Artichokes

This requires no description. Cynaria. It has good medicinal qualities. The leaves yield a bitter juice, which is diuretic, and useful in dropsy. The fresh root sliced and boiled in water, six ounces to a quart of water, makes a decoction, has been known to cure the jaundice. The following decoction which was long kept a secret by a person at andover, is said to have carried off the water from several persons in the dropsy.

Take off artichoke leaves and stalks, three handfulls, bruised juniper berries, one quart, a handful of scraped horse-radish, bruised white mustard-seeds two table-spoonfuls; boil the whole in two gallons of water to one and strain the liquor through a cloth. Half a pint for an adult, morning and evening. Add sugar if required.

Artichoke is one of the popular winter season, edible flower bud of the mediterranean origin. Its use as a vegetable is well known since ancient times for its medicinal and health benefiting qualities. Botanically, it belongs within the thistle family (asteraceae), in the genus; cynara. Globe artichoke grows up to 1.5-2 m tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery-green leaves about 0.5 m long. Beautiful light pink flowers develop in a large head from the edible buds. The bud is composed of compactly arranged triangular scales in a whorl fashion around a central "choke.".

Each artichoke globe measures about 6-10 cm in diameter and weighs about 150 g. Fuzzy; immature florets at the centre of the bud constitute its "choke." these are inedible in older, and larger flowers. Edible portion of the buds consists primarily of the fleshy lower portions of the involucre bracts (triangular scales) and the base, known as the "heart." cardoons (cynara cardunculus) are blanched leafy vegetables, closely related to artichokes. Unlike in artichokes where the flower buds are eaten, the leafy-stalks are the edible portions in cardoons.several cultivars of artichoke grown and categorized based upon size, color, and spine.

Artichoke is low in calories and fat; 100 g of this flower bud just carries 47 calories. Nonetheless, it is a rich source of dietary fiber and anti-oxidants. It provides 5.4 g per 100 g, about 14% of rda fiber. Dietary-fiber helps control constipation conditions, decreases bad or "ldl" cholesterol levels by binding to it in the intestines andahelp cut down colon cancer risks by preventing toxic compounds in the food from absorption.

Artichoke contains bitter principles, cynarin and sesquiterpene-lactones. Scientific studies show that these compounds not just inhibit cholesterol synthesis but also increase its excretion in the bile, and thus, help overall reduction in the total cholesterol levels in the blood.

/fresh artichoke is an excellent source of vitamin, folic acid; provides about 68 ag per 100 g (17% of recommended daily allowance). Folic acid acts as a co-factor for enzymes involved in the synthesis of dna. Scientific studies have proven that adequate levels of folates in the diet during pre-conception period, and during early pregnancy, help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn baby.

Wrap the stalks of asparagus in moistened linen for a few days in a warm place, till decomposed, which may he known by their unpleasant smell. Beat in a mortar with water sufficient to dilute the viscid juice, press the juice strongly through a cloth, and heat in order to coagulate the albumen and chlorophylle. Then filter, and concentrate in a marine bath; do it a second time, and then boil down to the consistence of syrup, and put it in a cool place. The vessel containing the liquid will be lined with crystals of asparagine, covered with extractive matter; purify them by washing in cold water, or diluted spirit.