a book of blank pages with pockets or envelopes; for organizing photographs or stamp collections etc
one or more recordings issued together; originally released on 12-inch phonograph records (usually with attractive record covers) and later on cassette audiotape and compact disc (同)record album
a white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves; worn by priests
Not to be confused with Bathua, a town in Bangladesh.
Chenopodium album
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Angiosperms
Clade:
Eudicots
Order:
Caryophyllales
Family:
Amaranthaceae
Genus:
Chenopodium
Species:
C. album
Binomial name
Chenopodium album
L.
Occurrence download from GBIF[1]
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy 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, manure weed, 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][5] It is sometimes also called pigweed. However, pigweed is also a name for a few weeds in the family Amaranthaceae;[5] it is for example used for the redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus).
Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India as a food crop,[6] and in English texts it may be called by its Hindi name bathua or bathuwa (बथुआ) (Marathi:चाकवत).[7] It is called pappukura in Telugu, paruppukkirai in Tamil, kaduoma in Kannada, vastuccira in Malayalam, and chakvit in Konkani.
Contents
1Distribution
2Botany
2.1Taxonomy
3Cultivation
3.1Regions where cultivated
3.2Potential impact on conventional crops
3.3Beneficial use in ecological pest control
4Uses and consumption
4.1Food
4.2Animal feed
4.3Construction
5Gallery
6References
7External links
Distribution
Its native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation,[8] but includes most of Europe,[9] from where Linnaeus described the species in 1753.[10] Plants native in eastern Asia are included under C. album, but often differ from European specimens.[11] It is widely naturalised elsewhere, e.g. Africa,[12] Australasia,[13] North America,[5] and Oceania,[4] and now occurs almost everywhere (even, apparently in Antarctica)[1] in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland.
Botany
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][5][11] Further, the flowers are bisexual and female, with five tepals which are mealy on outer surface, and shortly united at the base.[14] There are five stamens.[14]
Taxonomy
Chenopodium album has a very complex taxonomy and has been divided in numerous microspecies, subspecies and varieties, but it is difficult to differentiate between them. The following infraspecific taxa are accepted by the Flora Europaea:[9]
Chenopodium album subsp. album
Chenopodium album subsp. striatum (Krašan) Murr
Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) Uotila
Published names and synonyms include C. album var. microphyllum, C. album var. stevensii, C. acerifolium, C. centrorubrum, C. giganteum, C. jenissejense, C. lanceolatum, C. pedunculare and C. probstii.
It also hybridises readily with several other Chenopodium species, including C. berlandieri, C. ficifolium, C. opulifolium, C. strictum and C. suecicum.
Cultivation
Regions where cultivated
The species are cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop (such as in lieu of spinach), as well as animal feed in Asia[6] and Africa, whereas in Europe and North America, it is commonly regarded as a weed in places such as potato fields,[15] 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.[16]
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.[citation needed] 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.[17] Its pollen may contribute to hay fever-like allergies.[18]
Beneficial use in ecological 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
Food
Rice and Chenopodium album leaf curry with onions and potatoes
Lambsquarters, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy
180 kJ (43 kcal)
Carbohydrates
7.3 g
Dietary fiber
4 g
Fat
0.8 g
Protein
4.2 g
Vitamins
Quantity%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
Minerals
Quantity%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
Link to USDA Database entry
Units
μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams
IU = International units
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database
The leaves and young shoots may be eaten as a leaf vegetable, either steamed in its entirety, or cooked like spinach, but should be eaten in moderation due to high levels of oxalic acid.[19] Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Quinoa, a closely related species, is grown specifically for its seeds.[20] The Zuni people cook the young plants' greens.[21] Bathua seeds also double up for rice and dal. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have once relied on bathua seeds to feed his troops during lean times.
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 popularly called bathua and 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, especially popular in Punjab. The seeds or grains are used in phambra or laafi, gruel-type dishes in Himachal Pradesh, and in mildly alcoholic fermented beverages such as soora and ghanti.[24]
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).[25]
Gallery
Close-up of flower and flower bud
Young Chenopodium album
Domestic Lamb's Quarter - Cecil County, MD - November 2015
References
^ abChenopodium album L. GBIF.org (25 November 2018) GBIF Occurrence Download doi:10.15468/dl.ie2d48
^BSBI: Database of names (xls file) Archived 2009-07-07 at the Portuguese Web Archive
^ abFlora of NW Europe: Chenopodium album[permanent dead link]
^ abcPacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: Chenopodium album
^ abcdFlora of North America: Chenopodium album
^ ab"Handbook of Herbs Cultivation and Processing", By Niir Board, p. 146
^"Chenopodium album - Bathua". Flowersofindia.net. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
^"Chenopodium album". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2017-12-15.
^ abFlora Europaea: Chenopodium album
^Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum 1: 219. Facsimile.
^ abFlora of China: Chenopodium album
^African Flowering Plants Database: Chenopodium album Archived April 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^Australian Plant Name Index: Chenopodium album
^ ab"VicFlora (Flora of Victoria) Chenopodium album". Royal Botanic Gardens Foundation Victora. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
^Grubben, G. J. H., & Denton, O. A. (2004). Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
^"Chenopodium album Weeds of Australia". Biosecurity Queensland Edition, Queensland Government. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
^"University of Florida IAS extension". Edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
^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.
^Johnson, Derek; Kershaw, Linda; MacKinnon, Andy; Pojar, Jim (1995). Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55105-058-4.
^PROTAbase: Chenopodium album Archived August 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^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)
^Miles, David (1978). An introduction to Archaeology. Great Britain: Ward Lock. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7063-5725-7.
Bioavailability of calcium and its absorption inhibitors in raw and cooked green leafy vegetables commonly consumed in India--an in vitro study.
Amalraj A1, Pius A2.
Food chemistry.Food Chem.2015 Mar 1;170:430-6. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.08.031. Epub 2014 Aug 27.
The objectives of this research were to assess the bioavailability of calcium using equilibrium dialysis after simulated gastric digestion method in 20 commonly consumed green leafy vegetables (GLVs) from the typical Indian diet, provide data on the content of calcium absorption inhibitors, like oxa
Phytoaccumulation of heavy metals in natural plants thriving on wastewater effluent at hattar industrial estate, pakistan.
Irshad M1, Ahmad S, Pervez A, Inoue M.
International journal of phytoremediation.Int J Phytoremediation.2015;17(2):154-8. doi: 10.1080/15226514.2013.862208.
The objective of this research was to compare the potential of native plants for the phytoaccumulation of heavy metals (HM). Thirteen predominant plant species (including trees, bushes and grasses) namely Ricinus communis, Ipomoea carnea, Cannabis sativa, Parthenium hysterophorus, Acacia nilotica, D
Estimation of Anticipated Performance Index and Air Pollution Tolerance Index and of vegetation around the marble industrial areas of Potwar region: bioindicators of plant pollution response.
Noor MJ1, Sultana S, Fatima S, Ahmad M, Zafar M, Sarfraz M, Balkhyour MA, Safi SZ, Ashraf MA.
Environmental geochemistry and health.Environ Geochem Health.2014 Dec 11. [Epub ahead of print]
Mitigating industrial air pollution is a big challenge, in such scenario screening of plants as a bio monitor is extremely significant. It requires proper selection and screening of sensitive and tolerant plant species which are bio indicator and sink for air pollution. The present study was designe
Citation CHENOPODIUM ALBUM Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 219. 1753. Basionym: ** Type: Without data (lectotype: LINN 313.8). Lectotypified by Brenan, in Turrill & Milne ... Synonym Full Citation Basionym Type Anserina ...
Chenopodium album is one of the species of the genus Chenopodium, which is cultivated as a food crop in Asia and parts of Africa. Especially in India it has major cultivations and is eaten as a leafy vegetable like many others. It is a ...
