Parsley - description, cultivation, photo

Garden parsley has been cultivated by man since the 9th century. The plant is used as a seasoning, for decorating dishes, giving them a spicy taste and aroma. Parsley promotes the secretion of digestive enzymes, improves intestinal tone and bile secretion, has diuretic properties and normalizes heart function.

What is parsley

Garden parsley, or curly parsley, is widely used as an edible herb and seasoning in cooking, is used as a useful component in cosmetic products and traditional medicine.

The composition of greens includes a large number of nutrients:

• vitamins: E, C, K, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, PP, H, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin;
• minerals: potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, copper, silicon, boron, manganese, zinc;
• essential oils - up to 0.3%;
• flavonoids: luteolin, apigenin;
• phytoncides;
• pectins.

Greens are especially rich in ascorbic acid (100 g contains 431% of the daily value), vitamin K (658%), beta-carotene (111%), lutein and zeaxanthin (93%), folic acid (29%). Contains up to 46% omega-3 fatty acids, 9% phytosterols.

It is interesting:

Benefits of parsley for women

Medicinal properties of parsley and contraindications for use

Botanical description

Parsley is a biennial, sometimes annual herb of the Umbrella family with a characteristic aroma and spicy taste.

Numerous leaf plates have a triangular shape with a double and triple dissected silhouette, a shiny upper part and a matte-gray bottom. Bright green foliage can be straight or corrugated. Erect stem of various shades of green, 30 to 100 cm high, with shiny triangular, double and triple crossed leaves.

The root of parsley is rod-shaped, cylindrical and dense, fleshy... It has a conical or fusiform shape, sometimes with branching and thickening, often reaching 30 cm in length. The outside color is pale brown or yellowish-white, with annular transverse wrinkles, on the cut - cream or white.

The flowers are cross-pollinated, regular five-petal, collected in an umbrella-shaped inflorescence, small greenish-yellow or light green. The flowering period lasts for 2 months - in June-July.

Parsley fruits are small, about 3-5 mm in size, greenish-gray or grayish-brown oblong or rounded diseeds, which split into two half-fruits with a bitter taste.

Is it a herb or vegetable

Although parsley is a herbaceous plant, it is classified as a leafy vegetable as it has an edible part - the roots. Its aerial shoots are also suitable for cooking.

Reference! For medicinal purposes, the fruits of the plant are usually used. They have diuretic, carminative properties, improve digestion, and regulate the menstrual cycle. Greens have similar benefits. At the same time, parsley cannot be used by pregnant women: it can cause premature birth and provoke a miscarriage.

The excellent flavor of the leaves and roots allows them to be used fresh, dry or frozen.

Perennial or annual plant

Parsley is found as an annual and biennial plant... In the first year, a leaf rosette and a root grow - every spring new seeds are planted and greens and young roots are collected.For further development and enlargement of the root part, obtaining seeds, the plant is prepared for wintering and secondary spring germination.

In the second year, inflorescences appear and the period of seed reproduction begins. At this time, parsley develops a long peduncle with complex umbellate inflorescences formed by small flowers. Later, the fruit is tied with seeds, which remain viable for 2-3 years.

Does it belong to algae

Parsley belongs to higher plants and is not related to algae, which are predominantly aquatic one- or multicellular photosynthetic organisms that do not have stems, leaves, or root system.

How parsley blooms

In the second year of growth and development of the plant, peduncles and seed heads are formed. Flowering occurs the same in all types of culture. In June or early July, umbrella-shaped inflorescences appear on long arrows reaching 70–120 cm.

Each of them consists of a large number of small yellowish or greenish flowers that have 5 heart-shaped or rounded petals with tips slightly curved inward. Flowering lasts 30–45 days, and after its completion, small fruits are formed, in which seeds begin to ripen.

Important! With the appearance of peduncles on the plant, its greens become tough and coarse, since all nutrition is spent on the development of fruits.

In some cases, the formation of arrows and inflorescences is possible already in the first year of parsley growth. This most often occurs during early autumn landingwhen the seed has time to germinate, and after winter, the culture perceives the spring warming as a second growth cycle.

Varieties and varieties of parsley

There are two types of parsley - leaf (ordinary) and curly. The difference between them can be seen in the photo of the plants.

Sheet

This species is distinguished by a larger rosette of smooth leaves, a highly branched and thin root system. Leafy parsley is fragrant, its delicate greens are widely used, and the roots are much less commonly used in cooking.

Curly

The leaves of this species are excised and wavy, but more rigid and less aromatic. The root is fleshy, large, weakly branched. Unlike the leafy variety, the curly variety keeps better and stretches less as it grows.

What is the fruit of parsley garden

The fruits of the plant are small, grayish or greenish oval or rounded droplets containing seed. Outside, they are covered with essential oil, which prevents moisture from entering the inside of the seeds during their formation. Fruits ripen at the end of summer.

The most productive parsley

The most productive varieties of parsley:

• Seed beads - early maturing, frost-resistant leafy beads, with a yield of 1.5–2 kg of greens from 1 m² and ripening period 55-60 days from the moment of emergence;
• Aster - early maturing curly, with a high yield of greenery - up to 5 kg from 1 m², roots unsuitable for food and a ripening period of 55–65 days;
• Station wagon - leaf and root, yield - 2.5-5 kg ​​from 1 m², ripening occurs 60–65 days after germination;
• Petra - curly mid-season, with a yield of up to 2.5 kg from 1 m² and ripening on 95-100 days from the moment of germination;
• Mooskrause 2 - early maturing curly, with a yield of up to 2.5 kg from 1 m² and ripening in 55-60 days;
• Eagle - root mid-season, with a yield of 4-9 kg from 1 m² and full maturation of the roots within 120-130 days;
• Natalka - early leaf, yield - up to 3 kg from 1 m², ripening period - 55–65 days;
• Plain - late-ripening leafy, gives 2.5-3 kg of greenery in 80-130 days.

How is parsley called differently

Garden parsley has other names:

• nevestitsa, petrosilia - popular names;
• petroselinium is an ancient designation translated as “growing on stones”;
• pestle, sverbiguz - old Russian names.

Conclusion

The widely known plant, parsley, belongs to leafy vegetables - not only its aromatic spicy herbs, but also roots are used in cooking. The roots, like the leaves, dried and frozen for the winter, added to soups, stewed vegetables. Due to its rich chemical composition, the plant is used for medicinal purposes, in cosmetology (for nutrition, whitening and toning the skin of the face, strengthening hair).