''Stachys affinis'', commonly called crosne, Chinese artichoke, Japanese artichoke, knotroot, or artichoke betony, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plant of the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

, originating from China. Its

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

is a

root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. Although botany distinguishes true roots (such as taproots and tuberous roots) from non-roots (such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers, although some contain both hypocotyl a ...

that can be eaten raw, pickled, dried or cooked.T.K. Lim, Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 11, Modifi ed Stems, Roots, Bulbs, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-26062-4_3

Description

''S. affinis'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with red to purple flowers and reaches a height of . The green leaves are opposite arranged on the stem. The rough, nettle-like leaves can be ovate-cordate shaped with a width of or ovate-oblong with a width of . The leaves are separated into a leaf blade and a petiole. The petiole has a length of and becomes shorter towards the stem apex. Similar to the

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, ''S. affinis'' grows rhizomes which are approximately long and thick. By medullary

primary growth In botany, secondary growth is the growth that results from cell division in the cambium (botany), cambia or lateral meristems and that causes the Plant stem, stems and roots to thicken, while primary growth is growth that occurs as a result of ...

they thicken primarily on the

internodes A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrien ...

and less on the

nodes In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a Vertex (graph theory), vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics *Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two ...

. This way at irregular intervals constricted tubers are formed, which are usually thinner on both ends. The tubers are coby covered with a thin, pale-beige-to- ivory skin. The flesh underneath is white and tender.

Compounds

Vacuoles in the tuber of ''S. affinis'' are rich in stachyose. Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide, consist out of galactose,

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

and

fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galacto ...

. Stachyose is up to 80-90% in dry tubers.

Origin and history

''S. affinis'' originates from central and northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It had been cultivated in China by the 13th century. Before ''S. affinis'' was introduced to Europe, a related crop named '' S. palustris'' was collected in nature to be consumed as a vegetable. Later on the Germanic peoples used '' S. recta,'' which is a further relative of ''S. affinis'', as a medicinal plant. The plant was then cultivated from the 18th century onwards. In 1882 the crop was cultivated on a farm for the first time in Crosne. ''S. affinis'' is the only labiate which is cultivated as vegetable in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century ''S. affinis'' became more and more popular until it was abandoned again in the 1970s due to problems with viruses and the plant's strong

vagility Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. Definitions Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...

(tendency to spread). Since 1990 there has been a rise in the cultivation of ''S. affinis'' again and it is available in some markets and in some grocery shops. Today the plant is listed in the "Handbook of Alien Species in Europe" as an invasive plant in Europe.

Taxonomy

The plant is part of the family

. A later described species, named ''S. sieboldii'', in dedication to the German-Dutch botanist and japanologist

Philipp Franz von Siebold Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora (plants), flora and fauna (animals), fauna and the introduction of ...

, is considered to be a synonym.

Cultivation

''S. affinis'' is planted as a bulb (vegetative) in spring (March–May). Multiple bulbs are planted deep into a hole of dimensions . The plant can achieve a height of . Weeding is necessary but it is important not to damage the root system. A sufficient water supply during summer is important. Harvest is from November to March. It is important that the soil is not frozen when harvesting. The storage of ''S. affinis'' tubers is difficult. Because of their thin skin, they can be stored only for a few days, about a week in a fridge. An alternative can be a fresh ongoing harvesting out of humid sand, thereby the tubers stay fresh for several months.

Usage

Culinary

The tubers have a crunchy texture and a sweet, nutty flavour. They can be eaten raw, pickled, dried or cooked. A wide range of uses for this vegetable leads to various dishes in the cuisine of many countries. They can be prepared similarly to Jerusalem artichokes. The leaves can be dried and made into a tea. In

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...

, ''S. affinis'' is primarily pickled. In particular, its tuber is a part of , cooked for celebrating Japanese New Year. Dyed red by leaves of '' Perilla'' (red ) after being pickled, it is called . In Korea it is called (). In

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

, its cooked tuber is often served alongside dishes named ''japonaise'' or Japanese-styled.

Medicinal

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

, the entirety of ''S. affinis'' is used as an agent to treat colds and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. In addition, root extract of ''S. affinis'' has shown antimicrobial activity. Furthermore, Baek ''et al.'' observed

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

activity in 2004. Also in 2004 inhibitory effects on acetylcholine esterase,

monoamine oxidase Monoamine oxidases (MAO) () are a family of enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of monoamines, employing oxygen to clip off their amine group. They are found bound to the outer membrane of mitochondria in most cell types of the body. The first ...

and xanthine oxidase activities were observed in rat brains after 20 days of feeding with

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

ic extracts of ''S. affinis.'' Ethanol extract from this plant also seems to have antitumour activity.

References

External links

''Stachys affinis''
in Plants for a Future database *
''Crosnes''
{{Authority control affinis Root vegetables Japanese vegetables Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge Plants described in 1833