VEGETABLE


"Vegetable" comes from the Latin vegetabilis (animated) and from vegetare (enliven), which is derived from vegetus (active), in reference to the process of a plant growing. This in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European base *weg- or *wog-, which is also the source of the Englishwake, meaning "become (or stay) alert".
The word "vegetable" was first recorded in English in the 15th century, but applied to any plant. This is still the sense of the adjective "vegetable" in science. The related term vegetation also has a similarly broad scope.


The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.
However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Therefore, the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables even though they are not plants,while others consider them a separate food category.
Some vegetables can be consumed raw, some may be eaten cooked, and some must be cooked in order to be edible. Vegetables are most often cooked in savory or salty dishes. However, a few vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as rhubarb pie andcarrot cake.
As an adjective, the word vegetable is used in scientific and technical contexts with a different and much broader meaning, namely of "related to plants" in general, edible or not — as in vegetable matter, vegetable kingdom, vegetable origin, etc. The meaning of "vegetable" as "plant grown for food" was not established until the 18th century.


Fruit and vegetable output in 2004



Fruit and vegetable market in Chichicastenango




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Examples Of Different Parts Of  Plants Used As Vegetables


The list of food items called "vegetable" is quite long, and includes many different parts of plants:
  • Flower bud

broccoli, cauliflower, globe artichokes
  • Seeds
Sweetcorn (maize), peas, beans, corn
kale, collard greens, spinach, arugula, beet greens, bok choi, chard, choi sum, turnip greens, endive, lettuce, mustard greens, watercress, garlic chives, gai lan
  • Leaf sheaths
leeks
Brussels sprouts, capers
Kohlrabi
celery, rhubarb, cardoon, Chinese celery, and lemon grass
asparagus, bamboo shoots, galangal, and ginger
potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes, taro, and yams
soybean (moyashi), mung beans, urad, and alfalfa.
carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, and burdocks.
onions, shallots, garlic
  • Fruits in the botanical sense, but used as vegetables
tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchinis, pumpkins, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, christophene, okra, breadfruit and avocado, and also the following:
green beans, lentils, snow peas, soybean



A Cilantro leaf

Cauliflower

A rutabaga root




Nutrition
Vegetables are eaten in a variety of ways, as part of main meals and as snacks. The nutritional content of vegetables varies considerably, though generally they contain little protein or fat, and varying proportions of vitamins, provitamins, dietary minerals, fiber and carbohydrates. Vegetables contain a great variety of other phytochemicals, some of which have been claimed to have antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal,antiviral and anticarcinogenic properties.
However, vegetables often also contain toxins and antinutrients such as α-solanine, α-chaconine, enzyme inhibitors (of cholinesterase,protease, amylase, etc.), cyanide and cyanide precursors, oxalic acid, and more. Depending on the concentration, such compounds may reduce the edibility, nutritional value, and health benefits of dietary vegetables. Cooking and/or other processing may be necessary to eliminate or reduce them.
Diets containing recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables may help lower the risk of heart diseases and type 2 diabetes. These diets may also protect against some cancers and decrease bone loss. The potassium provided by both fruits and vegetables may help prevent the formation of kidney stones.
South Asian style stir fry ipomoea aquatica in chili and sambal


Color Pigments
The green color of leafy vegetables is due to the presence of the green pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is affected by pH and changes to olive green in acid conditions, and bright green in alkaline conditions. Some of the acids are released in steam during cooking, particularly if cooked without a cover.
The yellow/orange colors of fruits and vegetables are due to the presence of carotenoids, which are also affected by normal cooking processes or changes in pH.
The red/blue coloring of some fruits and vegetables (e.g. blackberries and red cabbage) are due to anthocyanins, which are sensitive to changes in pH. When pH is neutral, the pigments are purple, when acidic, red, and when alkaline, blue. These pigments are very water soluble.

A green color of leafy vegetable - green pigment chlorophyll



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List Of Culinary Vegetables

This is a list of vegetables in the culinary sense. This means that the list includes some botanical fruits such as pumpkins, and does not include herbs, spices, cereals and most culinary fruits and culinary nuts. Currently edible fungi are not included on this list.
Some culinary vegetables (like laver) are not even members of the plant kingdom.


Leafy And Salad Vegetables



Fruits



Flowers And Flower Buds



Podded Vegetables (Legumes)



Bulb And Stem Vegetables



Root And Tuberous Vegetables



Sea Vegetables








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Leaf Vegetables

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, green vegetables, greens, leafy greens or salad greens, are plant leaves cooked and eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Although they come from a very wide variety of plants, most share a great deal with other leaf vegetables in nutrition and cooking methods.
Nearly one thousand species of plants with edible leaves are known. Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants such as lettuce and spinach. Woody plants whose leaves can be eaten as leaf vegetables include Adansonia, Aralia, Moringa, Morus, and Toona species.
The leaves of many fodder crops are also edible by humans, but usually only eaten under famine conditions. Examples include alfalfa, clover, and most grasses, including wheat and barley. These plants are often much more prolific than more traditional leaf vegetables, but exploitation of their rich nutrition is difficult, primarily because of their high fiber content. This obstacle can be overcome by further processing such as drying and grinding into powder or pulping and pressing for juice.
During the first half of the 20th century, it was common for greengrocers to carry small bunches of herbs tied with a string to small green and red peppers, known as "potherbs."



Fresh Swiss Chard

C & M Greengrocers; 27 Arlington Avenue,Kenton




Nutrition

Leaf vegetables are typically low in calories, low in fat, high in protein per calorie, high in dietary fiber, high in iron and calcium, and very high in phytochemicals such as vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein, folate as well as Vitamin K.







Preparation

Leaf vegetables may be stir-fried, stewed or steamed. Leaf vegetables stewed with pork are a traditional dish in soul food, and southern U.S. cuisine. They are also commonly eaten in a variety of South Asian dishes such as saag. Leafy greens can be used to wrap other ingredients like a tortilla. Most leaf vegetables can also be eaten raw, for example in sandwiches or salads. A green smoothie enables large quantities of raw leafy greens to be consumed by blending the leaves with fruit and water.

Stir-fried vegetables

Steamed Kale





List Of Common Leaf Vegetables

This is a list of common leaf vegetables or pot-herbs (vegetables eaten as the cooked leaves). For an exhaustive list, see list of plants with edible leaves; the list below is meant to include only the most popular categories of cultivated or foraged greens. For example, spinach leaves would be likely to be included, but leaves of the Japanese Walnut tree would not. Note that because of variations in names some items appear more than once in the list.




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List Of Root Vegetables

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.
Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of carbohydrate. Of particular economic importance are those with a high carbohydrate concentration in the form of starch. Starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, particularly in tropical regions, overshadowing cereals throughout much of West Africa, Central Africa, and Oceania, where they are used directly or mashed to make fufu or poi.
Botany distinguishes true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots from non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs, though some contain both taproot and hypocotyl tissue, making it difficult to tell some types apart. In ordinary, agricultural, and culinary use, "root vegetable" can apply to all these types.
The following list classifies root vegetables according to anatomy.



True Roots


Cassava tuberous roots

Carrot roots




Modified Plant Stem


Chinese water chestnut corms

Ginger rhizomes

Groundnut tubers


Bulb

Garlic bulbs


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Vegetable Juice

Vegetable juice is a drink made primarily of blended vegetables. Vegetable juice is often mixed with fruits such as tomatoes or grapes to improve flavor. It is often touted as a low-sugar alternative to fruit juice, although some commercial brands of vegetable juices use fruit juices as sweeteners, and may contain large amounts of sodium.


Home-made Juice

Making vegetable juice at home is an alternative to buying commercial juices, and may be beneficial for supplementing diets low in vegetables and fruits. Special vegetable juicers are recommended for blending vegetables, as they employ either a slow-geared grinding mechanism or a unit powered by centrifugal force. Compared to a higher speed blender or fruit juicer, the slower speed protects the vegetables from oxidationand heat (from friction), which reduces nutrient breakdown.



Varieties
Commercial vegetable juices are commonly made from varying combinations of carrots, beets, pumpkin, and tomatoes. The latter two, although not technically vegetables, are commonly used to increase palatability. Other popular items in vegetable juices are parsley, dandelion greens, kale, celery, fennel, and cucumbers. Lemon, garlic and ginger may be added by some for medicinal purposes.
Other common juices include carrot juice, tomato juice, turnip juice, and V8 Juice.
In Asian cultures, primarily Chinese, Dioscorea opposita (Chinese: shān yào, Japanese: nagaimo) is also used for vegetable juices. They are used quite sparingly, however, for many Chinese consider it to be a medicine rather than a vegetable.
Kale juice marketed as Aojiru in Japan has become well known for its purported health benefits and bitter taste.
Japan also markets several kinds of vegetable juices which, unlike Western juices such as V8, usually depend on carrots and fruits instead of large amounts of tomato juice for their flavor. The Yasai Seikatsu brand by Kagome is a popular variety, and is even an option in McDonald's Happy Meals.



Nutrition
In general, vegetable juices are recommended as supplements to whole vegetables, rather than as a replacement. However, the actual nutritional value of juices versus whole vegetables is still contested.
USDA guidelines for Americans states that 3/4 cup of 100% vegetable juice is equivalent to one serving of vegetables. This is upheld by a recent study, which found that juices provide the same health benefits as whole vegetables in terms of reducing risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Another study has found that drinking vegetable juice reduces risks of Alzheimer's Disease by 76%.
However, the British Nutrition Foundation holds that although vegetable juice counts as a serving, it can only count as one serving, regardless of the amount of juice drunk. It is unclear whether this is referring to commercial juices only, or includes home-made juices. Additionally, A 2007 Japanese study showed that although Japanese commercial juices had nutritional benefits, they were insufficient as a primary mode of vegetable consumption.
Many popular vegetable juices, particularly ones with high tomato content, are high in sodium, and therefore consumption of them for health must be carefully considered. Some vegetables such as beets also contain large amounts of sugar, so care must be taken when adding these to juices.
Although the actual nutritional benefits of vegetable juice are contested, a recent UC Davis study found that drinking vegetable juice daily significantly increased drinkers' chances of meeting the daily recommended number of vegetable servings. Having an easy source of vegetables encouraged drinkers to incorporate more vegetables into their diets.

ABOVE
EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF PLANTS USED AS VEGETABLES
LIST OF CULINARY VEGETABLES
LIST OF LEAF VEGETABLES
LIST OF ROOT VEGETABLES
VEGETABLE JUICE

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