Nutritional Profile
Energy value (calories per serving): Low
Protein: Moderate
Fat: Low
Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: Low
Sodium: Moderate to high
Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C
Major mineral contribution: Potassium
About the Nutrients in This Food
Globe artichokes are prickly plants with partly edible leaves enclosing a tasty “heart.” Their most important nutrients are vitamin C and iron.
One medium boiled artichoke has 10.3 g dietary fiber, 8.9 mg vita- min C (12 percent of the R DA for a woman, 10 percent of the R DA for a man), and 0.7 mg iron (4 percent of the R DA for a woman, 9 percent of the R DA for a man).
One-half cup artichoke hearts has 7.2 g dietary fiber, 6.2 mg vitamin C (8 percent of the R DA for a woman, 7 percent of the R DA for a man), and 0.5 mg iron (3 percent of the R DA for a woman, 6 percent of the R DA for a man).
Raw globe artichokes contain an enzyme that interferes with protein
digestion; cooking inactivates the enzyme.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food
Cooked.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food
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Buying This Food
Look for: Compact vegetables, heavy for their size. The leaves should be tightly closed, but the color changes with the season—bright green in the spring, olive green or bronze in the winter if they have been exposed to frost.
Avoid: Artichokes with yellowed leaves, which indicate the artichoke is aging (the chloro- phyll in its leaves has faded so the yellow carotenes underneath show through).
Storing This Food
Do refrigerate fresh globe artichokes in plastic bags.
Do refrigerate cooked globe artichokes in a covered container if you plan to hold them longer than a day or two.
Preparing This Food
Cut off the stem. Trim the tough outer leaves. Then plunge the artichoke, upside down, into a bowl of cold water to flush out debris. To remove the core, put the artichoke upside down on a cutting board and cut out the center. Slicing into the base of the artichoke rips cell walls and releases polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that converts phenols in the vegetable to brown compounds that darken the “heart” of the globe. To slow the reaction, paint the cut surface with a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Chlorophyll, the green plant pigment, is sensitive to acids. When you heat a globe artichoke, the chlorophyll in its green leaves reacts with acids in the artichoke or in the cooking water, forming brown pheophytin. The pheophytin, plus yellow carotenes in the leaves, can turn a cooked artichoke’s leaves bronze. To prevent this reaction, cook the artichoke very quickly so there is no time for the chlorophyll to react with the acid, or cook it in lots of water to dilute the acids, or cook it with the lid off the pot so that the volatile acids can float off into the air.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Canning. Globe artichoke hearts packed in brine are higher in sodium than fresh arti- chokes. Artichoke hearts packed in oil are much higher in fat.
Freezing. Frozen artichoke hearts are comparable in nutritional value to fresh ones.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Anti-inflammatory action. In 2006, a report in the Journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan suggested that cynarin might be beneficial in lowering blood levels of cholesterol and that cynaropicrin, a form of cynarin found in artichoke leaves, might act as an anti-inflamma- tory agent, protecting the skin from sun damage, improving liver function, and reducing the effects of stress-related gastritis.
Reduced levels of cholesterol. In 2008, researchers at the University of Reading (United King- dom) published a report in the journal Phytomedicine detailing the results of a 150-person study suggesting that an over-the-counter herbal supplement containing extract of globe arti- choke leaf lowers cholesterol in healthy people with moderately raised cholesterol readings. In the study, 75 volunteers were given 1,280 mg of the herbal supplement each day for 12 weeks; a control group got a placebo (a look-alike pill without the herbal supplement). At the end of the trial, those who took the artichoke leaf extract experienced an average 4.2 percent decrease in cholesterol levels, a result the researchers deemed “modest but significant.”
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Contact dermatitis. Globe artichokes contain essential oils that may cause contact dermati- tis in sensitive people.
Alterations in the sense of taste. Globe artichokes contain cynarin, a sweet tasting chemical that dissolves in water (including the saliva in your mouth) to sweeten the flavor of anything you eat next.
Food/Drug Interactions
False-positive test for occult blood in the stool. The guaiac slide test for hidden blood in feces relies on alphaguaiaconic acid, a chemical that turns blue in the presence of blood. Arti- chokes contain peroxidase, a natural chemical that also turns alphaguaiaconic acid blue and may produce a positive test in people who do not have blood in the stool.... artichoke, globe
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