Lettuce

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Lettuce
Lettuce yellow red variety

Lettuce , also called main salad in Austria , ( Lactuca sativa Butterhead group , syn. Lactuca sativa var. Capitata L. ) is a group of varieties of garden lettuce ( Lactuca sativa ). The stem axis is strongly compressed so that the leaves form a dense, rounded "head". The leaves of lettuce are usually eaten raw.

description

The general properties of the lettuce are similar to those of the other garden salads : they are annual to biennial plants with a long taproot that initially form a basal leaf rosette , later the branched inflorescence appears with numerous yellow flowers .

In the lettuce group of varieties, the stem axis is strongly compressed, so that the leaves surrounding the stem sit close together, overlap and form a closed head. The shape is somewhat flattened, the outer leaves are curved outwards. The leaves are usually wider than long, wrinkled, the surface is soft and feels slightly oily. Most varieties have green leaves, but there are also reddish and yellowish leaves. During the flowering period, the stem axis is greatly elongated. There are varieties that flower quickly under long-day conditions; others keep their closed shape even in summer.

history

The lettuce is said to come from the wild lettuce ( Lactuca serriola ), a steppe plant that occurs in large parts of southern Europe and the Middle East.

In ancient times it was found in ancient Egypt and Greece , and later also with the Romans . In Central Europe he found himself under Charlemagne from the 8th century . In the Middle Ages, garden lettuce was mentioned as lactuca , but its shape and use are unclear. In one of the first illustrated herbal books of the Renaissance, Leonhart Fuchs differentiates between three types of lettuce, including a lettuce. One of the first illustrations of the lettuce can be found in 1586 (printed in 1626) by Joachim Camerarius . Due to the great demand at the court of Louis XIV , the lettuce was not only grown outdoors, but also protected.

Especially in northern Europe and North America lettuce was grown, while in the Mediterranean binding lettuce and varieties of Latin group were preferred. In 1866 Friedrich Alefeld described 65 types of lettuce, 44 of them lettuce. For 1995, Körber-Grohne is still assuming 30 types of lettuce available in Germany.

In Austria, Laibach ice cream salad was found around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Century than with curly leaves, which found its way to Graz before the First World War . Growing this ice cream lettuce resulted in a slightly sweet cabbage top . This was registered in the Austrian stud book in 1950. As a rare agricultural crop , the Graz cabbage head salad was entered in the register of traditional foods .

Cultivation

Lettuce field

Lettuce is grown both outdoors and in greenhouses . In areas with mild winters, varieties that can tolerate light frost can be sown as early as autumn, otherwise outdoor cultivation in Central Europe begins around mid-March. Lettuce needs a sunny location and regular water supply without waterlogging, the pH of the soil should not be below 5.5. The time to harvest depends heavily on the temperature and is 60 to 120 days.

Lettuce is pressure sensitive and cannot be stored for long. At a temperature of 0 ° C and a relative humidity of 95 to 98%, the storage time is about eight to twelve days. The harvest is mostly done by hand, often the heads are individually wrapped in plastic film in the field.

Körber-Grohne states an annual production in the Federal Republic of 70,000 to 75,000 tons of lettuce for the period from 1978 to 1981.

use

Lettuce is mostly eaten raw as a salad , less often than cooked vegetables.

ingredients

100 g of lettuce have a calorific value of 58 kJ (13.8 kcal ) and contain:

component amount
water 95.5%
Proteins 1.25 g
carbohydrates 2.4 g
Fats 0.21 g
Fiber 0.5 g
sodium 7 mg
magnesium 11 mg
phosphorus 26 mg
potassium 260 mg
Calcium 35 mg
iron 1.8 mg
Vitamin A 1065  IU
Vitamin B1 0.06 mg
Vitamin B2 0.06 mg
vitamin C 8 mg
niacin 0.3 mg

Web links

Wiktionary: lettuce  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

supporting documents

literature

  • Udelgard Körber-Grohne: Useful Plants in Germany . Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-933203-40-6 , p. 270-281 .
  • Vincent E. Rubatzky, Mas Yamaguchi: World Vegetables: principles, production and nutritive values . 2nd Edition. Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg 1999, ISBN 0-8342-1687-6 , pp. 334-347 .
  • Edward J. Ryder: The New Salad Crop Revolution . In: J. Janick, A. Whipkey (Ed.): Trends in new crops and new uses . ASHS Press, 2002, pp. 408-412 ( purdue, edu ).

Individual evidence

  1. P. Hanelt & IPK (Eds.): Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops ( mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de )
  2. ^ Grazer Krauthäuptel . Entry no. 72 in the register of traditional foods of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism .
    Grazer Krauthäuptel at the Genuss Region Österreich association .
  3. Vincent E. Rubatzky, Mas Yamaguchi: World Vegetables: principles, production and nutritive values . 2nd Edition. Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg 1999, p. 821 .
  4. Vincent E. Rubatzky, Mas Yamaguchi: World Vegetables: principles, production and nutritive values . 2nd Edition. Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg 1999, p. 806 .