It comes in green, white, and even purple. Valuable vitamins, numerous minerals, and few calories make it particularly healthy. We are talking about asparagus. We explain to you the benefits that asparagus has on your health and give you useful tips on how to buy, store and prepare asparagus properly.

Asparagus soup, asparagus with hollandaise sauce or simply with butter – the elongated vegetable can be used in the kitchen in many ways. In addition to the delicious taste, you do something good for your health when you eat it.

Interesting Facts About Asparagus

Interesting Facts About Asparagus

The word asparagus comes from the Latin asparagus officinalis. This literally means “medicine.” It is a genus of plants in the asparagus family. Especially in Eurasia and Africa, the asparagus is widespread.

Depending on the literature source, there is talk of 160 to 300 different species of asparagus. Some are even used as ornamental plants because of their beautiful flowers.

The most important species in the economy is the vegetable asparagus. This grows as a semi-shrub or as a herbaceous plant. The erect stems partially climb and have branching.

At the beginning of the season, asparagus grows about one centimeter per day. From the middle of the season, it then grows up to five centimeters a day. The taste of asparagus is only bitter if it was stung too close to the rootstock during harvesting.

History and Develpoment of Asparagus

The vegetable asparagus was already appreciated by the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans as a medicinal plant. He found mainly the use as a support of the liver, lungs and kidneys and was considered as well as metabolism stimulating.

Due to the increasing demand, however, asparagus was not increasingly planted until the 16th century. At that time it was mainly a dish for the rich. The terms white gold, imperial vegetable and edible ivory for asparagus also date from this period.

However, for some inexplicable reason, the aristocratic vegetable later became a food for poor people. Since the 19th century, the seasonal vegetable has once again been considered a delicacy. Since asparagus made it to all supermarkets, it is even one of the most expensive vegetables ever.

Variety of Asparagus: Green, White or Purple

Green, White and Purple Asparagus

Do you prefer white or green asparagus? In generally, both varieties are very popular, and purple asparagus is slowly becoming a bit more popular as well. The different colors come from different growing methods.

The color of green asparagus is formed by chlorophyll. However, this plant pigment is only produced by exposure to sunlight. Therefore, green asparagus must be grown above ground. Because of the sun, green asparagus contains slightly more vitamin C, beta-carotene and flavor-giving substances. As a result, it tastes quite strong and flavorful and does not need to be peeled.

White asparagus is protected from the sun by piled soil. Therefore it…

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