The USA has created a variety of real red spinach USDA Red, which is maximally enriched with useful betacyanin. The world’s first real variety of red spinach USDA Red is recognized by the Agricultural Research Service, reports agroportal.ua with reference to the USDA.
As noted, spinach has always been known as a green leafy vegetable. There are leafy vegetables that are often called red spinach, but in reality, it is the red leaves of amaranth, or other plants such as red quinoa, rather than real spinach. Nowadays, there are already several real “red” varieties of spinach on the market, but their red color is limited only by the veins of the leaves.
Spinach is one of the most useful leafy vegetables with a high content of beta-carotene (provitamin A), lutein, folate, vitamin C, calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium. However, consumption (and production) of spinach in the United States fell from 2,3 pounds per person to 1,6 pounds in 2006 after an outbreak of Escherichia coli infection and so did not fully recover.
“Genuine red spinach, such as USDA Red, will boost the spinach market and can help attract people to eat spinach in general,” said ARS geneticist Beiquan Mou, who developed the new variety.
USDA Red – a type of spinach with an average growth rate. Its leaves are in the form of blades with pointed tips and purple-red veins and petioles. This variety is the result of traditional selection.
USDA Red spinach acquires its red color due to betacyanin. According to the scientific literature, betacyanin is a powerful antioxidant that significantly reduces oxidative stress in patients and may even help prevent chronic pathology, inflammation and cancer. Thus, the antioxidant capacity of USDA Red spinach was 42 – 53% higher than other varieties of spinach in five tests conducted over three years.
“Betacyanin is an added benefit for a plant that is already rich in nutrients, making spinach a real ‘super food,'” Mou added.
We will remind, earlier we told about how it is necessary to prepare spinach, and also shared recipes of dishes from spinach – rotolo with spinach, chicken breast with spinach, pie with salmon and spinach, and also pie with spinach and filo dough.
Photo: qz.co