What are
What are Sea Asparagus?
Sea asparagus are herbaceous plants of the Chenopodiaceae botanical family - or Amaranthaceae, depending on the botanical classification - and Genus Salicornia (or Queller ); the most widespread species is S. europaea .
This is a group of botanical species that are very similar and almost indistinguishable.
Also known as salicornia, sea asparagus are real succulent plants; known for their edibility, but above all for their typically savory taste, they are used in the kitchen as a side dish or ingredient for more elaborate recipes.
From a nutritional point of view, in the context of vegetables, sea asparagus is distinguished by its consistent energy intake; it goes without saying that, comparing it to the average of foods, they are still very little energy. Belonging to the sixth fundamental group of foods, salicornia is an excellent source of vitamin A - retinol or equivalent (RAE, pro-vitamins A) - few soluble sugars and fibers. That being said, its primary nutritional characteristic is however linked to the hydro-saline concentration, which makes it a real source of water and above all of precious sea minerals - including iodine.
Not even distantly related to the common asparagus, the sea asparagus is identified as such due to the shape it can remember - not much in reality, but more than the other plants - Asparagus officinalis . Morphologically speaking, salicornia is in fact quite unique in its kind; it can be recognized for the typically branched form, apparently without leaves, fleshy and succulent. The name of salicornia, on the other hand, is the fruit of the union between salts and cornea, obviously referring primarily to the gustatory characteristic and secondly to the typically horned form. Other names of sea asparagus are: sea fennel and sea beans.
It is therefore deducible that sea asparagus has a high affinity for salty, sandy or muddy soils. They mainly occupy the sea shore, especially where stagnant water tends to form, and it is very common in the salt pans. They are distributed throughout Eurasia.
Nutritional Properties
Nutritional properties of sea asparagus
Sea asparagus belongs to the VI fundamental group of foods - sources of vitamin A or RAE, specific minerals, water and fiber - and they are particularly rich in minerals typically dissolved in the sea.
In the context of vegetables or vegetables, salicornia has a considerable energy supply, which is around 65 kcal / 100 g. Energy is supplied mainly by proteins (over 13 g / 100 g), followed by few carbohydrates (just over 3 g / 100 g) and finally by lipids, which are irrelevant but of excellent quality. Peptides have an incomplete biological value, ie they do not contain all the essential amino acids compared to the human protein model, sugars are almost completely soluble (fructose) and unsaturated fatty acids with an excellent percentage of the essential polyunsaturates of the omega 3 group (alpha linolenic acid) .
Sea asparagus contains dietary fiber; they are instead free of cholesterol, lactose and gluten. They are also poor in phenylalanine, purines and histamine.
As for vitamins, as we have anticipated, they are fairly rich in retinol equivalents (vitamin A and provitamins, for example retinol equivalents or RAE). Among the most abundant minerals in sea asparagus we mention: sodium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, copper and iodine - the most interesting from a nutritional point of view.
Diet
Sea asparagus in the diet
Sea asparagus is a food that lends itself to most dietary regimes.
Objectively low in calories, they have no contraindications in the low-calorie diet. Due to the presence of omega 3, fibers and the absence of cholesterol, like other vegetables, they lend themselves to the diet against dyslipidemia - hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia - and hyperglycemia - even in the presence of overt type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Despite being a natural source of sodium, sea asparagus can be included in the diet against sodium sensitive hypertension. This is because, compared to foods with added salt - for example cured meats, potato chips in packets, seasoned cheeses etc. - being a vegetable, salicornia still provides an exponentially lower sodium level and a concentration of precious minerals worthy of note. Obviously, this consideration is valid only if the discretionary salt is not used to season it.
The presence of fibers, probably abundant, plays a positive role on the health of the intestine preventing constipation or constipation and all the related complications - diverticulosis, diverticulitis, haemorrhoids, anal fissures, prolapse, etc .; furthermore, in the long term, the fibers are able to decrease the incidence of certain types of colon cancer. Moreover, giving satiety and positively modulating the absorption of fats and carbohydrates, they are a panacea in the therapy against overweight, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia. The soluble ones take on an important prebiotic role and play a positive role in maintaining the trophism of the intestinal bacterial flora - which further contributes to keeping the colon healthy.
Vitamin A is probably present in the form of retinol equivalents - for example carotenoids - powerful antioxidants and retinol precursors, which maintains essential functions such as visual, reproductive, cell differentiation, etc.
The water and minerals of sea asparagus promote the maintenance of hydration and prevent electrolyte imbalance - both more frequent in athletes and the elderly. The levels of iodine, iron - although not very bioavailable - and calcium are particularly interesting. In particular, iodine is a very rare micro-element in food but extremely important, because it is necessary for the correct functioning of the thyroid gland - which produces hormones that regulate cellular metabolism: T3 and T4.
Kitchen
How do you eat sea asparagus?
Sea asparagus are edible plants that have nothing to do with common asparagus. Instead, they are one of the most prized wild herbs, known for their savory taste and slightly spicy flavor. Excellent eaten raw or boiled, they have the primary gastronomic function of side dish; can also be preserved pickled.
The only fundamental requirement in the harvest of sea asparagus is the choice of young plants. Harvesting is done by hand, mainly in the month of May. Because the roots draw directly from seawater, the plant contains all the nutrients and minerals in this environment; it is therefore endowed with a certain sapidity and, at the same time, with a discreet thirst-quenching ability.
Other uses of sea asparagus
In the past, the ashes of sea asparagus were used for saponification. In the production of blown glass, they were used to reduce the melting point of the material, hence the German name "Glasschmelz".
Description
Description of sea asparagus
Sea asparagus are halophytic herbaceous succulent plants, typically annual, that reach 5-45 cm in height. They are green throughout most of the year; only at the end of September, October, November and early December, months in which they become more luxuriant, they take on a typically red or yellowish color. Depending on the subspecies, the stem of the salicornia can be more or less branched, in an erect or horizontal position, covered or less with tiny laminae.
The sea asparagus flowering period is from June to September. They produce from one to three flowers housed between the bracts, inconspicuous and hermaphroditic. Then the capsules are formed from these, covered by the spongy tepal shaped like a sack and rich in salt.
Botany
Elements of sea asparagus botany
Sea asparagus are herbaceous plant organisms. They also constitute a succulent succulent plant, capable of retaining high percentages of water and salt. Belonging to the Chenopodiaceae Family - or Amaranthaceae, depending on the botanical classification - common sea asparagus is of the genus Salicornia and specie europaea .
Widespread especially in the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, from Europe to Asia (China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia), or Northern Eurasia, they flourish in the muddy and sandy expanses of the North Sea and the Baltic, on the Atlantic coast and in the Mediterranean basin.
Sea asparagus can also extend further into the sea, on the shoreline of the tides, thanks to its high tolerance to stagnant and salt terrestrials. Here they form the so-called "quellerzone", where they often share the ground with the Spartina anglica .
However, the salicornia can also grow inland, on highly saline soils. The species most easily found in these areas is the Salicornia perennans, similar to the European salicornia but genetically different from the coast populations.
In Austria, sea asparagus grows in the salt flats of the Pannonian region of Burgenland, particularly in the Seewinkel, where it is considered an endangered species.
Taxonomy of sea asparagus
The succulence - characteristic of some types of plants, such as aloe vera - the particular morphology and the great variability among the groups of the same species have made the taxonomic classification of salicornia very difficult.
Until 2011, some species and subspecies of the species S. europaea were recognized: S. Europaea subsp Europaea, S. Europaea subsp brachystacha, Salicornia procumbens and Salicornia stricta .
However in 2012 from studies of molecular genetics Kadereit et al. have divided Eurasian plants into two groups of species with related subtypes:
- Species group Salicornia europaea, with two cryptospecies that are genetically distinct but morphologically similar:
- Salicornia europaea, with three subtypes:
- Salicornia europaea subsp. Europaea
- Salicornia europaea subsp. Disarticulata
- Salicornia europaea subsp. × marshallii
- Salicornia perennans, with two subspecies:
- Salicornia perennans Perennans
- Salicornia perennans Altaica
- Salicornia europaea, with three subtypes:
- Species group Salicornia procumbens and persica :
- Salicornia procumbens, with four subspecies:
- Salicornia procumbens Procumbens
- Salicornia procumbens Freitagii
- Salicornia procumbens Pojarkovae
- Salicornia procumbens Heterantha
- Salicornia persica, with two subspecies:
- Salicornia persica persica
- Iranian Salicornia persica .
Ecology of sea asparagus
Sea asparagus are the first colonizers - due to population density - of sandy and muddy sea soils, preceded only by algae and underwater plants. Thanks to their marked salt tolerance, they already grow in the area of the shore and contribute to the consolidation of suspended matter. This process, also called sedimentation, gradually leads to the stratification of the soil.
Alofite obligated, the salicornie tolerate the highest salt content of all terrestrial herbaceous plants. They use their succulence as a strategy to dilute absorbed salts and thrive in highly concentrated mineral soils. Sodium ions bind to water that is stored in large vacuoles, preventing the accumulation of excessive intracellular salt concentrations. The life cycle ends when the concentration of salt becomes excessive and the plant darkens to brown or red, until death.
The seeds of sea asparagus, released in enormous quantities after the death of the organism, maintain a long germination capacity in the soil - up to 50 years - but they require however the germination in fresh water that occurs only after a rain or a river flooding . After the shoot, the young plant tolerates the full concentration of the sea water. In spring young seedlings develop, which grow quickly. In August, during flowering, pollination takes place by wind.
The seeds of salicornia, in the winter period, constitute an important nutritional source for various species of seabirds.
