.

Asparagus per 100 Grams

Nutrient

  

Water (g)

92.25

Calories

22.0

Protein, g

3.06

Fat g

0.22

CHO: total, g

3.69

CHO: fiber, dietary g

0.83

Ash, mg

0.79

Calcium, mg

22.0

Phosphorus, mg

52.0

Iron, mg

0.68

Sodium, mg

2.00

Potassium, mg

302.00

Vitamin A, IU

897.00

Thiamine, mg

0.114

Riboflavin, mg

0.124

Niacin, mg

1.138

Ascorbic Acid, mg

33.00

Excerpts from Bender, Arnold E. 1990. Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. Butterworths, Boston.
Young shoot of Asparagus officinalis.
Analysis per 100g: protein 1.4g, fat 0.1g, Ca 14mg, Fe 0.6 mg, kcal 14 (60kJ), vitamin A 220 ug, vitamin B1 0.11 mg, vitamin B2 0.13 mg, nicotinic acid 0.9 mg, vitamin C 22mg.


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