In family of a buckwheat family there are a lot of various interesting plants, and it not only all the known useful buckwheat. Not less tasty vegetable under the name a rhubarb belongs to this family. Let's learn more about all its features, about pluses and minuses of this plant.
Description of a rhubarb
The rhubarb — the native of China, and got it to us thanks to N.M. Przhevalsky who brought it from Central China. This big, similar to a burdock, a plant, a perennial with a powerful rhizome. One-year stalks reach up to 2 m in height. Leaves at a root — big, with long scapes, rounded ovoid. Below scapes have a large bell. In a form they are many-sided or cylindrical. On the second or third year of life on a top of a stalk the inflorescence a whisk appears. Flowers, generally white or greenish, but are also pink. Fruits are trihedral nutlets. Blossoms in July.
Types
Today there are about 20 types of a plant, but they pereopylyatsya very easily and form plodonesushchy hybrids because of what to receive clean views from seeds very not easy. It is also difficult to define also species of a rhubarb.
For receiving petiolar products grow up three main types:
- Black Sea or petiolar (has the big sizes, scapes fleshy and juicy);
- compact (it is used as vegetable products and for production of drugs, among the relatives it is considered tiny, but scapes long and fleshy);
- wavy (differs in leaves, very wavy on edge, and scapes naked, flat and melkoborozdchaty).
Except compact and wavy it is possible to carry to kids still:
- Maksimovich's rhubarb. Has almost round sheet plates (length — 50 cm, width — 60 cm). A stalk — about a meter high with a greenish inflorescence. Fruits are large, violet color;
- Vitrokk's rhubarb (most tiny). Leaves are small, on edge have folds. Scapes only 50 cm long, tsvetonosa — about 1 cm. Florets white or with a pink outflow. Seeds have brown color, and wings red;
Considerably such types as surpass the sizes fellows:
- dlanevidny and Tangut. Diameters of their bushes up to 2 m, and height of tsvetonos — up to 3 m. Have deeply cut out, gear leaves which thanks to the sizes can be applied instead of an umbrella. Inflorescences differ in red, pink or white color;
- medicinal. Has the wavy leaves reaching in length up to 1.5 m. A thick scape — about 1 m. Greenish-white inflorescences are located on tsvetonosa of two-meter length.
Whether you know? In Ancient China the rhubarb was used as the laxative cleaning and febrifuge.
Popular grades
There is very large number of various grades. They can be united in such groups:
Superearly:
- Linnya (has light green scapes, from above flat, fleshy, long).
- Champagne (has bright red, ridge, wavy, big scapes).
Early:
- Krupnochereshkovy: stalks dark red, 80 cm long, wavy leaves.
- Victoria. Stalks are a little longer — 60 cm. A shortcoming — very plentiful blossoming. Has excellent taste and it is universal in application.
- Ob. Scapes of only 22 - 23 cm. Cold-resistant, but does not maintain a drought.
- Zaryanka. Stalks from 30 to 44 cm. Differs in average ability to formation of escapes.
- Pighead. It is not inclined to plentiful blossoming. Scapes up to 50 cm.
- Seton. It is similar to Victoria, but has stalks of the big sizes.
Mid-season:
- Ogre 13. It is resistant to formation of stalks which at the basis red, and further — green. Pulp — slabovoloknisty.
- Paragon. It is similar to Champagne, but stalks strongly ridge.
- Monarch. Tall grade. Has thick, from above channeled, and from below round stalks.
It is possible to carry Victoria to table grades and Ogre 13.
Zaryanka and Krupnochereshkovy will be suitable for conservation.
Structure and useful properties
This vegetable contains such phytonutrients as cellulose, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Content of vitamins exceeds their quantity in such vegetables as cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes.
At scapes there are about 10% of sugar, about 1% of protein and 3% of pectin. High content of vitamin C, And, To and group B vitamins (a pyridoxine, Riboflavinum, thiamine and others). There is a little carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein which in an organism turn into vitamin A.
In a large number vitamin C contains in a dogrose, parsley, a coriander, a sea-buckthorn, broccoli, a hawthorn, a guelder-rose, kohlrabi cabbage.
The main advantage of a rhubarb consists in the content of such acids as apple, amber, lemon, oxalic and others. The greatest value in lemon and apple most of which of all in a plant collects in the spring. Having such rich structure, the plant has many useful properties to which the following belongs:
- Availability of acids affects annoyingly mucous a stomach. It promotes increase in amount of gastric juice and improves digestion.
- Presence of cellulose promotes clarification of intestines. If to use many scapes, then it will cause laxative effect, and reception of a small amount, on the contrary, knitting.
- It is useful to accept at avitaminosis and as the all-strengthening means.
- Presence of vitamin A helps with maintenance of good condition of mucous membranes, sight and integrity of skin.
- High content of vitamin K promotes maintaining health of bones and reduces harmful action by brain neurons. The last is very important at Alzheimer's disease.
- Vegetable promotes diuretic effect. Therefore it is useful for people to accept it inclined to hypostases.
- Positively influences a respiratory system;
- Renders antioxidant effect.
Whether you know? All steam of stalks of a rhubarb provide the daily need for vitamin C.
Application
Green parts of a rhubarb are considered as poisonous because of presence of oxalates at them. Therefore its scapes are used generally, and their application is various: In medicine:
- for obtaining laxative effect it is possible to eat many stalks or to prepare mix from 15 g of roots of a licorice and a rhubarb. To accept in the evening after a meal;
- the ground root is used at problems with skin and atherosclerosis;
- at anemia, tuberculosis it is useful to prepare structure from 5 g of a dandelion and roots of a celandine, 20 mg of roots of a rhubarb and 200 ml of boiled water. To draw half an hour. To drink 50 ml 3 times a day. At low acidity well influences a digestive tract.
For treatment of anemia in traditional medicine use chicory, hempy milk, pear, a red mountain ash, spinach, beet juice, almonds, a bee perga, sunflower honey.
In cosmetology:
- to get rid of pimples prepare root mix with vinegar. Apply as a compress. This means is effective at bruises and bruises;
- masks from a rhubarb will help to forget about freckles and pigmentary spots;
- this vegetable will help to recover from the vitiligos (which are not sunbathing spots).
In cookery occurs In recipes not often though has sourish taste, it is simple in preparation and is useful. It is low-calorie: 100 g of stalks contain only 21 kcal therefore it is useful in dietary food.
Contraindications on application
Despite all usefulness, this vegetable has also a pritivopokazaniye:
- acids can cause adjournment of stones in bilious and uric bubbles and also in kidneys;
- it is impossible to accept at problems with a pancreas and at high acidity;
- the ability to dilute blood does this plant undesirable in reception at various bleedings and hemorrhoids;
- you should not take a lot of vegetable at appendicitis, diabetes and gout;
- to take to children and pregnant women with caution.
Important! In 100 g of leaves about 0.72 mg of oxalates contain. These substances cause poisoning. Hypostasis and difficulty of breath, burning in a mouth and in a throat can be observed. In hard cases there is a renal failure and a coma.
Reproduction and landing
Make multiple copies a plant in 2 ways:
- Division of rhizomes. For this purpose it is necessary to take bushes which are not less than 5 years old. Carry out division in the fall. The rhizome is cut a shovel on 2-4 parts. Each of them has to have pair of good kidneys and a strong root. The divided parts need to be dried, powdered with ashes and to land.
- Seeds. They can be sowed in the fall on the frozen earth. Before spring crops it is necessary to carry out stratification by cold 1-2 months. Seeds close up on depth of 2-3 cm. In 14 days they ascend. Saplings need to be thinned out. Between bushes there has to be a distance about 20 cm.
The rhubarb prefers well fertilized soils. Does not love overwetting. Grows on one place of 15 years and more.
The pole has to be 50 cm in depth. Between bushes — 80 cm. The sapling needs on 3 to be planted centimeter more deeply, than at the previous landing. Soil to condense, water and zamulchirovat.
Leaving
At the beginning of growth a rhubarb it is necessary to feed up well. From organic fertilizers it is possible to apply the mullein divorced water 1:5 or a chicken dung (1:10). From mineral Kemira-universal will approach. Before watering it is useful to bring ashes. Fertilizing brings each 10-12 days. The rhubarb uses a lot of nitrogen therefore bring 1 tablespoon of mineral fertilizers. Further a plant 2-3 times during the season feed up. Time in several years in row-spacings put compost. Qualitative scapes turn out only at good watering. Tsvetonosa it is necessary to delete that they did not slow down formation of leaves. In the summer leaves remove, leaving only several pieces for food. In the fall a part of the grown leaves can be broken, and to leave a big half for the winter. To cover bushes with leaves.
Cleaning
In a year after landing when length of scapes is 20-25 cm, they can be moved away. Do it in May. Cleaning is carried out in stages prior to the beginning of August. It is possible to cook borsch or stuffed cabbage from leaves in the spring. But it is necessary to take only young leaflets.
Important! It is impossible to cut off scapes. Having turned in both parties, breakthrough down, they need to be broken off together with a leaf, accurately that growth point was not damaged. Up it is impossible to pull!
On a plant after harvesting it is necessary to leave several leaves.
Recipes with a rhubarb
From it it is possible to prepare a stuffing for pies. Also we advise to taste kvass or kissel from this vegetable.
Kissel:
300 g of scapes to wash, cut pieces and to throw into hot sugar syrup for which to take a glass of sugar and 3.5 glasses of water. In to throw a dried peel of a quarter of a lemon and to boil thoroughly 10 minutes. To wipe everything through a sieve, to boil and enter 1.5 tablespoons of starch.
Learn, than kissel is useful and how to make it from grits.
Kvass:
Small to cut, fill in 500 g of scapes with water and to weld to softness. To filter and cool. To add 200 g of sugar and 15 g of yeast, to stir and for day to put to the warm place. To pour on bottles and to place in cold, having given them horizontal position. In 2 days, kvass is ready. Use gifts of our nature, but do not forget about contraindications. Apply a rhubarb in recipes to beauty and health, cook with it tasty and useful dishes, planting it on the seasonal dachas.