Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue
Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i> is one of the world’s top 20 vegetable crops. Both green and white shoots (spears) are produced; the latter being harvested before becoming exposed to light. The crop is grown in nearly all areas of the world, with the largest production...
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doaj-62841765e1a042949c536c88f8b3b70f2020-11-25T01:40:14ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892019-12-011011710.3390/metabo10010017metabo10010017Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary IntrigueEirini Pegiou0Roland Mumm1Parag Acharya2Ric C. H. de Vos3Robert D. Hall4Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsBusiness Unit Bioscience, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsUnilever Foods Innovation Centre, Bronland 14, 6708WH Wageningen, The NetherlandsBusiness Unit Bioscience, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsLaboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsAsparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i> is one of the world’s top 20 vegetable crops. Both green and white shoots (spears) are produced; the latter being harvested before becoming exposed to light. The crop is grown in nearly all areas of the world, with the largest production regions being China, Western Europe, North America and Peru. Successful production demands high farmer input and specific environmental conditions and cultivation practices. <i>Asparagus</i> materials have also been used for centuries as herbal medicine. Despite this widespread cultivation and consumption, we still know relatively little about the biochemistry of this crop and how this relates to the nutritional, flavour, and neutra-pharmaceutical properties of the materials used. To date, no-one has directly compared the contrasting compositions of the green and white crops. In this short review, we have summarised most of the literature to illustrate the chemical richness of the crop and how this might relate to key quality parameters. Asparagus has excellent nutritional properties and its flavour/fragrance is attributed to a set of volatile components including pyrazines and sulphur-containing compounds. More detailed research, however, is needed and we propose that (untargeted) metabolomics should have a more prominent role to play in these investigations.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/10/1/17asparagussecondary metabolitesasparagus aromaflavourphytonutrientsplant metabolomics |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Eirini Pegiou Roland Mumm Parag Acharya Ric C. H. de Vos Robert D. Hall |
spellingShingle |
Eirini Pegiou Roland Mumm Parag Acharya Ric C. H. de Vos Robert D. Hall Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue Metabolites asparagus secondary metabolites asparagus aroma flavour phytonutrients plant metabolomics |
author_facet |
Eirini Pegiou Roland Mumm Parag Acharya Ric C. H. de Vos Robert D. Hall |
author_sort |
Eirini Pegiou |
title |
Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue |
title_short |
Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue |
title_full |
Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue |
title_fullStr |
Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue |
title_full_unstemmed |
Green and White Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i>: A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue |
title_sort |
green and white asparagus <i>(asparagus officinalis)</i>: a source of developmental, chemical and urinary intrigue |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Metabolites |
issn |
2218-1989 |
publishDate |
2019-12-01 |
description |
Asparagus <i>(Asparagus officinalis)</i> is one of the world’s top 20 vegetable crops. Both green and white shoots (spears) are produced; the latter being harvested before becoming exposed to light. The crop is grown in nearly all areas of the world, with the largest production regions being China, Western Europe, North America and Peru. Successful production demands high farmer input and specific environmental conditions and cultivation practices. <i>Asparagus</i> materials have also been used for centuries as herbal medicine. Despite this widespread cultivation and consumption, we still know relatively little about the biochemistry of this crop and how this relates to the nutritional, flavour, and neutra-pharmaceutical properties of the materials used. To date, no-one has directly compared the contrasting compositions of the green and white crops. In this short review, we have summarised most of the literature to illustrate the chemical richness of the crop and how this might relate to key quality parameters. Asparagus has excellent nutritional properties and its flavour/fragrance is attributed to a set of volatile components including pyrazines and sulphur-containing compounds. More detailed research, however, is needed and we propose that (untargeted) metabolomics should have a more prominent role to play in these investigations. |
topic |
asparagus secondary metabolites asparagus aroma flavour phytonutrients plant metabolomics |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/10/1/17 |
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