Cynara scolymus L.= C. cardunculus var. scolymus
Fam. Asteraceae (Compositae)
Subfam. Tubuliflorae
Description
The artichoke is a biennial herbaceous plant probably derived from the horticultural selection of the thistle. Therefore it is not found spontaneously, but is abundantly cultivated as a vegetable.
In the first year a rosette of very elongated and deeply divided basal leaves develops; in the second, the single flower stem develops from the center of the rosette with smaller sessile leaves and at the top the large flower heads with hermaphroditic tubular flowers, with 5 blue-violet petals. The basal leaves of the artichoke are pinnate-lots 30-60 cm long and 5-10 cm broad, with prominent central rib and toothed segments devoid of thorns; those at the top of the caule are instead smaller, pinnatophid, lobed or almost whole. The fully developed leaf is green and glabrous on the upper side, while the lower one is lighter also due to the presence of long and very fine hairs.
Fruit: an achene supplied with pappus.
The smell of the artichoke is nil and the taste is very bitter.
Areal
According to some it would be a single species with two subspecies:C.scolymus, the artichoke, e C. cardunculus, the thistle. According to others, both were derived from the wild thistle, widespread in Mediterranean Europe and northern Africa, developing the flower heads, in the artichoke, the petioles and the leaves in the thistle. Already known to the Egyptians, the artichoke was consumed not only as a vegetable, but, in the Middle Ages, especially for the medicinal properties of the plant residing, rather than in the flower heads, in the leaves and stems of bitter taste, useful in liver disorders.
Culture
The artichoke wants a temperate and not humid climate, deep soil and rich in organic substance. Reproduction is done by seeds or, preferably by suckers (carducci), choosing those that have some woody roots and 3-5 leaves. The carducci are planted in holes of about 30 cm at a distance of 1m from each other. In the hole, above the fertilizer, the sucker is planted at a depth of 10 cm, then covered and bathed repeatedly. In summer, they are cut close to the soil all the stems missing flowers and in autumn all the suckers except 1-2, the most beautiful, around which the leaves are tied to protect them from the cold. In May the inflorescences that are collected begin to ripen. 3 years.
The thistle, used for the leaves, undergoes a bleaching towards the end of September-October, consisting in tying the leaves in bundles and then covering them with straw, tucking the foot well. This technique lasts 20-25 days, but can also last until December. Plants removed from the ground must be consumed immediately.
As a vegetable, the young flower heads of the artichoke are consumed, before anthesis, when they are covered by various layers of fleshy involucral bracts at the base and thorny at the apex.
The active ingredients belong to various classes of substances:
1) caffeoylquinin compounds (e.g. cynarin) 2) sesquiterpene lactones, guaianolide type, with a bitter taste (e.g. cinaropicrin) 3) flavonoid derivatives 4) Organic acids (glyceric, citric, lactic) 5) tannins, 6) organic salts of potassium and magnesium, 7) anthraquinone glucosides 8) B vitamins and beta-carotene. 9) inulin. The therapeutic activity depends on the set of substances (synergism)
Uses
In the food sector, artichokes are consumed as vegetables.
In pharmacies and herbalists, the artichoke is used as a choleretic, hepatoprotective and diuretic. In phytopharmacy the leaves are mainly used. Due to the presence of ortho-diphenols and sequiterpenic lactones, this plant is counted among the bitters, with eupeptic and stomachic functions. It is also cholesterol-lowering.
The artichoke owes its choleretic action mainly to the presence of cynarin, a bitter and aromatic substance that stimulates the secretion of bile.
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In cosmetics, artichoke is used as a skin stimulant for scalp care.
SEE ALSO: ARTICHOKES nutritional tables
Milk thistle
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