What is Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) ? and its quotes,modern research...

  seminal trace...Chinese Leek Chinese Chives Allium tuberosum Rottler Chinese chives Chinese leek garlic chives Oriental garlic Oriental garlic chives...

   Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives)

 Chinese leek
 FAMILY: Liliaceae
 SPECIES: Allium tuberosum
 Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)
 English: Chinese chives
 Botanical: Allium tuberosum Rottler
 Latin: Allium tuberosum
 Engl.: Chinese chives, Chinese leek, garlic chives, Oriental garlic, Oriental garlic chives.
 Deu.: Schnittknoblauch, Chinesischer Schnittlauch.
 Suom.: kiinansipuli, kiinalainen ruohosipuli, kiinanruohosipuli.
 Fran.: ciboulette ail, ciboulette chinoise.
 TCM: jui zi.

 Other Names: Chinese chive, Chinese leek, flowering Chinese chive, flowering Chinese leek, oriental chive, yellow Chinese chive,Allium odorum

 Notes of Interest:

 Leaves are used like traditional chives. Flowers are also edible and both have a garlic flavour. Also used in herbal medicines.

 Common crop production problems include onion maggot, onion thrips and downy mildew.
 


   Names for this vegetable...

 China: gau tsoi, gau tsoi fa, gow choy, jiu cai, jiu tsai, jiu tsung, nin hua, gau tsoi fa, jiu choy, kau tsoi, kucai
 Indonesia: kucai
 Malaysia: bawang kucai, kuchai
 Mandarin: Jiu cai
 Vietnamese: He
 Korean: Buchu
 Philippines: amput, ganda, imayyaw, kutsay, kutsay bulaklak
 Thailand: dok kui chaai, gui chai, hom paen, kok gui chai, kui chaai, kuichai
 Vietnam: bong he, he
 Basque:Porru tipula, Tipulinak
 Croatian:Luk vlasac
 Dutch:Bieslook
 Esperanto:enoprazo Estonian:Murulauk Finnish:Ruoholaukka, Ruohosipuli French:Civette, Ciboulette
 Gaelic:Feuran German:Schnittlauch Irit:bazal, Eerit batsal Icelandic:Graslaukur
 Italian:Erba cipollina, Aglio ungherese Latvian:Maurloki Malay:Kucai Norwegian:Graslk
 Polish:Szczypiorek Portuguese:Cebolinha,alho chin Romanian:Arpagic Luk:rezanets, Shnit-luk, Luk skoroda
 Slovenian:Drobnjak  Spanish:Cebollino,cive chino, cebollino de la China
 English: Chinese leek, Chinese chives  Arabic: kurrat seeny
 Chinese: jiu cai, kau choy, kucai  Danish: kina-li  Filipino: kutsay, ganda, amput, imayyaw
 French: ail civette de Chine, a. chinoise, ciboulette chinoise
 German: Chinalauch  Indonesian: kuchai  Italian: cipollina chinese  Thai: kuichai, hom-paen

 

 Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives):
 Names for this vegetable
 Botanical Description and Info:Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives):
 Plant parts Used and Classification:
 Phytochemicals and Main constituents:Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives):
 Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Etymology:
 Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Culture:
 Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Modern Research Update:


   Botanical Description and Info:Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives):

 Garlic chives, also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leek, Ku chai or Nira is a relatively new vegetable in the English-speaking world. The plant has a distinctive growth habit with strap-shaped leaves unlike either onion or garlic and straight thin white-flowering stalks that are much taller than the leaves. For the parody newspaper, see The Onion. ... Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. ...

 It grows in slowly expanding perennial clumps, but also readily sprouts from seed. It is not only an interesting vegetable, but a very attractive flower. The cultivated form is Allium tuberosum while the wild form is placed as A. ramosum. Older references list it as A. odorum but that is now considered a synonym of A. ramosum. Some botanists would place both wild and cultivated forms in A. ramosum since many intermediate forms exist.

 Species See List of Allium species Allium is the onion genus with about 1250 species, mostly classified in its own family Alliaceae. ...
 

 The flavor of garlic chives is rather more like garlic than chives, though much milder. Both leaves and the stalks of the flowers are used as a flavoring similarly to chives, green onions or garlic and are used as a stir fry ingredient. In China, they are often blanched by covering them in the spring. The flowers may also be used as a spice. Binomial name Allium schoenoprasum Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are a member of the onion family (Alliaceae) grown for their leaves, which are used as an herb. ... Stir frying is a common Chinese cooking technique used because of its fast cooking speed. ... The Great Wall of China, stretching over 6,700 km, was erected beginning in the 3rd century BC to guard the north from raids by men on horses. ... External links Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Spice Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot Citat: ...Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything). ...

 Many garden centers carry it (usually unaware of its culinary uses) as do most oriental specialty groceries if they have fresh produce at all.

 Origin:Unknown, maybe Central Asia. Today, the plants grows practially everywhere in Europe, even at high altitude.

 

   Plant parts Used and Classification:

 The long, tube-shaped leaves; they are nearly always used fresh (or deep-frozen).

 The Chinese Leek, also known as Chinese Chive, has a long history in Chinese kitchens as well as the medicine cabinet. Both of the varieties described below have a delicate garlic-chive flavor. The leaves can be prepared in stir-fries, egg dishes, meat or fish dishes, or even by themselves. The oriental people make a tempura snack by tying the leaves into a bundle, dipping them in batter, and deep-frying them. The pretty, star-like white flowers make this herb an attractive addition to the garden. If they're not being used in a vase on the table, the flowers and flower buds can be part of your meal. The flowering stems retain their color when cooked and can be steamed as you might prepare asparagus. Flower buds are tasty in a salad, dressed with a little oil. In Asia, the flowers are sometimes ground into a spice.

  Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives),Broad Leaf Type:

 This variety grows large broad leaves with long stems. Plants are very vigorous in warm climates and can be harvested many times per season. This unique variety is also very good for blanching plants in totally dark (not exposed to light at all) environemnts, to grow the delicate yellow Chinese Leek, also called "Joe Huang" in Chinese.

 HOW TO GROW JOE HUANG: Well grown and strong plants should be established first. It may need 2-3 cutts and harvests of green leaves to reach this stage after the seed sowing. In the Orient, plants are grown on the raised bed ( 1-1.5 ft. high and 3-4 ft. wide) with 6" x 10" plant spacing. It is necessary to build a growing tunnel, about 2.5-3 ft. high, mainly for blocking light to reach plants during Joe Huang growing. This tunnel has two levels on the top side. The lower level is covered with straws, 3-5" high, that will block light but still allow air to pass through. The upper (outer) level and both vertical sides of the tunnel are covered with the totally opaque plastic clothes, which are partially overlayed each others between the sections but not totally air sealed. This will create a totally darked environment inside the growing tunnel while allowing air to pass through small gaps on the covers. Be sure other conditions for normal growing remain the same, like watering, fertilizer feeding, air circulation etc. Insect controls and soil treatments should be done if necessary before starting Joe Huang growing. Dripping irrigation system is generally used to handle the watering needs without uncovering the tunnel covers. To harvest Joe Huang, open the cover and cut the leaves and whole plants along the ground surface. Plants will regrow for subsequent harvests.
 

  Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives), Tender Leaf:

 This variety is grown mainly to harvest leaves for cooking uses. Leaves are very tender and delicious. The plant is slow bolting and is very adaptable to cold and hot weather and various soil conditions.

 

   Phytochemicals and Main constituents:Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives):

 Chives' constituents equal those of the close relatives, onion and garlic. The following volatile components have been identified: dipropyl disulfide, methyl pentyl disulfide, penthanethiol, penthyl-hydrodisulfid and cis/trans-3,5-diethyl-1,2,4-trithiolane. Chives contain significant amounts of the vitamis A and C.

 Chinese Chives is very nutritious veg type herb plant with long planting history, in every 500 grans fresh chives, contains about crude protein 12 g, fat 2.5g, glycoside 19 g,Calcium 280 mgs,Phosphor 225 mgs, Iron 5 mgs, Vitamin B 17.5mgs, Vitamin C 95mgs, more than all other leaf veg such as cabbage,cole, celery,lettuce etc.

 Vitamin C in Chinese Chives as 4 times as what in tomatos.


   Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Etymology:

 English chive derives from Latin cepa onion via Middle English cyve or cheve, loaned from Old French cive. Note that the singular chive is used for the plant, whereas the spice is usually referred to as plural form chives.

 The botanical species name schoenoprasum means essentially rush-like leek: Greek schoinos rush (a kind of grass) and prason leek. The reference is, obviously, to the leaves shape. Cf. also the modern Greek name praso.

 In quite many languages, chives are denoted as a grassy variant of their larger relatives, leek, onion and garlic. Examples from Scandinavia are Swedish gr?sl?k, Norwegian grasl?k Estonian murulauk and Finnish ruohosipuli grass-onion; similar are Catalan all junciforme rush-shaped garlic and Arabic waraq basal onion-leaf. Other languages use geographical epithets like Bulgarian luk sibirski Siberian onion or Turkish frenk so an? French onion. In the Romance language, the names of chives are often diminutives formed from onion meaning little onion or (if you like that) onionlet: French civette, Spanisch cebollana, Italian cipollina and Portuguese cebolinha.

 German Schnittlauch contains the verbal stem schneid- cut, because, unlike its subterranean relatives onion and garlic, chives are harvested by cutting the leaves. The name has entered some Slavic languages (Czech nytlik, Russian shnit-luk).

 For an explanation of the element -lauch in the German and Swedish names, see garlic, where also the botanical species name Allium is discussed.

 

 For years the Chinese leek, also called the Oriental leek, has been traditionally grown in the Far East, and has been used mostly for food and medicine. The parts of the plant, which are used for these aims, are the leaves (green or whitened) and the stalk, with the presence of the still closed floral scape. They are finely chopped and used as aromatic herbs for seasoning soups and other typical dishes. Besides the topper part of the plant, the bulbs are also collected, and in this case, are used for cooking, in a similar way to garlic.

 Chinese leek has a delicate aroma. That is why many people prefer it to garlic.

 As we have already mentioned, it is used mostly in the Far East, but it is becoming more and more widespread in other Asiatic countries. This is due to its nutritional qualities. It is low in calories, rich in vitamins and minerals, and has antibiotic properties.

 Chinese leek is a perennial plant which adapts to various kinds of pedoclimatic conditions. Its height varies, ranging from 30 - 40 cm, and it develops in thick groups of 4 - 6 bulbs, each of which develops 5 - 6 thin leaves. Its leaves stand out because of their lanceolate shape and dark green colour, while the colour of the hollow stalk is less intense.

 A more beautiful lily there has never been. For lovers of garlic, this certainly holds true. The subtle garlic flavor of Garlic Chives are perfect for use in uncooked dishes where raw regular garlic might be overwhelming or too spicy.

 This Asian beauty is sometimes called Perennial Chinese Chives or Chinese leeks or even just leek. While not the true leek, this is probably a reference to their blades which resemble little leek leaves. Garlic Chives are sometimes grown blanched, or without light, to produce white blades, similar to white asparagus. Like all plants, Garlic Chives prefer fertile ground. Divide every few years when production seems to slow.
 The finely chopped blades are great added to stir-frys and egg dishes. Garlic Chives do make a very small bulb that can be used like a small green onion. Harvest bulbs before the flower opens, while it is just a bud. Be sure to leave some bulbs in the ground so they will continue to make more. Harvest blades by cutting all the way to the ground. This allows new foliage to be free of grassy half blades that have been left behind.

 Their flowers, which are also edible, bloom in the warmth of summer, which is in contrast to the early spring flowers of regular Chives. Let a few flower heads go to seed and ripen. The shiny black seeds are a peppery delicacy when sprouted: the perfect winter treat.

 As you can see here, Garlic Chives have a flat blade. Regular Chives, on the other hand, have hollow spears. Both are great tasting and easy to grow and can be used interchangeably in recipes.

 

   Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Culture:

 Chinese Chives use as medicine registered as early as thousand years ago, from famous books Ming Yi Bie Lu (Author:Tao Hong Jing, Liang Dynasty,5-Eras-10-States Period), said,chives "smooth the five internal organs,drop away stomach heat.."

 Shi Liao Ben Cao noted the chinese chives "benefit for chest and midriff". other famous books Ben Cao Shi Yi noted chinese chives "warm middle, down gas, adjust internal organs,prompt food intake,good for Yang,stop diarrhoea, and boil it better... "

 Early Spring seasons cool or warm irregularly, the chinese chives welcome spring with its jade like leaves and bowlder like roots. Chinese Chives dark green color and looks big fleshy, regrow cutted whole yearly, sure be the good vegetables daily life, ancient poet Tu Fu left us famous poems, it said "Night Rain Cut Spring Chives,New Cook Boil Yellow Grain!"
 

 

   Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) Modern Research Update:

  A pilot study on anticancer activities of Chinese leek.

 To investigate the anticancer activities of Chinese leek (Allium tuberosum Rottler; [CL]). DESIGN: Fresh CL was extracted and reconstituted in phosphate-buffered saline. The in vitro antiproliferation activities of the extract were tested with two murine cancer cell lines and four human cancer cell lines. The in vivo anticancer effects were tested in C57BL mice with lung metastases of B16-F10 melanoma. The mice were inoculated with B16-F10 melanoma cells by intravenous (IV) injection on day 1. CL extract was given on days 6-8 by either IV injection or oral gavage. The lung metastases were examined on day 16. RESULTS: The extract inhibited the in vitro growth of all six cancer cell lines studied. The dose-response curves were sigmoidal with IC50 (50% inhibition concentrations) in the range of 2.5-13.0 mg of raw material per milliliter for the six cancer cell lines. At the CL concentration of 8-100 mg of raw material per milliliter, all the cells underwent apoptosis, and no live cells were left after being exposed to CL for 4-6 hours. Typical apoptosis-specific cell morphology changes were observed under a microscope. The induction of cancer cell apoptosis by CL extract was further verified by the DNA ladder assay. Treatment with a daily oral dose of the extract (equivalent to 2.5 or 12.5 mg of raw material per gram of body weight) reduced the B16-F10 melanoma lung metastatic colonies in mice by 40% (p < 0.03). IV injection of the extract (equivalent to 1.25 or 6.25 mg of raw material per gram of body weight) did not show any effect. CONCLUSIONS: CL extract inhibited cancer cell growth and induced apoptosis in vitro. Oral administration of CL extract significantly reduced lung metastases in the present animal model.
 

  Chinese chives also good for medicinal use except nutrition use. Modern research proved following characters:

 Chinese chives contain large amount of fibrin,take chives could make chew muscle strong,prompt digest function of stomach and intestines,prevent constipation, prevent decayed tooth, decrease toxicant,carcinogen,etc.

 Root and Seed of Chinese chives could be used to treat injuries from falls,haematemesis,and some other disease, famous doctor Li Shi Zhen once quoted:Chives are "the most useful in all vegetables!"

 Clinical analysisi proved that volatile oil and dipropyl disulfide make chives aroma smell and functions lower blood cholesterol, good for treatment of high blood pressure and coronary heart disease.
 

 Vitro antimicrobial activity of four diallyl sulphides occurring naturally in garlic and Chinese leek oils:

 The in-vitro antimicrobial activity of garlic oil, Chinese leek oil and four diallyl sulphides occurring naturally in these oils against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), three Candida spp. and three Aspergillus spp. (total of 276 clinical isolates) was studied.

 The magnitude of activity of the four diallyl sulphides followed the order diallyl tetrasulphide > diallyl trisulphide > diallyl disulphide > diallyl monosulphide. These results suggest that disulphide bonds are an important factor in determining the antimicrobial capabilities of these sulphides. The concentration of four diallyl sulphides in garlic and Chinese leek oils was in the range 41.7~52.7% of total sulphides. Garlic oil, with a higher concentration of four diallyl sulphides, showed greater antimicrobial activity than Chinese leek oil. Diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulphide, diallyl tetrasulphide and the oils rich in these sulphides may have a role in the prevention or treatment of infections.


  Scientific References:

  1.What is Chinese Leek (Chinese Chives) ? and its quotes,modern research...