Lettuce and Its legend.

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Brief Description of Lettuce.

Lettuce Extract INCI Name Lactuca Sativa Extract CAS 84776-66-9 EINECS ELINCS No 283-995-6 common garden lettuce Lactuca sativa L var capitata extract photo picture image Origin: Lettuce originates from the wild Lactuca serriola found in the Mediterranean and Near East (Persia). ,Origin Asia-E. Mediterranean; probably derived from Lactuca serriola. Egyptians were growing lettuce by 8500 BP.

 All lettuce cultivars such as Cos, Leaf, Butterhead and Iceberg are regarded as being variants of Lactuca sativa. Lettuce has been transformed from an erect plant with bitter leaves to various cultivars including ones with distinctive heads of chlorophyll deficient leaves. The common and Latin name derive from the milky sap (latex) found in all parts of the plane {lac, lactis = milk}. The latex has a milky sedative effect and lettuce has been grown as an herb. {Note: there is no cross-reaction between lettuce latex and natural rubber latex}.

 There is a bewildering diversity of lettuce types, with more appearing all the time. Butterheads are soft loose-hearted varieties, crispheads or icebergs are large dense and crunchy, cos types have upright crisp leaves, and loose-leaf do not make hearts but are gathered as dense leafy heads or individual leaves are picked over a long period.
 'Dynamite' is a butterhead lettuce with very good resistance to leaf-feeding aphids and mildew.

 Geographical distribution and Habita:

 Probably the world's most widely used salad vegetable, Lettuce is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean region in the form of Prickly Lettuce. It is recorded as having been served in Persia in 400 BC.

 Annual and biennial Lettuce is cultivated in many parts of the world for its edible leaves. Of the many varieties, basic forms have been classified as follows: heading or head varieties, cutting or leaf varieties, and Cos or Romaine. A fourth, very minor type, is the so-called Stem or Celery or Stalk Lettuce.

 Environment of Planting and cultivation:

 Lettuce grows in cultivated beds. Its most common use,as leaves, but sometimes also as spouted seeds,is in salads and sandwiches, but it may also appear in soups and stews. Edible oil is obtained from the tiny seeds, but extraction of the oil on any scale would not be feasible.

 The sap of the plant contains lactucarium, which is used in medicine and folk medicine for its anodyne, antispasmodic, digestive, galactogogue, diuretic, hypnotic, narcotic, sedative, anaphrodisiac, carminative, emollient, febrifuge, hypoglycaemic, and parasiticide properties. Lactucarium has the effects of a feeble opium, but without its tendency to cause digestive upsets; nor is it addictive. It is taken internally in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, neuroses, hyperactivity in children, dry coughs, whooping cough, rheumatic pain, etc. The sap has also been applied externally in the treatment of warts. Even normal doses can cause drowsiness, while excess causes restlessness, and overdoses can cause death through cardiac paralysis.

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last edit date:23th,June.2009.