Fragrant and nutritious (Parsley)

Member Name: dooeyyooey

Product:	Parsley
Date:	29/05/09 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good source of vitamins and other important nutrients

Disadvantages: Should be avoided by people with kidney or gallbladder problems

Parsley is probably the most popular herb in the world. It can be used fresh or dried, as garnish or as a key ingredient, and has become ubiquitous in cooking.

Parsley is a biennial plant, meaning it has a 2 year lifespan.
It is native to Southern Europe, and while it has been cultivated for over 2000 years as food, it was already used for medicinal purposes well before that.

It is not known for sure when parsley was introduced as seasoning, but it is believed it happened in Europe, around the Middle Ages.

Parsley is bright green.
Although there are over 30 varieties of parsley, the two most commonly consumed as food are curly leaf parsley and flat leaf (italian) parsley. Flat leaf parsley has a stronger but less bitter taste than curly leaf parsley.


---- Health ----

Parsley is considered to have various health benefits due to its unusual nutrients:

- volatile oil components (limonene, eugenol, myristicin, etc)
- flavonoids (apigenin, crisoeliol, luteolin, etc)

The flavonoids (especially luteolin) have been found to act as antioxidants, preventing oxigen-based damage to cells.

Volatile oils (especially myristicin) have been found to inhibit tumor formation in animal studies, and to help neutralise some carcinogens, like benzopyrenes.

Parsley is also very rich in vitamins A and C, and is a good source of folic acid.

On the other hand, parsley also contains significant amounts of oxalates, so individuals with kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid it.

---- Culinary Usage ----

Fresh green parsley is commonly used sprinkled on top of food: soups, boiled buttered potatoes, french fries, sandwiches, salads, etc...

Personally, I don't use it as garnish, but incorporate it into my everyday cooking in meat dishes, pasta, casseroules, and as an integral part of any tomato sauce I prepare.
Apart from putting it in tomato sauce, I usually add fresh green parsley at the end of cooking, to preserve its flavour and nutritional value.

Parsley tastes better when fresh, so it is a useful herb to cultivate in order to have all year round.

---- Cultivating ----

Cultivating parsley is not as difficult as some of the information out there may lead you to believe, although it does not germinate as easily and evenly as some other herbs.

In order to give it the best chance of germinating, the seeds should be sown in a rich soil that is not too dry. Make sure you add enough compost.

Parsley also requires high temperatures, preferably full sun, but if the soil is good of quality, it will do ok in partial shade.
If it's too cold outside, you can grow it on pots indoors.

Parsley seeds should be sown around March, although they can be sown later. Parsley can take up to 6 weeks to germinate, so parsley sown in March will be ready to be harvested from July to July of the following year.
At that point it will start to produce seeds and come to the end of its lifecycle.

Summary: Very useful herb