''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 wid ...

herbaceous plant of the family Lamiaceae, originating from China. Its rhizome is a root vegetable 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. This way at irregular intervals constricted

tubers Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing s ...

are formed, which are usually thinner on both ends. The tubers are coby covered with a thin, pale-beige-to-

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

skin. The flesh underneath is white and tender.

Compounds

Vacuoles A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic mo ...

in the tuber of ''S. affinis'' are rich in

stachyose Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide consisting of two α--galactose units, one α--glucose unit, and one β--fructose unit sequentially linked as gal(α1→6)gal(α1→6)glc(α1↔2β)fru. Together with related oligosaccharides such as raffinose, stac ...

. Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide, consist out of

galactose Galactose (, '' galacto-'' + ''-ose'', "milk sugar"), sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a monosaccharide sugar that is about as sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. It is an aldohexose and a C-4 epimer of glucose. A galactose molecu ...

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, u ...

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

Origin and history

''S. affinis'' originates from central and northern China. 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 (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 Lamiaceae. A later described species, named ''S. sieboldii'', in dedication to the German-Dutch botanist and

japanologist Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanes ...

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 and fauna and the introduction of Western medicine in Japan. He w ...

, 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 artichoke The Jerusalem artichoke (''Helianthus tuberosus''), also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its ...

s. 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 ...

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 oth ...

, ''S. affinis'' is primarily

pickled Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...

. In particular, its tuber is a part of , cooked for celebrating

Japanese New Year The is an annual festival with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, . However, some traditional events of the Japanese New Year are par ...

. Dyed red by leaves of ''

Perilla ''Perilla'' is a genus consisting of one major Asiatic crop species ''Perilla frutescens'' and a few wild species in nature belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus encompasses several distinct varieties of Asian herb, seed, and veget ...

'' (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 acti ...

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

colds The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...

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 severi ...

. In addition, root extract of ''S. affinis'' has shown

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals ar ...

activity. Furthermore, Baek ''et al.'' observed antioxidant activity in 2004. Also in 2004 inhibitory effects on

acetylcholine esterase Acetylcholinesterase (HGNC symbol ACHE; EC 3.1.1.7; systematic name acetylcholine acetylhydrolase), also known as AChE, AChase or acetylhydrolase, is the primary cholinesterase in the body. It is an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of acet ...

, monoamine oxidase and

xanthine oxidase Xanthine oxidase (XO, sometimes XAO) is a form of xanthine oxidoreductase, a type of enzyme that generates reactive oxygen species. These enzymes catalyze the oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and can further catalyze the oxidation of xanthin ...

activities were observed in rat brains after 20 days of feeding with methanolic extracts of ''S. affinis.'' Ethanol extract from this plant also seems to have

antitumour Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

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