Place of Birth
The geography of origin is for certain unknown. According to one of the versions, the homeland of the radish is France. Local farmers got tired of throwing out a small turnip and, differing in love with everything miniature, they brought out an elegant vegetable with improved qualities: softer, tender and shallow. The radish moved to the Slavic lands in the 18th century thanks to Peter I: while in Amsterdam, he appreciated the taste of pink and white balls and ordered them to be grown everywhere in Russia. Today, this root crop is spread all over the world and even recently mastered space. Choosing what is best to grow on board a space shuttle, specialists stopped on the radish - a delicious and healthy root crop: a nice root crop is unpretentious and quickly ripens.
Special signs
A real conspirator. Thanks to the efforts of breeders, the color of the tubers can be bright pink, white, yellow, raspberry, purple or burgundy. The form of the vegetable has a variety: rounded, flattened, elongated, cylindrical. If it were not for the familiar green foliage and a small tail, it would be difficult to understand what a miracle is in front of you. It is characterized by "leanness": in 100 g of product about 20 kcal.
Mother - turnips: having modified it, breeders and received small pink-white fruits. Do not be surprised, but radish is also a close relative of cabbage, they belong to the same family of cruciferous (or cabbage). Radish in Latin means "root", and "cabbage" - "head", here is the last and "headed" the whole family. In the bitterness of the vegetable, genes are guilty, because other members of the family - rutabaga, radish, watercress, horseradish and mustard sweetness do not differ.
Financial situation
Rich in vitamin C - the brighter the root, the more valuable substance in it. It has in its arsenal of vitamins of group B, mineral salts of iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and fiber. The object of special pride for radish - a delicious and healthy root - essential oils, thanks to them the radish has a light bitterness and many useful properties. In the tops of the vegetable there are more vitamins and minerals, but there are fewer etheric substances irritating the sick stomachs.
Fighting with spring hypovitaminosis, poor appetite, loss of strength, hypertension, toxins, cough (used juice), digestion, metabolism, strengthening of immunity and cardiac muscle.
Personal qualities
It is easy to enter into the trust - once you taste the radish, you do not want to exclude it from your menu, neither adults nor children. He does not like being alone, that is why he sells mostly beams. But with all its usefulness, there is one nuance: mustard oil and phytoncides irritate the nerve endings of the stomach and stimulate the production of gastric juice, increasing appetite. It turns out that those who want to lose weight, hoping for a low calorie radish - a delicious and healthy root, risk getting a waist wider after dinner with a salad with a bright fruit, a roused hunger will have to be tamed by something else. Because of the same irritating qualities with radish, it is not recommended to be closely friends to those who have gastric ulcer, gastritis with high acidity, problems with the gall bladder, duodenum and pancreas.
Health status
If it is sufficiently spicy, crunchy, has a bright green tops and a smooth peel - in front of you the best of its representatives. Small specks, lethargy, looseness inside and the presence of cracks indicate the advanced age of the fetus. Life expectancy: no more than five days with the tops and up to two weeks without the "tops", but in any case the radish should be stored in the refrigerator.
Social status
Due to the abundance of vegetable protein and culinary variations, radishes are particularly respected among vegetarians. The hostesses and cooks recognize him as the king of the spring table: they prepare all sorts of salads and okroshki with root vegetables, their tops (tops) are added to soups, and the most experienced of cooks and cooks roast radish in vegetable oil. It turns out very tasty and doubly crispy! On a special account, he is among the masters of carving (the art of carving from vegetables and fruits) - from bright fruits, beautiful flowers are obtained. But most of all radishes are revered in Mexico. On the eve of the Catholic Christmas in one of the towns is held "Radish Night". On the holiday, farmers gather and organize a contest: who radishes grew busier, longer, wider, thicker, thinner, more bent ... For some specimens, clothes and accessories are made especially, and exposures are created with them.
The main rule of the festival : radish and only radish!
The greenhouse radish, which first appears on the shelves, contains a decent amount of nitrates. The salts of nitrogen are harmless in themselves, but the nitrites formed from them during cooking or digesting in the body can cause poisoning. The radish accumulates most of the nitrogenous substances near the tail and in the peel, therefore, in order to reduce the amount of nitrates in the fetus, these parts must be cut off. Nitrogenous compounds are readily soluble in water: after soaking the radish for 15-20 minutes (change the liquid twice), you can say goodbye to a quarter of the undesirable components. Vitamin C stops the conversion of nitrates into nitrites, so before you eat a crisp salad, you can take ascorbic. Buy the first spring vegetables better in organized trading places. After all, in the markets and in supermarkets all vegetables and fruits undergo an examination for the content of nitrates, in the spontaneous market such an analysis, of course, no one needs to demand.