Chenopodium album

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Chenopodium
Species:
C. album
Binomial name
Chenopodium album
Distribution, from GBIF[1]
Wild spinach

Chenopodium album is a fast-growing annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, wild spinach and fat-hen, though the latter two are also applied to other species of the genus Chenopodium, for which reason it is often distinguished as white goosefoot.[2][3][4] Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India,[5][6] and Nepal as a food crop known as bathua.

Distribution

Its native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation,[7] but includes most of Europe,[8] from where Linnaeus described the species in 1753.[9] Plants native to eastern Asia are included under C. album, but often differ from European specimens.[10] It is widely naturalized elsewhere, such as in Africa,[11] Australasia,[12] North America,[4] and Oceania,[3] and now occurs almost everywhere (except Antarctica)[1] in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland.

Description

It tends to grow upright at first, reaching heights of 10–150 cm (rarely to 3 m), but typically becomes recumbent after flowering (due to the weight of the foliage and seeds) unless supported by other plants. The leaves are alternate and varied in appearance. The first leaves, near the base of the plant, are toothed and roughly diamond-shaped, 3–7 cm long and 3–6 cm broad. The leaves on the upper part of the flowering stems are entire and lanceolate-rhomboid, 1–5 cm long and 0.4–2 cm broad; they are waxy-coated, unwettable and mealy in appearance, with a whitish coat on the underside. The small flowers are radially symmetrical and grow in small cymes on a dense branched inflorescence 10–40 cm long.[3][4][10] Further, the flowers are bisexual and female, with five tepals which are mealy on outer surface, and shortly united at the base.[13] There are five stamens.[13]

Taxonomy

Chenopodium album has a complex taxonomy and has been divided into numerous microspecies, subspecies and varieties, but it is difficult to differentiate between them. The following infraspecific taxa are accepted by the Flora Europaea:[8]

  • Chenopodium album subsp. album
  • Chenopodium album subsp. striatum (Krašan) Murr
  • Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) Uotila

Cultivation

Regions

The species are cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop (such as in lieu of spinach), as well as animal feed in Asia[5] and Africa, whereas in Europe and North America, it is commonly regarded as a weed in places such as potato fields,[14] while in Australia it is naturalised in all states and regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.[15]

Potential impact on conventional crops

It is one of the more robust and competitive weeds, capable of producing crop losses of up to 13% in corn, 25% in soybeans, and 48% in sugar beets at an average plant distribution. It may be controlled by dark tillage, rotary hoeing, or flaming when the plants are small. Crop rotation of small grains will suppress an infestation. It is easily controlled with a number of pre-emergence herbicides.[16] Its pollen may contribute to hay fever-like allergies.[17]

Pest control

Chenopodium album is vulnerable to leaf miners, making it a useful trap crop as a companion plant. Growing near other plants, it attracts leaf miners which might otherwise have attacked the crop to be protected. It is a host plant for the beet leafhopper, an insect which transmits curly top virus to beet crops.

Uses and consumption

Nutrition

Raw lamb's quarters are 84% water, 7% carbohydrates, 4% protein, and 1% fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, lamb's quarters provide 43 calories, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, vitamin C (96% DV), vitamin A (73% DV), riboflavin (37% DV), vitamin B6 (21% DV), manganese (37% DV), and calcium (31% DV), with several other dietary minerals in lesser amounts (table).

Culinary use

Rice and Chenopodium album leaf curry with onions and potatoes
Lambsquarters, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy180 kJ (43 kcal)
7.3 g
Dietary fiber4 g
0.8 g
4.2 g
VitaminsQuantity
%DV†
Vitamin A equiv.
73%
580 μg
Thiamine (B1)
14%
0.16 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
37%
0.44 mg
Niacin (B3)
8%
1.2 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
2%
0.092 mg
Vitamin B6
21%
0.274 mg
Folate (B9)
8%
30 μg
Vitamin C
96%
80 mg
MineralsQuantity
%DV†
Calcium
31%
309 mg
Iron
9%
1.2 mg
Magnesium
10%
34 mg
Manganese
37%
0.782 mg
Phosphorus
10%
72 mg
Potassium
10%
452 mg
Sodium
3%
43 mg
Zinc
5%
0.44 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water84 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA FoodData Central

The leaves and young shoots may be eaten raw or cooked as a leaf vegetable.[18][lower-alpha 1]

The flower buds and flowers can also be eaten cooked.[18] Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. Quinoa, a closely related species, is grown specifically for its seeds.[20] The Zuni people cook the young plants' greens.[21]

Archaeologists analysing carbonized plant remains found in storage pits and ovens at Iron Age, Viking Age, and Roman sites in Europe have found its seeds mixed with conventional grains and even inside the stomachs of Danish bog bodies.[22]

In India, the plant is called bathua and is found abundantly in the winter season.[23] The leaves and young shoots of this plant are used in dishes such as soups, curries, and paratha-stuffed breads, common in North India. The seeds or grains are used in phambra, gruel-type dishes in Himachal Pradesh, and in mildly alcoholic fermented beverages such as soora and ghanti. In Haryana state, the "bathue ka raita" i.e. the raita (yogurt dip) made with bathua, is commonly eaten in winters.

In Nepal, it is known as bethe or bethu. It is used to make a dish known as saag. The leaves are stir-fried with spices, chilli and diced garlic. A fermented dish known as masaura is also made by dipping the leaves in a lentil batter with spices and then dried in sun for some days. The fermented masaura can be made into a curry and served with rice.

Animal feed

As some of the common names suggest, it is also used as feed (both the leaves and the seeds) for chickens and other poultry.

Construction

The juice of this plant is a potent ingredient for a mixture of wall plaster, according to the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra, which is a Sanskrit treatise dealing with Śilpaśāstra (Hindu science of art and construction).[24]

Ayurveda

In Ayurveda traditional medicine, bathua is thought to be useful for treating various diseases,[25] although there is no clinical evidence such uses are safe or effective.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Black nightshade looks similar to this species when young, but the leaves of C. album have a white mealy texture and its axils have a red streak.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 Chenopodium album L. GBIF.org (25 November 2018) GBIF Occurrence Download doi:10.15468/dl.ie2d48
  2. ↑ BSBI: Database of names (xls file) Archived 2009-07-07 at the Portuguese Web Archive
  3. 1 2 3 Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: Chenopodium album Archived 2020-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 Flora of North America: Chenopodium album
  5. 1 2 National Institute of Industrial Research (2004). Handbook on Herbs Cultivation and Processing. Delhi, India: Asia Pacific Business Press. p. 146. ISBN 81-7833-074-1. OCLC 60522522.
  6. ↑ "Chenopodium album - Bathua". Flowersofindia.net. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Chenopodium album". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  8. 1 2 Flora Europaea: Chenopodium album
  9. ↑ Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum 1: 219. Facsimile.
  10. 1 2 Flora of China: Chenopodium album
  11. ↑ African Flowering Plants Database: Chenopodium album Archived April 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Chenopodium album". Australian Plant Name Index. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  13. 1 2 "VicFlora (Flora of Victoria) Chenopodium album". Royal Botanic Gardens Foundation, Victoria. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Grubben, G. J. H., & Denton, O. A. (2004). Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
  15. ↑ "Chenopodium album Weeds of Australia". Biosecurity Queensland Edition, Queensland Government. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "University of Florida IAS extension". Edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  17. ↑ Amini, A.; Sankian, M.; Assarehzedegan, M.A.; Vahedi, F.; Varasteh, A. (April 2011). "Chenopodium album pollen profilin (Che a 2): homology modeling and evaluation of cross-reactivity with allergenic profilins based on predicted potential IgE epitopes and IgE reactivity analysis". Molecular Biology Reports. 38 (4): 2578–87. doi:10.1007/s11033-010-0398-2. PMID 21086179. S2CID 6366778.
  18. 1 2 Benoliel, Doug (2011). Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest (Rev. and updated ed.). Seattle, WA: Skipstone. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-59485-366-1. OCLC 668195076.
  19. ↑ Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.
  20. ↑ PROTAbase: Chenopodium album Archived August 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ Castetter, Edward F. 1935 Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest I. Uncultivated Native Plants Used as Sources of Food. University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(1):1-44 (p. 16)
  22. ↑ Miles, David (1978). An introduction to Archaeology. Great Britain: Ward Lock. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7063-5725-7.
  23. ↑ "Bathua (cheel Bhaji) Glossary | Recipes with Bathua (cheel Bhaji)". Tarladalal.com. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  24. ↑ Nardi, Isabella (2007). The Theory of Citrasutras in Indian Painting. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1134165230.
  25. ↑ L. D. Kapoor, 1989, CRC Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants, CRC Press, Boston, pp. 113.
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