Cress (''Lepidium sativum''), sometimes referred to as garden cress (or curly cress) to distinguish it from similar plants also referred to as cress (from old Germanic ''cresso'' which means sharp, spicy), is a rather fast-growing, edible herb. Garden cress is genetically related to

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...

and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

, sharing their peppery, tangy flavour and aroma. In some regions, garden cress is known as mustard and cress, garden pepper cress, pepperwort, pepper grass, or poor man's pepper.Staub, Jack E, Buchert, Ellen
75 Exceptional Herbs for Your Garden
Published by Gibbs Smith, 2008. , 9781423602514 This annual plant can reach a height of , with many branches on the upper part. The white to pinkish flowers are only across, clustered in small branched racemes. When consumed raw, cress is a high- nutrient food containing substantial content of vitamins A, C and K and several

dietary minerals In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. However, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, ...

In agriculture

Garden cress is commercially grown in England, France, and Scandinavia.Vegetables of Canada
NRC Research Press. , Cultivation of cress is practical both on mass scales and on the individual scale. Garden cress is suitable for

hydroponic Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plant ...

cultivation and thrives in slightly alkaline water. In many local markets, the demand for hydroponically grown cress can exceed available supply, partially because cress leaves are not suitable for distribution in dried form, so they can only be partially preserved. Consumers commonly acquire cress as seeds or (in Europe) from markets as boxes of young live shoots. Edible shoots are typically harvested in one to two weeks after planting, when they are tall.Hirsch, David P.. Th
Moosewood Restaurant kitchen garden: creative gardening for the adventurous cook"> Moosewood Restaurant kitchen garden: creative gardening for the adventurous cook
Ten Speed Press, 2020. ,

Culinary uses

Garden cress is added to soups, sandwiches and salads for its tangy flavour. It is also eaten as sprouts, and the fresh or dried seed pods can be used as a peppery seasoning (''haloon''). In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, cut cress shoots are commonly used in sandwiches with boiled

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, mayonnaise and salt.

Nutrition

Raw cress is 89% water, 6% carbohydrates (including 1% dietary fiber), 3%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

and less than 1%

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

(table). In a reference quantity, raw cress supplies of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohy ...

and numerous nutrients in significant content, including

vitamin K Vitamin K refers to structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamers found in foods and marketed as dietary supplements. The human body requires vitamin K for post-synthesis modification of certain proteins that are required for blood coagulation ...

(516% of the

Daily Value The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products in the U.S. and Canada is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of healthy ...

, DV),

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

(83% DV) and

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...

(43% DV). Among dietary minerals,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

levels are high (26% DV) while several others, including

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosph ...

and

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

, are in moderate content (table).

Other uses

Garden cress, known as ''chandrashoor'', and the seeds, known as aaliv or aleev in Marathi, or ''halloon'' in India, are commonly used in the system of

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

. It is also known as ''asario'' in India and the Middle East where it is prized as a medicinal herb, called ''habbat al hamra'' (literally red seeds) in Arabic. In the Arabian Peninsula, the seeds are traditionally mixed with custard to make a hot drink. ''L. sativum'' is often used in experiments to teach biology to students in schools; the plant grows readily on damp paper or cotton, and its fast germination and development time makes it useful in demonstrating plant growth.

Gallery

File:Cress keyboard-3 sprouting other side.jpg, Garden cress can grow almost anywhere. File:Garden cress timelapse.webm, Timelapse of garden cress sprouting. File:Garden cress curry.jpg, Garden cress

saag Saag (), also spelled sag or saga, is an Indian leaf vegetable dish eaten with bread such as roti or naan, or in some regions with rice. Saag can be made from spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, basella, finely chopped broccoli or other ...

(known as chamsur in Nepali) is a popular dish in Nepalese cuisine.

References