Cynara scolymus

The artichoke (Cynara scolymus) is a herbaceous plant of the genus Cynara in the Asteraceae family; It has been cultivated since ancient times as food in temperate climates.

The edible part of the plant consists of the flower buds before they bloom. The budding bud of Cynara scolymus is a cluster of many small budding tubular flowers (an inflorescence), covered with numerous imbricate, leathery bracts on an edible base. Once the buds flower, the structure changes to a crude, barely edible form. Another variety of the same species is the thistle, a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. There are both wild forms and cultivated varieties (cultivars). The plant is known by different names, among them alcachofera, morrillera, morrilla, alcachofa, alcacil or alcaucil, among numerous other vernacular names.

Description

Cynara scolymus reaches 1.4 to 2 meters in height. It sprouts again from the vine every year, after winter, if the cold has not frozen it. It puts out a rosette of entire leaves to deeply segmented although less divided than those of the thistle and with few or no thorns. The leaves are light green on the upper side and on the underside they are covered by whitish fibrils that give them a pale appearance. Both the stem of the leaf and the main vein have very prominent longitudinal ribs.

When the plant grows taller, it puts out a stem that is more or less tall, plump, but also ribbed and ribbed with leaves that are increasingly scarce and less divided as they are higher up the stem. At their apex, and in some lateral divisions, they have very thick heads, covered with numerous leathery bracts, at the base of which is what is tender and edible. When flowering, these bracts harden a lot and cannot be used for eating, even if they do not end in thorns like the ones on thistles.

Distribution

Originally from the western Mediterranean, it was later introduced and cultivated in numerous temperate countries throughout the world.

The Dutch introduced artichokes to England where as early as 1530 they began to grow in Boreham, Essex, in the garden of a Henry VIII palace.

They were introduced to the United States in the 18th century via Louisiana by the French and California by the Spanish.

Properties

After water, the majority component of Cynara scolymusas flowers are carbohydrates, among which inulin and fiber stand out. The major minerals are sodium, potassium, phosphorus and calcium; and among the vitamins, the presence of vitamin B1, vitamin B3 and small amounts of vitamin C stands out. However, the most notable of its composition are a series of substances that are found in small quantities, but endowed with notable positive physiological effects:

Its flowers, like those of the thistle, contain three enzymes: pepsin, chymosin and parachymosin) that serve as milk rennet for cheese making. Said cheeses are generally referred to as flower cheese; For example, the "Guía flower cheese" in Gran Canaria.

Medicinal uses

It is used in the form of dry extracts and other galenic preparations:

• Uses supported by clinical data

  For the treatment of digestive discomfort (e.g. dyspepsia, fullness, flatulence, nausea, stomach pain and vomiting). As an attachment to mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia. According to a 2017 study, it has been shown that the alcachofa extract is an excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant of the body, which makes it a helper for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and other diseases that are inflamed.

• Uses described in pharmacopea and other documents

  It is used orally for the treatment of atherosclerosis and for kidney dysfunction (for its diuretic effect). A study has indicated that it may be beneficial in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, but more clinical trials are necessary before therapeutic recommendations can be made.

• Uses described in traditional medicine

  Used in the treatment of anemia, diabetes, fever, gout, rheumatism and urinary stones. Because of its depurative qualities, and its high amount in fiber, the consumption of artichoke benefits weight loss. Another benefit is related to the health of the liver, as its consumption allows the protection of damage and promotes the growth of new tissue.

• Warnings about the use of preparations made from extracts of Cynara scolymus

A) Adverse reactions: In some studies, gastrointestinal discomforts have been shown, including mild diarrhea, accompanied by abdominal cramps, upper abdomen pain, nausea and stomach burning. In other studies only light gastrointestinal discomfort has been found. Allergic reactions may occur in sensitized patients.

B) Contraindications: Hypersensitivity or allergy to alcachoferas and obstruction of bile ducts.

C) Warnings: Interaction with quamarine-type anticoagulants is believed to be possible.

D) Precautions:

• General: Patients with stones in the gallbladder should ask for medical advice before using medicinal preparations obtained from this plant.
• Pregnancy, therapeutic and non-therotrogenic effects: It is not recommended for use because there are no safety and effectiveness studies.
• Pediatric use: Due to the lack of safety and effectiveness studies, it is not recommended for use in children under 12 years of age.

E) Posology: To make general recommendations on the dose to be used you should know the purity of the extracts used.

History

This plant could be native to Egypt or North Africa. The plant called Cynara was already known to the Greeks and Romans. Apparently it was given aphrodisiac powers and it takes its name from a girl seduced by Zeus, and later transformed by him into an artichoke.

During the Middle Ages the artichoke was not known, and it is thought that at this time, from the successive cultivation of thistles, horticulturists little by little transformed them until they got the artichoke. It was already consumed in Italy in the fifteenth century. Coming from Sicily, it appears in Tuscany around 1466. Tradition says that it was introduced to France by Catherine de Médicis, who liked to eat artichoke hearts. This Florentine took them from her native Italy when she married King Henry II of France. Louis XIV was also a great consumer of artichokes. Spanish and French colonists in America introduced it to this continent. Over time, in California, thistles have become a veritable pest today, an example of an invasive plant in a habitat in which it was not previously found.

Cultivation and varieties

Production

According to the FAO, the 10 countries with the highest production in 2018 were the following - in tons and in descending order:

Main producers Cynara scolymus - 2018 in tons
Italy	389.813
Egypt	323.866
Spain	208.463
Peru	154.552
Algeria	124.659
Argentina	110.657
China	90.397
France	47.190
United States	45.382
Morocco	44.591
Source: [UN: Statistics Division]

Cultivated varieties

Planning Cynara scolymus.

Capulles of Cynara scolymus in the market.

• Argentina and Chile
  • Cultivate Chilena: It would have a French origin, and it is believed that it would have derived from the French cultivars Verde de Provence, Verde Gruesa de Laon or Gruesa Camus of Brittany.
  • Argentina or White of San Juan: Originally from the Spanish "Blanca de Tudela".
  • Spanish: Also white, with smaller heads and produces a lot of basal shoots.
  • Ñato: Originally cultivated in the horticultural belts of La Plata and Rosario.
  • French: Cultivate type Romanesco, more early than Ñato.
  • Green, Gurí and Gauchito: new clonal varieties developed in the last ten years.
• Spain.
  • White Tudela: Long variety of green and small size. Very cultivated in Navarra, La Rioja, Murcia, Alicante, Prat del Llobregat and the north of the Province of Castellón de la Plana (Benicarló).
  • Monquelina: Almost disappeared type.
• USA. U.S.
  • Green globe
  • Imperial Star
  • Emerald
  • Varieties multiplied by seed
• France.
  • Camus de Brittany: It is the largest among the alcachoferas (with two or three the kilo is reached). The green chapter tends to form rounded. It is consumed boiled or steamed with a vinegar. The hearts of the alcachofera can be prepared in conservation.
  • Green of Laon: More rustic than the precedent, it adapts better to the cold. The form is the same but the alcachofera is smaller, It is also called "cat head".
  • Violet of Provence: Much smaller and conical with the violet bracts. They are cultivated abundantly in the Mediterranean region and sold in the markets with the name of "bouquet". It can be eaten raw when it is not yet fully mature (it is called at this time "poivrade"), or cured with vinegar or cooked.
• Italy.
  • Espinosa: In the words of the Italians it is the best of the raw alcachoferas. It owes its name to the spinal extremities of its bracts. Chewing is both fleshy and crispy.
  • Romanesco: Thick, round and violet. It includes dozens of local subtypes an area of Lacio and Campania. Production in spring.
  • Francesino: Similar to the French type "violet of Provence", from which it seems to take the name. The most widespread in the south, including the region of Apulia and Sicily as the largest producers
  • Brindisi/Catanese: Similar to the previous but more open and adapted to warmer areas. Much is used for industrial processing.

Variety "Gauchito", from Argentina.

Taxonomy

Cynara scolymus was described by Carlos Linnaeus and published in Species Plantarum, vol. 2 P. 827–828, 1753[2].

Cytology

Number of chromosomes: 2n=34

Etymology

• Cynara: generic name derived from the Greek χινάρα,-ας or χυνάραprobably derived from χÿν-χυνός, cyon-cynos, "dog", by the involving bracts that, by their form, resemble the teeth of that animal. He went to Latin like cinara and was also used to designate the card.
• scolymus: From Latin scović, i, derived from the Greek σχόλυμος, and evoked by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis History as a sort of cardo (XXI, 94-96), probably referring to the Scolymus hispanicus or maculatus.

The name artichoke comes from the Arabic al-kharshûf; the name alcaucil (also arcacil, alcacil and alcací), from the Arabic al-qabsíl. While the name morrilla and morrillera derive from the diminutive of the Spanish noun morra, which designates the upper part of the head.

Sinonimia

• 

  Chest of artichokes.
  Cynara cardunculus subsp. flavescens Wiklund
• Cynara cardunculus var. ativa Moris.
• Cynara cardunculus subsp. scolymus (L.) Hegi
• Cynara cardunculus subsp. scolymus (L.) Beger
• Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus (L.) Fiori
• Cynara communis Lam.
• Cynara sculpted Salisb.
• Cynara hortensis Mill.

Vernacular names

• Castellano: alcachofa (28), chopped artichoke, real artichoke, wild artichoke, artichokes (4), Alcachofera (14), alcachofero, alcachofero, alcachofero cultivado, alcacia (3), alcancilera, alcanciles (2), alcarchofa (2), alcarchofera, alcarchofera (2), the seizure (5), cultivated alcaucil, alcaucil, alcaucique (2), alcauci, alcaulera (3), arcacil, arcancil, arcaucil, arcauciles, carchofa (2), cardillo, cardo (7), cardo alcachofero (3), meat eating, flower of cardo, purple (4), morrillera (3), penca. Between parentheses, the frequency of the word in Spain; in boldThe most used.