Asparagus: Difference between revisions

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Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) or garden asparagus is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.

Description

File:Asparagus officinalis 2.jpg

Adult plant with fruits

Asparagus is an herbaceous, perennial plant^[1] growing typically to Template:Convert tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. It has been known to grow as long as Template:Convert.^[2] The 'leaves' are needle-like cladodes (modified stems) in the axils of scale leaves; they are Template:Convert long and Template:Convert broad, and clustered in fours, up to 15, together, in a rose-like shape.^[3] The root system, often referred to as a 'crown', is adventitious; the root type is fasciculated.

The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, Template:Convert long, with six tepals partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, but sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry Template:Convert in diameter, which is toxic to humans.^[4]

Asparagus grown natively to the western coasts of Europe (from northern Spain to northwest Germany, north Ireland, and Great Britain) are treated as A. officinalis subsp. prostratus (Dumort.) Corb.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only Template:Convert high, and shorter cladodes Template:Convert long.^[5]^[6] Some authors treat it as a distinct species, A. prostratus DumortScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..^[7]^[8]

File:Asparagus Tip.jpg

Asparagus shoot before becoming woody

Etymology

The English word asparagus derives from classical Latin but the plant was once known in English as sperage, from the Medieval Latin sparagus.^{[Note 1]} This term itself derives from the Template:Langx - aspáragos, a variant of Template:Langx - aspháragos. The Greek terms are of uncertain provenance; the former form admits the possibility of a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to jerk, scatter," directly or via a Persian descendant meaning "twig, branch"; but the Ancient Greek word itself, meaning "gully, chasm," seems to be of Pre-Greek origin instead.

Asparagus was corrupted by folk etymology in some places to "sparrow grass";^[9] indeed, John Walker wrote in 1791 that "Sparrowgrass is so general that asparagus has an air of stiffness and pedantry".^[10] The name 'sparrow grass' was still in common use in rural East Anglia, England well into the twentieth century.^[11]

Taxonomy

Asparagus was once classified in the lily family, as were the related Allium species onions and garlic. Genetic research currently places lilies, Allium, and asparagus in three separate families: the Liliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, and Asparagaceae, respectively. The latter two are part of the order Asparagales.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Asparagus populations grown natively to the western coasts of Europe are treated as the subspecies group of prostratus (Dumort.) Corb.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..^[5]

Distribution and habitat

Sources differ as to the plant's native range, but generally include most of Europe and western temperate Asia.^[12]^[5]^[13]^[14]

Cultivation

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Since asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too saline for normal weeds to grow. Thus, a little salt was traditionally used to suppress weeds in beds intended for asparagus; this has the disadvantage that the soil cannot be used for anything else. Some regions and gardening zones are better-suited for growing asparagus than others, such as the west coast of North America and other more maritime, "Mediterranean" environments. The fertility of the soil is a large factor. "Crowns" are planted in winter, and the first shoots appear in spring; the first pickings or "thinnings" are known as sprue asparagus. Sprue has thin stems.^[15]

A breed of "early-season asparagus" that can be harvested two months earlier than usual was announced by a UK grower in early 2011.^[16] This variety does not need to lie dormant and blooms at Template:Convert, rather than the usual Template:Convert.

Purple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts in having high sugar and low fibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy, near the city of Albenga and commercialized under the variety name 'Violetto d' Albenga'.^[17] Purple asparagus can also turn green while being cooked due to its sensitivity to heat.^[18]

German botanical illustration of asparagus

German botanical illustration of asparagus
Green asparagus for sale in New York City

Green asparagus for sale in New York City
Harvest of white asparagus in Hockenheim, Germany

Harvest of white asparagus in Hockenheim, Germany
Cultivated asparagus bundles

Cultivated asparagus bundles

Companion planting

Asparagus is said to be a useful companion plant for tomatoes, as the tomato plant repels the asparagus beetle. Asparagus may repel some harmful root nematodes that affect tomato plants.^[19]

Production

In 2023, world production of asparagus was 8.6 million tonnes, with China accounting for 87% of the total (table). Template:Table alignment

Asparagus production
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Source: FAOSTAT of the United NationsScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".^[20]

Uses

The genome of the species has been sequenced as a model to study the evolution of sex chromosomes in plants and dioecy.^[21]

Nutrition

Template:Nutritionalvalue Raw asparagus is 93% water, 4% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). In a reference amount of Template:Cvt, raw asparagus supplies 20 calories, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value) of vitamin K (35% DV), and a moderate source (11–13% DV) of iron, and the B vitamins, thiamine, riboflavin, and folate, with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).

File:Steam-boiling green asparagus.jpg

Steam-boiling asparagus in a pot

Culinary

Only young asparagus shoots ("spears") are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open ("ferning out"), the shoots quickly turn woody.^[22] The shape of edible spears can vary according to variety; typical shapes are long thin spears from 8mm to 24mm diameter, no longer than 22cm.^[23] The roots contain starch.^[24]

The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an appetizer^[25] or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often stir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried with chicken, shrimp, or beef.^[26] It may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers, and is also used as an ingredient in some stews and soups.

Asparagus can also be pickled and stored for several years. Some brands label shoots prepared in this way as "marinated".

Stem thickness indicates the age of the plant (and not the age of the stalk), with the thicker stems coming from older plants. Older, thicker stalks can be woody, although peeling the skin at the base removes the tough layer. Peeled asparagus will poach much faster.^[27] The bottom portion of asparagus often contains sand and soil, so thorough cleaning is generally advised before cooking.

Male plants tend to produce spears that are smaller and thinner, while female plants tend produce larger and thicker spears.^[28] The thickness of stalks is not an indication of their tenderness; they are thick or thin from the moment they sprout from the ground.^[28]

Green asparagus is eaten worldwide, and the availability of imports throughout the year has made it less of a delicacy than it once was.^[6] In Europe, according to one source, the "asparagus season is a highlight of the foodie calendar"; in the UK this traditionally begins on 23 April and ends on Midsummer Day.^[29]^[30] In Europe the short growing season and high demand leads to a relatively high price for local produce, although asparagus is also imported.

Only seasonally on the menu, asparagus dishes are advertised outside many restaurants, usually from late April to June. For the French style, asparagus is often boiled or steamed and served with Hollandaise sauce, white sauce, melted butter or most recently with olive oil and Parmesan cheese.^[31] Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water.

In western Himalayan regions, such as Nepal and north-western India, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, known as "wild asparagus," is harvested as a seasonal vegetable delicacy known as kurilo or jhijhirkani.^[32]

White asparagus

File:Spargel sauce hollandaise.jpg

Serving of "white asparagus" with Hollandaise sauce and potatoes

White asparagus is produced by applying a blanching technique while the asparagus shoots are growing:^[33] the shoots are covered with soil as they grow, i.e. earthed up; without exposure to sunlight, there is no photosynthesis and the shoots remain white. The locally cultivated so-called "white gold" or "edible ivory" asparagus, also referred to as "the royal vegetable",^[34] is believed to be less bitter and more tender than unblanched green. Freshness is valued, and the lower ends of white asparagus must be peeled.

During the German Spargelsaison or Spargelzeit ("asparagus season" or "asparagus time"), the asparagus season that traditionally finishes on 24 June, roadside stands and open-air markets sell about half of the country's white asparagus consumption.^[35] Script error: No such module "anchor".

In culture

Asparagus has been used as a vegetable owing to its distinct flavor, and in medicine due to its diuretic properties and its purported function as an aphrodisiac. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 BC. In ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in the Iberian Peninsula. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter. Emperor Augustus coined the expression "faster than cooking asparagus" for quick action.^{[Note 2]}^[36]^[37]

A recipe for cooking asparagus is given in one of the oldest surviving collections of recipes (Apicius's 1st century AD De re coquinaria, Book III). In the second century AD, the Greek physician Galen, highly respected within Roman society, mentioned asparagus as a beneficial herb, but as dominance of the Roman empire waned, asparagus' medicinal value drew little attention^[38]^{[Note 1]} until al-Nafzawi's The Perfumed Garden.

By 1469, asparagus was cultivated in French monasteries. Asparagus appears to have been little noticed in England until 1538,^{[Note 1]} and in Germany until 1542.^[37]Template:Better source needed

Asparagus was brought to North America by European settlers at least as early as 1655. Adriaen van der Donck, a Dutch immigrant to New Netherland, mentions asparagus in his description of Dutch farming practices in the New World.^[39] Asparagus was grown by British immigrants as well; in 1685, one of William Penn's advertisements for Pennsylvania included asparagus in a long list of crops that grew well in the American climate.^[40]

The points d'amour ("love tips") were served as a delicacy to Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764).^[41] Template:External media

Effects on urine

The effect of eating asparagus on urine excreted afterwards has long been observed:

[Asparagus] cause a powerful and disagreeable smell in the urine, as everybody knows.
— Treatise of All Sorts of Foods, Louis Lémery, 1702^[42]

asparagus... affects the urine with a foetid smell (especially if cut when they are white) and therefore have been suspected by some physicians as not friendly to the kidneys; when they are older, and begin to ramify, they lose this quality; but then they are not so agreeable.
— "An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments", John Arbuthnot, 1735^[43]

A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreeable Odour...
— "Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels", Benjamin Franklin, c. 1781^[44]

Asparagus "...transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume."
— Marcel Proust (1871–1922)^[45]

Asparagus contains asparagusic acid. When the vegetable is digested, a group of volatile sulfur-containing compounds is produced.^[46]

File:AsparagusinAutumn3.JPG

Asparagus foliage turns bright yellow in autumn.

Certain compounds in asparagus are metabolized to yield ammonia and various sulfur-containing degradation products, including various thiols and thioesters,^[47] which following consumption give urine a characteristic smell. Some^[48] of the volatile organic compounds responsible for the smell are:^[49]^[50]

Subjectively, the first two are the most pungent, while the last two (sulfur-oxidized) give a sweet aroma. A mixture of these compounds form a "reconstituted asparagus urine" odor. This was first investigated in 1891 by Marceli Nencki, who attributed the smell to methanethiol.^[51] These compounds originate in the asparagus as asparagusic acid and its derivatives, as these are the only sulfur-containing compounds unique to asparagus. As these are more present in young asparagus, this accords with the observation that the smell is more pronounced after eating young asparagus. The biological mechanism for the production of these compounds is less clear.^[52]

The onset of the asparagus urine smell is remarkably rapid while the decline is slower. The smell has been reported to be detectable 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion^[53]^[54] and subsides with a half-life of approximately four hours.^[55] Asparagus has been eaten and cultivated for at least two millennia but the association between odorous urine and asparagus consumption was not observed until the late 17th century when sulfur-rich fertilisers became common in agriculture.^[56] Small-scale studies noted that the "asparagus urine" odour was not produced by all individuals and estimates as to the proportion of the population who are excretors (reporting a noticeable asparagus urine odour after eating asparagus) has ranged from about 40%^[57] to as high as 79%.^[58]^[55] When excretors are exposed to urine of people who do not report odour in their urine after asparagus consumption, however, the characteristic asparagus urine odour is usually reported.^[56] More recent work has found that a small proportion of individuals do not produce asparagus urine, and amongst those who do, some cannot detect the odour due to a single-nucleotide polymorphism within a cluster of olfactory receptors.^[59]

Debate exists about the universality of producing the sulfurous smell, as well as the ability to detect it. Originally, this was thought to be because some people digested asparagus differently from others, so some excreted odorous urine after eating asparagus, and others did not. In the 1980s, three studies from France,^[60] China, and Israel published results showing that producing odorous urine from asparagus was a common human characteristic. The Israeli study found that from their 307 subjects, all of those who could smell "asparagus urine" could detect it in the urine of anyone who had eaten asparagus, even if the person who produced it could not detect it.^[61] A 2010 study^[62] found variations in both production of odorous urine and the ability to detect the odor, but that these were not tightly related. Most people are thought to produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but the differing abilities of various individuals to detect the odor at increasing dilutions suggests a genetically determined specific sensitivity.^[63]^[64]^[65]

In 2010, the company 23andMe published a genome-wide association study on whether participants have "ever noticed a peculiar odor when [they] pee after eating asparagus".^[66] This study pinpointed a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in a cluster of olfactory genes associated with the ability to detect the odor. While this SNP did not explain all of the difference in detection between people, it provides support for the theory that genetic differences occur in olfactory receptors that lead people to be unable to smell these odorous compounds.

Celebrations

The green crop is significant enough in California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region that the city of Stockton holds a festival every year to celebrate it. Oceana County, Michigan, the self-proclaimed "asparagus capital of the world", hosts an annual festival.^[67] The Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire (another "asparagus capital"^[68]) celebrates the annual British Asparagus Festival, with auctions of the best crop, an "Asparagus Run" modelled on the Beaujolais Run, and a weekend "Asparafest" music festival.^[69]

Many German cities hold an annual Spargelfest (asparagus festival) celebrating the harvest of white asparagus. Schwetzingen claims to be the "Asparagus Capital of the World".^[70]

Gallery

Wild asparagus sauteed with garlic, naam plaa, and soy sauce

Wild asparagus sauteed with garlic, naam plaa, and soy sauce
In the Netherlands and northern Germany, asparagus is often eaten with ham, boiled egg, potatoes, and a melted butter sauce.

In the Netherlands and northern Germany, asparagus is often eaten with ham, boiled egg, potatoes, and a melted butter sauce.
Cream of asparagus soup

Cream of asparagus soup
Three types of asparagus are on display, with white asparagus at the back and green asparagus in the middle. The plant at the front is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, commonly called wild asparagus, and sometimes Bath asparagus or Prussian asparagus.

Three types of asparagus are on display, with white asparagus at the back and green asparagus in the middle. The plant at the front is Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, commonly called wild asparagus, and sometimes Bath asparagus or Prussian asparagus.
Asparagus served with bacon and rice

Asparagus served with bacon and rice
Wild asparagus (Asparagus aphyllus) native to the Levant

Wild asparagus (Asparagus aphyllus) native to the Levant
Asparagus in Mildura, Victoria, Australia

Asparagus in Mildura, Victoria, Australia
Mature wild asparagus with seed pods in Saskatchewan, Canada

Mature wild asparagus with seed pods in Saskatchewan, Canada

Notes

Template:Reflist

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Kew Species Profile: Asparagus officinalis (garden asparagus)
PROTAbase on Asparagus officinalis
Asparagus officinalis – Plants for a Future database entry
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Template:Webarchive – commercial growing (OSU bulletin)

Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control

bn:শতমূলী tr:Kuşkonmaz

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@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 |status = LC
 |status_system = IUCN3.1
-|status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Kell, S.P. |author2=Rhodes, L. |author3=Maxted, N. |year=2016 |title=''Asparagus officinalis'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T176377A19392993 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T176377A19392993.en |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
+|status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Kell, S.P. |author2=Rhodes, L. |author3=Maxted, N. |year=2016 |title=''Asparagus officinalis'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T176377A19392993 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T176377A19392993.en |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
 |image = Asparagus-Bundle.jpg
 |image_upright = 0.5
 |image_caption = A bundle of cultivated asparagus
 |authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
-|synonyms_ref=<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-275197| title = The Plant List, ''Asparagus officinalis'' L.}}</ref>
+|synonyms_ref=<ref>{{cite web| url =https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000634022  | title =''Asparagus officinalis'' L. |date=2025 |website=World Flora Online |publisher=The World Flora Consortium |access-date=28 September 2025}}</ref>
 |synonyms={{collapsible list|bullets = true
 |''Asparagus altilis'' <small>(L.) Asch.</small>
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 }}}}}}
-'''Asparagus''' ('''''Asparagus officinalis''''') is a [[perennial]] [[flowering plant]] species in the genus ''[[Asparagus (genus)|Asparagus]]'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring [[vegetable]].
+'''Asparagus''' ('''''Asparagus officinalis''''') or '''garden asparagus''' is a [[perennial]] [[flowering plant]] species in the genus ''[[Asparagus (genus)|Asparagus]]'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring [[vegetable]].
 == Description ==
 [[File:Asparagus officinalis 2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|Adult plant with fruits]]
-Asparagus is an [[herbaceous]], [[perennial plant]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2: Vegetables|publisher=PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen|year=2004|editor1-last=Grubben|editor1-first=G.J.H.|editor2-last=Denton|editor2-first=O.A.}}</ref> growing typically to {{convert|100–150|cm|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. It has been known to grow as long as {{Convert|3.5|m}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Longest asparagus | publisher=Guinness World Records | date=2 October 2004| url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-asparagus}}</ref> The 'leaves' are needle-like [[cladode]]s ([[Aerial stem modification|modified stems]]) in the [[Leaf#Morphology|axils]] of scale leaves; they are {{convert|6|–|32|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|1|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} broad, and clustered in fours, up to 15, together, in a rose-like shape.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert|last=Diderot|first=D.|date=2009|chapter=Asparagus|access-date=1 April 2015|orig-year=1772|chapter-url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0001.298|via=Collaborative Translation Project, University of Michigan}}</ref> The root system, often referred to as a 'crown', is [[adventitious]]; the root type is [[Fascicle (botany)|fasciculated]]. The [[flower]]s are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, {{convert|4.5|–|6.5|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long, with six [[tepal]]s partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually [[dioecious]], with male and female flowers on separate plants, but sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The [[fruit]] is a small red [[Berry (botany)|berry]] {{convert|6-10|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} in diameter, which is [[toxin|toxic]] to humans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gardengrow.co.nz/plant/Asparagus|title=Growing Asparagus|last=Garden Grow.|date=n.d.|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>
+Asparagus is an [[herbaceous]], [[perennial plant]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2: Vegetables|publisher=PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen|year=2004|editor1-last=Grubben|editor1-first=G.J.H.|editor2-last=Denton|editor2-first=O.A.}}</ref> growing typically to {{convert|100–150|cm|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. It has been known to grow as long as {{Convert|3.5|m}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Longest asparagus | publisher=Guinness World Records | date=2 October 2004| url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-asparagus}}</ref> The 'leaves' are needle-like [[cladode]]s ([[Aerial stem modification|modified stems]]) in the [[Leaf#Morphology|axils]] of scale leaves; they are {{convert|6|–|32|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|1|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} broad, and clustered in fours, up to 15, together, in a rose-like shape.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert|last=Diderot|first=D.|date=2009|chapter=Asparagus|access-date=1 April 2015|orig-date=1772|chapter-url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0001.298|via=Collaborative Translation Project, University of Michigan}}</ref> The root system, often referred to as a 'crown', is [[adventitious]]; the root type is [[Fascicle (botany)|fasciculated]].
-Plants native to the western coasts of [[Europe]] (from northern [[Spain]] to northwest [[Germany]], north [[Ireland]], and [[Great Britain]]) are treated as ''A. officinalis'' subsp. ''prostratus'' {{small|(Dumort.) Corb.}}, distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only {{convert|30|–|70|cm|abbr=on}} high, and shorter cladodes {{convert|2|–|18|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="Flora Europaea.">{{cite web |last=Flora Europaea. |date=n.d. |title=Asparagus officinalis |url=http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Asparagus&SPECIES_XREF=officinalis&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= |access-date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name="Blamey" /> Some authors treat it as a distinct species, ''A. prostratus'' {{small|Dumort}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=4839|title=Asparagus prostratus (Asparagus, Wild)|last1=Stace|first1=C.|author-link=Clive Stace|editor-last=van der Meijden|editor-first=R. |work=Interactive Flora of NW Europe|publisher=ETI BioInformatics|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923070246/http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=4839|archive-date=23 September 2009|access-date=19 May 2010|editor2-last=de Kort|editor2-first=I. }}</ref><ref>
+The [[flower]]s are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, {{convert|4.5|–|6.5|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long, with six [[tepal]]s partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually [[dioecious]], with male and female flowers on separate plants, but sometimes [[hermaphrodite]] flowers are found. The [[fruit]] is a small red [[Berry (botany)|berry]] {{convert|6-10|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} in diameter, which is [[toxin|toxic]] to humans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gardengrow.co.nz/plant/Asparagus|title=Growing Asparagus|last=Garden Grow.|date=n.d.|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>
+Asparagus grown natively to the western coasts of [[Europe]] (from northern [[Spain]] to northwest [[Germany]], north [[Ireland]], and [[Great Britain]]) are treated as ''A. officinalis'' subsp. ''prostratus'' {{small|(Dumort.) Corb.}}, distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only {{convert|30|–|70|cm|abbr=on}} high, and shorter cladodes {{convert|2|–|18|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="Flora Europaea.">{{cite web |last=Flora Europaea. |date=n.d. |title=Asparagus officinalis |url=http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Asparagus&SPECIES_XREF=officinalis&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= |access-date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name="Blamey" /> Some authors treat it as a distinct species, ''A. prostratus'' {{small|Dumort}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=4839|title=Asparagus prostratus (Asparagus, Wild)|last1=Stace|first1=C.|author-link=Clive Stace|editor-last=van der Meijden|editor-first=R. |work=Interactive Flora of NW Europe|publisher=ETI BioInformatics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923070246/http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=4839|archive-date=23 September 2009|access-date=19 May 2010|editor2-last=de Kort|editor2-first=I. }}</ref><ref>
 {{GRIN | ''Asparagus prostratus'' | 5538 | access-date = 19 May 2010}}</ref>
 [[File:Asparagus Tip.jpg|thumb|upright|Asparagus shoot before becoming woody]]
-== Taxonomy ==
+== Etymology ==
-Asparagus was once classified in the [[lily]] family, as were the related ''[[Allium]]'' species [[onion]]s and [[garlic]]. Genetic research currently places lilies, ''Allium'', and asparagus in three separate families: the [[Liliaceae]], [[Amaryllidaceae]], and [[Asparagaceae]], respectively. The latter two are part of the order [[Asparagales]].{{citation needed|date = February 2024}}
-=== Etymology ===
 The English word ''asparagus'' derives from classical [[Latin language|Latin]] but the plant was once known in English as ''sperage'', from the [[Medieval Latin]] ''sparagus''.<ref name="anno1000" group="Note">
 In the eleventh century AD the word "sparagus" appeared in an English text. See Brunning (June 2010), p. 6.&nbsp;– Brunning uses the term "in print", though no printing technique was used in England at the time. In the same sentence, she states that ''peasants'' often called it "sparrow grass", and further on mentions a 1667 diary in which Samuel Pepys bought a bundle of "sparrow grass" in Fenchurch Street, London.</ref> This term itself derives from the {{langx|grc|ἀσπάραγος}} - ''aspáragos'', a variant of {{langx|grc|ἀσφάραγος}} - ''aspháragos''. The Greek terms are of uncertain provenance; the former form admits the possibility of a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to jerk, scatter," directly or via a [[Persian language|Persian]] descendant meaning "twig, branch"; but the Ancient Greek word itself, meaning "gully, chasm," seems to be of [[Pre-Greek]] origin instead.
-In English, ''A. officinalis'' is widely known simply as "asparagus", or sometimes "garden asparagus".
 Asparagus was [[folk etymology|corrupted]] by folk etymology in some places to "sparrow grass";<ref>{{Cite OED|title=sparrowgrass|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/sparrowgrass_n?tab=factsheet#21603219|quote=OED's earliest evidence for sparrowgrass is from 1652, in the writing of [[Walter Blith]], writer on husbandry}}</ref> indeed, [[John Walker (naturalist)|John Walker]] wrote in 1791 that "''Sparrowgrass'' is so general that ''asparagus'' has an air of stiffness and pedantry".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Walker |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGAJAAAAQAAJ&q=an+air+of+stiffness+and+pedantry%22+%5BJohn+Walker&pg=PA169 |title=A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language |year=1806 |access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>
 The name 'sparrow grass' was still in common use in rural East Anglia, England well into the twentieth century.<ref>Ewart Evans, George "Ask the Fellows who Cut the Hay"</ref>
+== Taxonomy ==
+Asparagus was once classified in the [[lily]] family, as were the related ''[[Allium]]'' species [[onion]]s and [[garlic]]. Genetic research currently places lilies, ''Allium'', and asparagus in three separate families: the [[Liliaceae]], [[Amaryllidaceae]], and [[Asparagaceae]], respectively. The latter two are part of the order [[Asparagales]].{{citation needed|date = February 2024}}
+Asparagus populations grown natively to the western coasts of [[Europe]] are treated as the [[subspecies]] group of ''prostratus'' {{small|(Dumort.) Corb.}}.<ref name="Flora Europaea."/>
 == Distribution and habitat ==
-Sources differ as to the plant's native range, but generally include most of Europe and western [[temperate Asia]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Plants of the World Online. |date=n.d. |title=Asparagus officinalis L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531229-1 |access-date=31 May 2018 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}}</ref><ref name="Flora Europaea." /><ref>{{cite web |last=Euro+Med Plantbase Project. |title=Asparagus officinalis |url=http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083221/http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem}}</ref><ref>{{GRIN|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref>
+Sources differ as to the plant's native range, but generally include most of Europe and western [[temperate Asia]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Plants of the World Online. |date=n.d. |title=Asparagus officinalis L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:531229-1 |access-date=31 May 2018 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}}</ref><ref name="Flora Europaea." /><ref>{{cite web |last=Euro+Med Plantbase Project. |title=Asparagus officinalis |url=http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083221/http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=38660&PTRefFk=500000 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem}}</ref><ref>{{GRIN|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref>
 == Cultivation ==
@@ Line 81: / Line 84: @@
 In 2023, world production of asparagus was 8.6 million [[tonne]]s, with China accounting for 87% of the total (table).
+{{Table alignment}}
-{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; width:12em; text-align:center;"
+{| class="wikitable floatright col2right"
-|+ Asparagus production <br>{{small|2023, millions of tonnes}}
+|+ Asparagus production <br />{{small|2023, millions of tonnes}}
 |-
 |{{CHN}} ||7.44
@@ Line 95: / Line 98: @@
 |'''World''' ||'''8.59'''
 |-
-|colspan=2|{{small|Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]}}<ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Asparagus production in 2023, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)|date=2025|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>
+|colspan=2|{{small|Source: [[FAOSTAT]]<br> of the [[United Nations]]}}<ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Asparagus production in 2023, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)|date=2025|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>
 |}
@@ Line 134: / Line 137: @@
 }}
 Raw asparagus is 93% water, 4% [[carbohydrate]]s, 2% [[protein (nutrient)|protein]], and contains negligible [[fat]] (table). In a reference amount of {{cvt|100|g}}, raw asparagus supplies 20 [[calorie]]s, and is a rich source (20% or more of the [[Daily Value]]) of [[vitamin K]] (35% DV), and a moderate source (11–13% DV) of [[iron in biology|iron]], and the [[B vitamins]], [[thiamine]], [[riboflavin]], and [[folate]], with no other [[micronutrient]]s in significant content (table).
-[[File:Spargel sauce hollandaise.jpg|thumb|right|Serving of "white asparagus" with [[Hollandaise sauce]] and potatoes]]
+[[File:Steam-boiling_green_asparagus.jpg|thumb|Steam-boiling asparagus in a pot]]
 === Culinary ===
-Only young asparagus shoots ("spears") are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open ("ferning out"), the shoots quickly turn woody.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/pubs/ho/ho_096.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010614030400/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_096.pdf |archive-date=2001-06-14 |url-status=live |title=Growing Asparagus in the Home Garden; Section on harvesting |page=2 |publisher=Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service |access-date=31 January 2014}}</ref> The shape of edible spears can vary according to variety; typical shapes are long thin spears from 8mm to 24mm diameter, no longer than 22cm.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd36a32d3bf7f30641aa304/protected-food-evesham-asparagus-pgi-spec.pdf|title=Product Specification: Vale of Evesham asparagus|publisher=[[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] (UK)|date=6 December 2016<!--from pdf source-->}}</ref> The roots contain starch.<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing-2009">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/277203364 |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |author=(([[United States Department of the Army]]))|year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |pages=22 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364}}</ref>
+Only young asparagus shoots ("spears") are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open ("ferning out"), the shoots quickly turn woody.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/pubs/ho/ho_096.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010614030400/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_096.pdf |archive-date=2001-06-14 |url-status=live |title=Growing Asparagus in the Home Garden; Section on harvesting |page=2 |publisher=Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service |access-date=31 January 2014}}</ref> The shape of edible spears can vary according to variety; typical shapes are long thin spears from 8mm to 24mm diameter, no longer than 22cm.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd36a32d3bf7f30641aa304/protected-food-evesham-asparagus-pgi-spec.pdf|title=Product Specification: Vale of Evesham asparagus|publisher=[[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] (UK)|date=6 December 2016<!--from pdf source-->}}</ref> The roots contain starch.<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing-2009">{{Cite book |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |author=(([[United States Department of the Army]]))|year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |page=22 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364}}</ref>
 The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an appetizer<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-14 |title=10 Easy Asparagus Appetizers |url=https://insanelygoodrecipes.com/asparagus-appetizers/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Insanely Good Recipes |language=en-US}}</ref> or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often [[stir-fried]]. [[Cantonese cuisine|Cantonese]] restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried with [[chicken]], [[shrimp]], or [[beef]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asparagus |url=https://www.iatp.org/news/asparagus |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=www.iatp.org |language=en}}</ref> It may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers, and is also used as an ingredient in some stews and soups.
@@ Line 151: / Line 155: @@
 Male plants tend to  produce spears that are smaller and thinner, while female plants tend produce larger and thicker spears.<ref name="Wolford">{{cite web |last1=Wolford |first1=Ron |last2=Banks |first2=Drusilla |title=Asparagus |url=https://web.extension.illinois.edu/veggies/asparagus.cfm |website=Watch Your Garden Grow |publisher=University of Illinois Extension |access-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref> The thickness of stalks is not an indication of their tenderness; they are thick or thin from the moment they sprout from the ground.<ref name="Wolford" />
-Green asparagus is eaten worldwide, and the availability of imports throughout the year has made it less of a delicacy than it once was.<ref name="Blamey">Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. {{ISBN|0-340-40170-2}}.</ref> In Europe, according to one source, the "asparagus season is a highlight of the [[foodie]] calendar"; in the UK this traditionally begins on 23 April and ends on [[Midsummer]] Day.<ref>[http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/4329516.Time_to_glory_in_asparagus_again/ ''Oxford Times'': "Time to glory in asparagus again".] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907192444/http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/4329516.Time_to_glory_in_asparagus_again/ |date=7 September 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/|title=Page Redirection|access-date=3 March 2009|archive-date=16 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316131257/http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Europe the short growing season and high demand leads to a relatively high price for local produce, although asparagus is also imported.
+Green asparagus is eaten worldwide, and the availability of imports throughout the year has made it less of a delicacy than it once was.<ref name="Blamey">Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. {{ISBN|0-340-40170-2}}.</ref> In Europe, according to one source, the "asparagus season is a highlight of the [[foodie]] calendar"; in the UK this traditionally begins on 23 April and ends on [[Midsummer]] Day.<ref>[http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/4329516.Time_to_glory_in_asparagus_again/ ''Oxford Times'': "Time to glory in asparagus again".] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907192444/http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/4329516.Time_to_glory_in_asparagus_again/ |date=7 September 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/|title=Page Redirection|access-date=3 March 2009|archive-date=16 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316131257/http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/}}</ref> In Europe the short growing season and high demand leads to a relatively high price for local produce, although asparagus is also imported.
-Only seasonally on the menu, asparagus dishes are advertised outside many restaurants, usually from late April to June. For the French style, asparagus is often boiled or steamed and served with [[Hollandaise sauce]], [[white sauce]], melted butter or most recently with olive oil and [[Parmesan cheese]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KurMDAAAQBAJ&q=asperge%20livre%20cuisine&pg=PT354|chapter=“Chapitre XVI Légumes 71.Légumes” |author1=Jules Gouffé |author2=Etienne Antoine |author3=Eugène Ronjat|title=Le Livre de cuisine: Comprenant la cuisine de ménage et la grande cuisine, 1893.|date=5 August 2016 |publisher=BnF collection ebooks |isbn=9782346013760 |language=fr|access-date=28 April 2020}} (''Asperge'' is French for asparagus.)</ref> Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water.
+Only seasonally on the menu, asparagus dishes are advertised outside many restaurants, usually from late April to June. For the French style, asparagus is often boiled or steamed and served with [[Hollandaise sauce]], [[white sauce]], melted butter or most recently with olive oil and [[Parmesan cheese]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KurMDAAAQBAJ&q=asperge%20livre%20cuisine&pg=PT354|chapter="Chapitre XVI Légumes 71.Légumes" |author1=Jules Gouffé |author2=Etienne Antoine |author3=Eugène Ronjat|title=Le Livre de cuisine: Comprenant la cuisine de ménage et la grande cuisine, 1893.|date=5 August 2016 |publisher=BnF collection ebooks |isbn=978-2-346-01376-0 |language=fr|access-date=28 April 2020}} (''Asperge'' is French for asparagus.)</ref> Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water.
-In western Himalayan regions, such as Nepal and north-western India, [[Ornithogalum pyrenaicum]], known as "wild asparagus," is harvested as a seasonal vegetable delicacy known as ''kurilo'' or ''jhijhirkani''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kamal Prasad Aryal, Sushmita Poudel, Ram Prasad Chaudhary, Nakul Chettri, Pashupati Chaudhary, Wu Ning, Rajan Kotru |title=Diversity and use of wild and non-cultivated edible plants in the Western Himalaya |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |year=2018 |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=10 |doi=10.1186/s13002-018-0211-1 |pmid=29378614 |pmc=5789610 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+In western Himalayan regions, such as Nepal and north-western India, [[Ornithogalum pyrenaicum]], known as "wild asparagus," is harvested as a seasonal vegetable delicacy known as ''kurilo'' or ''jhijhirkani''.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Aryal KP, Poudel S, Chaudhary RP, et al. |title=Diversity and use of wild and non-cultivated edible plants in the Western Himalaya |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |year=2018 |volume=14 |issue=1 |article-number=10 |doi=10.1186/s13002-018-0211-1 |pmid=29378614 |pmc=5789610 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
 ==== White asparagus ====
+[[File:Spargel sauce hollandaise.jpg|thumb|right|Serving of "white asparagus" with [[Hollandaise sauce]] and potatoes]]
-[[File:Steam-boiling_green_asparagus.jpg|thumb|Steam-boiling asparagus in a pot]]
+White asparagus is produced by applying a [[Blanching (horticulture)|blanching]] technique while the asparagus shoots are growing:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Creasy|first=Rosalind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7SHCgAAQBAJ&q=White+asparagus+is+the+result+of+applying+a+blanching+technique&pg=PA9|title=Edible French Garden|date=1999-03-15|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1759-4|language=en}}</ref> the shoots are covered with soil as they grow, i.e. [[Hilling|earthed up]]; without exposure to sunlight, there is no [[photosynthesis]] and the shoots remain white. The locally cultivated so-called "white gold" or "edible ivory" asparagus, also referred to as "the royal vegetable",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html|title=Wit goud en koningin der groente: vorstelijke asperges|date=20 May 2009|publisher=Infoyo (web publisher)|location=Netherlands|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119040848/http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html|archive-date=19 January 2012|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> is believed to be less bitter and more tender than unblanched green. Freshness is valued, and the lower ends of white asparagus must be peeled.
-[[File:21 05 01 Daniela Kloth Spargel MG 0720.jpg|thumb|Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce]]
-White asparagus is very popular in Europe and western Asia.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} It is produced by applying a [[Blanching (horticulture)|blanching]] technique while the asparagus shoots are growing:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Creasy|first=Rosalind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7SHCgAAQBAJ&q=White+asparagus+is+the+result+of+applying+a+blanching+technique&pg=PA9|title=Edible French Garden|date=1999-03-15|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1759-4|language=en}}</ref> the shoots are covered with soil as they grow, i.e. [[Hilling|earthed up]]; without exposure to sunlight, there is no [[photosynthesis]] and the shoots remain white. The locally cultivated so-called "white gold" or "edible ivory" asparagus, also referred to as "the royal vegetable",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html|title=Wit goud en koningin der groente: vorstelijke asperges|date=20 May 2009|publisher=Infoyo (web publisher)|location=Netherlands|language=nl|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119040848/http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html|archive-date=19 January 2012|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> is believed to be less bitter and more tender than unblanched green. Freshness is very important, and the lower ends of white asparagus must be peeled.
 During the German ''Spargelsaison'' or ''Spargelzeit'' ("asparagus season" or "asparagus time"), the asparagus season that traditionally finishes on 24 June, roadside stands and open-air markets sell about half of the country's white asparagus consumption.<ref>{{cite news|last=Evans|first=Stephen|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17753372|title=Asparagus, royalty and the joys of seasonal eating|date=21 April 2012|work=BBC News|access-date=22 April 2012}}</ref>
 {{anchor|urine}}
 == In culture ==
-Asparagus has been used as a vegetable owing to its distinct flavor, and in medicine due to its [[diuretic]] properties and its purported function as an [[aphrodisiac]]. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian [[frieze]] dating to 3000 BC. In ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in the Iberian Peninsula. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter. Emperor [[Augustus]] coined the expression "faster than cooking asparagus" for quick action.<ref name="August" group="Note">Latin ''velocius quam asparagi conquantur'' (or ''celerius quam asparagi cocuntur''), ascribed to Augustus by [[Suetonius]] (''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Book 2 ''(Augustus), para. 87). See [[List of Latin phrases (V)]].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Brunning, Pam |date=June 2010 |title=Asparagus – Liliaceae–Asparagacease |url=http://www.iwfs.org/assets/upload/regions/europe-africa/Food_and_Wine/Food__Wine_June_2010_1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001042749/http://www.iwfs.org/assets/upload/regions/europe-africa/Food_and_Wine/Food__Wine_June_2010_1.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-01 |url-status=live |journal=Food & Wine |issue=103 |access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges">{{cite web |title=Over asperge – Oudheid |url=http://www.asperge.nl/nl/overasperge/oudheid/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331065257/http://www.asperge.nl/nl/overasperge/oudheid/ |archive-date=31 March 2012 |access-date=26 August 2011 |publisher=Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges |language=nl}}</ref>
+Asparagus has been used as a vegetable owing to its distinct flavor, and in medicine due to its [[diuretic]] properties and its purported function as an [[aphrodisiac]]. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian [[frieze]] dating to 3000 BC. In ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in the Iberian Peninsula. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter. Emperor [[Augustus]] coined the expression "faster than cooking asparagus" for quick action.<ref name="August" group="Note">Latin ''velocius quam asparagi conquantur'' (or ''celerius quam asparagi cocuntur''), ascribed to Augustus by [[Suetonius]] (''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Book 2 ''(Augustus), para. 87). See [[List of Latin phrases (V)]].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Brunning, Pam |date=June 2010 |title=Asparagus – Liliaceae–Asparagacease |url=http://www.iwfs.org/assets/upload/regions/europe-africa/Food_and_Wine/Food__Wine_June_2010_1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001042749/http://www.iwfs.org/assets/upload/regions/europe-africa/Food_and_Wine/Food__Wine_June_2010_1.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-01 |url-status=live |journal=Food & Wine |issue=103 |access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges">{{cite web |title=Over asperge – Oudheid |url=http://www.asperge.nl/nl/overasperge/oudheid/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331065257/http://www.asperge.nl/nl/overasperge/oudheid/ |archive-date=31 March 2012 |access-date=26 August 2011 |publisher=Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges |language=nl}}</ref>
 A recipe for cooking asparagus is given in one of the oldest surviving collections of recipes ([[Apicius]]'s 1st century AD ''[[De re coquinaria]]'', Book III). In the second century AD, the Greek physician [[Galen]], highly respected within Roman society, mentioned asparagus as a beneficial herb, but as dominance of the Roman empire waned, asparagus' medicinal value drew little attention<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vaughan |first1=John Griffith |url=https://archive.org/details/newoxfordbookoff00vaug_0 |title=The New Oxford Book of Food Plants |last2=Geissler |first2=Catherine Alison |last3=Nicholson |first3=Barbara |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-854825-6 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="anno1000" group="Note" />
-until [[:s:Author:Muhammad al-Nafzawi|al-Nafzawi]]'s ''[[The Perfumed Garden]]''. That piece of writing celebrates its purported [[aphrodisiac]]al <!--adj: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aphrodisiac--> power that the Indian ''[[Ananga Ranga]]'' attributes to "special [[phosphorus]] elements" that also counteract fatigue.{{Dubious |reason=The Ananga Ranga was written a century or two before phosphorus was isolated, so it's unlikely to have attributed anything to phosphorus. If anyone can find phosphorus in the Ananga Ranga, please cite the place. |date=May 2020}}
+until [[:s:Author:Muhammad al-Nafzawi|al-Nafzawi]]'s ''[[The Perfumed Garden]]''.
-By 1469, asparagus was cultivated in French monasteries. Asparagus appears to have been little noticed in England until 1538,<ref name="anno1000" group="Note" /> and in Germany until 1542.<ref name="Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges" />
+By 1469, asparagus was cultivated in French monasteries. Asparagus appears to have been little noticed in England until 1538,<ref name="anno1000" group="Note" /> and in Germany until 1542.<ref name="Stichting Afzetbevordering Asperges" />{{Better source needed|date=September 2025}}
-Asparagus was brought to North America by European settlers at least as early as 1655. Adriaen van der Donck, a Dutch immigrant to New Netherland, mentions asparagus in his description of Dutch farming practices in the New World.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blackburn |first1=Roderic H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nK5Au-cvOTwC |title=New World Dutch Studies: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America, 1609-1776 : Proceedings of the Symposium |last2=Kelley |first2=Nancy A. |date=January 1987 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2989-2 |language=en}}</ref> Asparagus was grown by British immigrants as well; in 1685, one of William Penn's advertisements for Pennsylvania included asparagus in a long list of crops that grew well in the American climate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Andrew R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTpxDwAAQBAJ |title=William Penn: A Life |date=8 October 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-023426-3 |language=en}}</ref>
+Asparagus was brought to North America by European settlers at least as early as 1655. Adriaen van der Donck, a Dutch immigrant to New Netherland, mentions asparagus in his description of Dutch farming practices in the New World.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blackburn |first1=Roderic H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nK5Au-cvOTwC |title=New World Dutch Studies: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America, 1609-1776: Proceedings of the Symposium |last2=Kelley |first2=Nancy A. |date=January 1987 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2989-2 |language=en}}</ref> Asparagus was grown by British immigrants as well; in 1685, one of William Penn's advertisements for Pennsylvania included asparagus in a long list of crops that grew well in the American climate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Andrew R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTpxDwAAQBAJ |title=William Penn: A Life |date=8 October 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-023426-3 |language=en}}</ref>
-The ''points d'amour'' ("love tips") were served as a delicacy to [[Madame de Pompadour]] (1721–1764).<ref>{{cite web |date=20 May 2009 |title=Wit goud en koningin der groente: vorstelijke asperges |url=http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119040848/http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html |archive-date=19 January 2012 |access-date=26 August 2011 |publisher=Infoyo (web publisher) |location=Netherlands |language=nl |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
+The ''points d'amour'' ("love tips") were served as a delicacy to [[Madame de Pompadour]] (1721–1764).<ref>{{cite web |date=20 May 2009 |title=Wit goud en koningin der groente: vorstelijke asperges |url=http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119040848/http://eten-en-drinken.infoyo.nl/producten/14450-wit-goud-en-koningin-der-groente-vorstelijke-asperges.html |archive-date=19 January 2012 |access-date=26 August 2011 |publisher=Infoyo (web publisher) |location=Netherlands |language=nl }}</ref>
-{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= [[File:Julia Child at KUHT.jpg|210px]] | video1 = [http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B0D9EDA444FC425C8932E0BE8198AAA5 The French Chef; Asparagus From Tip to Butt], [[Julia Child]], 25 April 1966, 29:16, [[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH Open Vault]]<ref>{{cite web | title =The French Chef; Asparagus From Tip to Butt | work = The Julia Child Project | publisher =[[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH Open Vault]] | date = 25 April 1966 | url = http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B0D9EDA444FC425C8932E0BE8198AAA5 | access-date =16 September 2016 }}</ref> }}
+{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B0D9EDA444FC425C8932E0BE8198AAA5 The French Chef; Asparagus From Tip to Butt], [[Julia Child]], 25 April 1966, 29:16, [[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH Open Vault]]<ref>{{cite web | title =The French Chef; Asparagus From Tip to Butt | work = The Julia Child Project | publisher =[[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH Open Vault]] | date = 25 April 1966 | url = http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_B0D9EDA444FC425C8932E0BE8198AAA5 | access-date =16 September 2016 }}</ref> }}
 === Effects on urine ===
@@ Line 184: / Line 186: @@
 <blockquote>[Asparagus] cause a powerful and disagreeable smell in the urine, as everybody knows.
-:— ''Treatise of All Sorts of Foods'', [[Louis Lémery]], 1702<ref>{{cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |title=McGee on Food and Cooking |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-340-83149-6 |pages=315 |chapter=6}}</ref></blockquote>
+:— ''Treatise of All Sorts of Foods'', [[Louis Lémery]], 1702<ref>{{cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |title=McGee on Food and Cooking |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-340-83149-6 |page=315 |chapter=6}}</ref></blockquote>
 <blockquote>asparagus... affects the urine with a [[wikt:foetid|foetid]] smell (especially if cut when they are white) and therefore have been suspected by some physicians as not friendly to the kidneys; when they are older, and begin to ramify, they lose this quality; but then they are not so agreeable.
@@ Line 190: / Line 192: @@
 <blockquote>A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreeable Odour...
-:— "[[Fart Proudly|Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels]]", [[Benjamin Franklin]], c. 1781<ref>{{cite web |last=Franklin |first=Benjamin |year=c. 1781 |title=Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels |url=http://mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle2.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121215033705/http://mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle2.xml |archive-date=2012-12-15}}</ref></blockquote>
+:— "[[Fart Proudly|Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels]]", [[Benjamin Franklin]], c. 1781<ref>{{cite web |last=Franklin |first=Benjamin |year=c. 1781 |title=Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels |url=http://mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle2.xml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121215033705/http://mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle2.xml |archive-date=2012-12-15}}</ref></blockquote>
 <blockquote>Asparagus "...transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume."
@@ Line 207: / Line 209: @@
 * [[dimethyl sulfone]]
-Subjectively, the first two are the most pungent, while the last two (sulfur-oxidized) give a sweet aroma. A mixture of these compounds form a "reconstituted asparagus urine" odor. This was first investigated in 1891 by [[Marceli Nencki]], who attributed the smell to [[methanethiol]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nencki |first=Marceli |author-link=Marceli Nencki |year=1891 |title=Ueber das vorkommen von methylmercaptan im menschlichen harn nach spargelgenuss |journal=Arch. Exp. Pathol. Pharmakol. |volume=28 |issue=3–4 |pages=206–209 |doi=10.1007/BF01824333 |s2cid=26430677}}</ref> These compounds originate in the asparagus as [[asparagusic acid]] and its derivatives, as these are the only sulfur-containing compounds unique to asparagus. As these are more present in young asparagus, this accords with the observation that the smell is more pronounced after eating young asparagus. The biological mechanism for the production of these compounds is less clear.{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
+Subjectively, the first two are the most pungent, while the last two (sulfur-oxidized) give a sweet aroma. A mixture of these compounds form a "reconstituted asparagus urine" odor. This was first investigated in 1891 by [[Marceli Nencki]], who attributed the smell to [[methanethiol]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nencki |first=Marceli |author-link=Marceli Nencki |year=1891 |title=Ueber das vorkommen von methylmercaptan im menschlichen harn nach spargelgenuss |journal=Arch. Exp. Pathol. Pharmakol. |volume=28 |issue=3–4 |pages=206–209 |doi=10.1007/BF01824333 |s2cid=26430677}}</ref> These compounds originate in the asparagus as [[asparagusic acid]] and its derivatives, as these are the only sulfur-containing compounds unique to asparagus. As these are more present in young asparagus, this accords with the observation that the smell is more pronounced after eating young asparagus. The biological mechanism for the production of these compounds is less clear.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Hongxia |last2=Birch |first2=John |last3=Pei |first3=Jinjin |last4=Ma |first4=Zheng Feei |last5=Bekhit |first5=Alaa El-Din |date=2019-04-01 |title=Phytochemical compounds and biological activity in Asparagus roots: a review |journal=International Journal of Food Science and Technology |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=966–977 |doi=10.1111/ijfs.13993 |issn=0950-5423}}</ref>
-The onset of the asparagus urine smell is remarkably rapid while the decline is slower. The smell has been reported to be detectable 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion<ref>{{cite web |author=Somer, E. |date=14 August 2000 |title=Eau D'Asparagus |url=http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821225214/http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089 |archive-date=21 August 2006 |access-date=31 August 2006 |website=WebMD}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=O'Neil |first1=Carolyn |last2=MS |last3=RD |title=Why Your Pee Smells Funny After Eating Asparagus |url=https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/why-pee-smells-funny-eat-asparagus |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=WebMD |language=en}}</ref> and subsides with a [[Biological half-life|half-life]] of approximately four hours.<ref name="van Hasselt-2016">{{cite journal |last1=van Hasselt |first1=J. G. C. |last2=Elassaiss-Schaap |first2=J. |last3=Ramamoorthy |first3=A. |last4=Sadler |first4=B. M. |last5=Kasichayanula |first5=S. |last6=Edwards |first6=Y. |last7=van der Graaf |first7=P. H. |last8=Zhang |first8=L. |last9=Wagner |first9=J. A. |year=2016 |title=The proof is in the pee: Population asparagus urinary odor kinetics |url=http://www.page-meeting.org/default.asp?abstract=5717 |journal=PAGE: Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Population Approach Group in Europe |volume=25 |issn=1871-6032 |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref>
+The onset of the asparagus urine smell is remarkably rapid while the decline is slower. The smell has been reported to be detectable 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion<ref>{{cite web |author=Somer, E. |date=14 August 2000 |title=Eau D'Asparagus |url=http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821225214/http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089 |archive-date=21 August 2006 |access-date=31 August 2006 |website=WebMD}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=O'Neil |first1=Carolyn |last2=MS |last3=RD |title=Why Your Pee Smells Funny After Eating Asparagus |url=https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/why-pee-smells-funny-eat-asparagus |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=WebMD |language=en}}</ref> and subsides with a [[Biological half-life|half-life]] of approximately four hours.<ref name="van Hasselt-2016">{{cite journal |last1=van Hasselt |first1=J. G. C. |last2=Elassaiss-Schaap |first2=J. |last3=Ramamoorthy |first3=A. |last4=Sadler |first4=B. M. |last5=Kasichayanula |first5=S. |last6=Edwards |first6=Y. |last7=van der Graaf |first7=P. H. |last8=Zhang |first8=L. |last9=Wagner |first9=J. A. |year=2016 |title=The proof is in the pee: Population asparagus urinary odor kinetics |url=http://www.page-meeting.org/default.asp?abstract=5717 |journal=PAGE: Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Population Approach Group in Europe |volume=25 |issn=1871-6032 |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref>
-Asparagus has been eaten and cultivated for at least two millennia but the association between odorous urine and asparagus consumption was not observed until the late 17th century when sulfur-rich fertilisers became common in agriculture.<ref name="Mitchell-2001">{{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=S. C. |year=2001 |title=Food idiosyncrasies: Beetroot and asparagus |url=http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/29/4/539.full |journal=[[Drug Metabolism and Disposition]] |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=539–543 |pmid=11259347}}</ref> Small-scale studies noted that the "asparagus urine" odour was not produced by all individuals and estimates as to the proportion of the population who are excretors (reporting a noticeable asparagus urine odour after eating asparagus) has ranged from about 40%<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allison |first1=A. C. |last2=McWhirter |first2=K. G. |year=1956 |title=Two unifactorial characters for which man is polymorphic |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=178 |issue=4536 |pages=748–749 |bibcode=1956Natur.178..748A |doi=10.1038/178748c0 |pmid=13369530 |s2cid=4168673}}</ref> to as high as 79%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sugarman |first1=J. |last2=Neelon |first2=F. A. |year=1985 |title=You're in for a treat: Asparagus |journal=[[North Carolina Medical Journal]] |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=332–334 |pmid=3860737}}</ref><ref name="van Hasselt-2016" /> When excretors are exposed to urine of people who do not report odour in their urine after asparagus consumption, however, the characteristic asparagus urine odour is usually reported.<ref name="Mitchell-2001" /> More recent work has found that a small proportion of individuals do not produce asparagus urine, and amongst those who do, some cannot detect the odour due to a [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]] within a cluster of [[olfactory receptor]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pelchat |first1=M. L. |last2=Bykowski |first2=C. |last3=Duke |first3=F. F. |last4=Reed |first4=D. R. |year=2011 |title=Excretion and perception of a characteristic odor in urine after asparagus ingestion: A psychophysical and genetic study |journal=[[Chemical Senses]] |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=9–17 |doi=10.1093/chemse/bjq081 |pmc=3002398 |pmid=20876394}}</ref>
+Asparagus has been eaten and cultivated for at least two millennia but the association between odorous urine and asparagus consumption was not observed until the late 17th century when sulfur-rich fertilisers became common in agriculture.<ref name="Mitchell-2001">{{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=S. C. |year=2001 |title=Food idiosyncrasies: Beetroot and asparagus |url=http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/29/4/539.full |journal=[[Drug Metabolism and Disposition]] |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=539–543 |pmid=11259347}}</ref> Small-scale studies noted that the "asparagus urine" odour was not produced by all individuals and estimates as to the proportion of the population who are excretors (reporting a noticeable asparagus urine odour after eating asparagus) has ranged from about 40%<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allison |first1=A. C. |last2=McWhirter |first2=K. G. |year=1956 |title=Two unifactorial characters for which man is polymorphic |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=178 |issue=4536 |pages=748–749 |bibcode=1956Natur.178..748A |doi=10.1038/178748c0 |pmid=13369530 |s2cid=4168673}}</ref> to as high as 79%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sugarman |first1=J. |last2=Neelon |first2=F. A. |year=1985 |title=You're in for a treat: Asparagus |journal=North Carolina Medical Journal |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=332–334 |pmid=3860737}}</ref><ref name="van Hasselt-2016" /> When excretors are exposed to urine of people who do not report odour in their urine after asparagus consumption, however, the characteristic asparagus urine odour is usually reported.<ref name="Mitchell-2001" /> More recent work has found that a small proportion of individuals do not produce asparagus urine, and amongst those who do, some cannot detect the odour due to a [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]] within a cluster of [[olfactory receptor]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pelchat |first1=M. L. |last2=Bykowski |first2=C. |last3=Duke |first3=F. F. |last4=Reed |first4=D. R. |year=2011 |title=Excretion and perception of a characteristic odor in urine after asparagus ingestion: A psychophysical and genetic study |journal=[[Chemical Senses]] |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=9–17 |doi=10.1093/chemse/bjq081 |pmc=3002398 |pmid=20876394}}</ref>
-Debate exists about the universality of producing the sulfurous smell, as well as the ability to detect it. Originally, this was thought to be because some people digested asparagus differently from others, so some excreted odorous urine after eating asparagus, and others did not. In the 1980s, three studies from France,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=C. RICHER |author2=N. DECKER |author3=J. BELIN |author4=J. L. IMBS |author5=J. L. MONTASTRUC |author6=J. F. GIUDICELLI |date=May 1989 |title=Odorous urine in man after asparagus |journal=Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=640–1 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03431.x |pmc=1379934 |pmid=2757887}}</ref> China, and Israel published results showing that producing odorous urine from asparagus was a common human characteristic. The Israeli study found that from their 307 subjects, all of those who could smell "asparagus urine" could detect it in the urine of anyone who had eaten asparagus, even if the person who produced it could not detect it.<ref>{{cite journal |author=S. C. MITCHELL |date=May 1989 |title=Asparagus and malodorous urine |journal=Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=641–2 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03432.x |pmc=1379935 |pmid=2757888}}</ref> A 2010 study<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pelchat |first1=M. L. |author2=Bykowski, C. |author3=Duke, F. F. |author4=Reed, D. R. |year=2010 |title=Excretion and Perception of a Characteristic Odor in Urine after Asparagus Ingestion: a Psychophysical and Genetic Study |journal=Chemical Senses |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=9–17 |doi=10.1093/chemse/bjq081 |pmc=3002398 |pmid=20876394}}</ref> found variations in both production of odorous urine and the ability to detect the odor, but that these were not tightly related. Most people are thought to produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but the differing abilities of various individuals to detect the odor at increasing dilutions suggests a genetically determined specific sensitivity.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 September 2005 |title=The scientific chef: asparagus pee |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/story/0,,1576765,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504232117/http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0%2C%2C1576765%2C00.html |archive-date=4 May 2007 |access-date=21 April 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Hannah Holmes |title=Why Asparagus Makes Your Pee Stink |url=http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229081018/http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html |archive-date=29 February 2008 |publisher=Discover.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lison M, Blondheim SH, Melmed RN |year=1980 |title=A polymorphism of the ability to smell urinary metabolites of asparagus |journal=Br Med J |volume=281 |issue=6256 |pages=1676–8 |doi=10.1136/bmj.281.6256.1676 |pmc=1715705 |pmid=7448566}}</ref>
+Debate exists about the universality of producing the sulfurous smell, as well as the ability to detect it. Originally, this was thought to be because some people digested asparagus differently from others, so some excreted odorous urine after eating asparagus, and others did not. In the 1980s, three studies from France,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=C. RICHER |author2=N. DECKER |author3=J. BELIN |author4=J. L. IMBS |author5=J. L. MONTASTRUC |author6=J. F. GIUDICELLI |date=May 1989 |title=Odorous urine in man after asparagus |journal=Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=640–1 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03431.x |pmc=1379934 |pmid=2757887}}</ref> China, and Israel published results showing that producing odorous urine from asparagus was a common human characteristic. The Israeli study found that from their 307 subjects, all of those who could smell "asparagus urine" could detect it in the urine of anyone who had eaten asparagus, even if the person who produced it could not detect it.<ref>{{cite journal |author=S. C. MITCHELL |date=May 1989 |title=Asparagus and malodorous urine |journal=Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=641–2 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03432.x |pmc=1379935 |pmid=2757888}}</ref> A 2010 study<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pelchat |first1=M. L. |author2=Bykowski, C. |author3=Duke, F. F. |author4=Reed, D. R. |year=2010 |title=Excretion and Perception of a Characteristic Odor in Urine after Asparagus Ingestion: a Psychophysical and Genetic Study |journal=Chemical Senses |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=9–17 |doi=10.1093/chemse/bjq081 |pmc=3002398 |pmid=20876394}}</ref> found variations in both production of odorous urine and the ability to detect the odor, but that these were not tightly related. Most people are thought to produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but the differing abilities of various individuals to detect the odor at increasing dilutions suggests a genetically determined specific sensitivity.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 September 2005 |title=The scientific chef: asparagus pee |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/story/0,,1576765,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504232117/http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0%2C%2C1576765%2C00.html |archive-date=4 May 2007 |access-date=21 April 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Hannah Holmes |title=Why Asparagus Makes Your Pee Stink |url=http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229081018/http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html |archive-date=29 February 2008 |publisher=Discover.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lison M, Blondheim SH, Melmed RN |year=1980 |title=A polymorphism of the ability to smell urinary metabolites of asparagus |journal=Br Med J |volume=281 |issue=6256 |pages=1676–8 |doi=10.1136/bmj.281.6256.1676 |pmc=1715705 |pmid=7448566}}</ref>
-In 2010, the company [[23andMe]] published a [[genome-wide association study]] on whether participants have "ever noticed a peculiar odor when [they] pee after eating asparagus".<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Eriksson N, Macpherson JM, Tung JY, Hon LS, Naughton B, Saxonov S, Avey L, Wojcicki A, Pe'er I, Mountain J |year=2010 |editor1-last=Gibson |editor1-first=Greg |title=Web-Based, Participant-Driven Studies Yield Novel Genetic Associations for Common Traits |journal=PLOS Genet. |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e1000993 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1000993 |pmc=2891811 |pmid=20585627 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This study pinpointed a [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]] (SNP) in a cluster of olfactory genes associated with the ability to detect the odor. While this SNP did not explain all of the difference in detection between people, it provides support for the theory that genetic differences occur in olfactory receptors that lead people to be unable to smell these odorous compounds.
+In 2010, the company [[23andMe]] published a [[genome-wide association study]] on whether participants have "ever noticed a peculiar odor when [they] pee after eating asparagus".<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Eriksson N, Macpherson JM, Tung JY, Hon LS, Naughton B, Saxonov S, Avey L, Wojcicki A, Pe'er I, Mountain J |year=2010 |editor1-last=Gibson |editor1-first=Greg |title=Web-Based, Participant-Driven Studies Yield Novel Genetic Associations for Common Traits |journal=PLOS Genet. |volume=6 |issue=6 |article-number=e1000993 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1000993 |pmc=2891811 |pmid=20585627 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This study pinpointed a [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]] (SNP) in a cluster of olfactory genes associated with the ability to detect the odor. While this SNP did not explain all of the difference in detection between people, it provides support for the theory that genetic differences occur in olfactory receptors that lead people to be unable to smell these odorous compounds.
 === Celebrations ===
-The green crop is significant enough in California's [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] region that the city of [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] holds a festival every year to celebrate it. [[Oceana County, Michigan]], the self-proclaimed "asparagus capital of the world", hosts an annual festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Asparagus Festival |url=https://www.nationalasparagusfestival.org/ |access-date=2020-10-20 |website=asparagusfestival |language=en}}</ref> The [[Vale of Evesham]] in [[Worcestershire]] (another "asparagus capital"<ref>{{cite web | title=A Visitor's Introduction to Evesham | publisher=Choosewhere | url=https://choosewhere.com/evesham-visitor-guide | access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref>) celebrates the annual British Asparagus Festival, with auctions of the best crop, an "Asparagus Run" modelled on the Beaujolais Run, and a weekend "Asparafest" music festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Festival |url=http://www.britishasparagusfestival.org/about/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327014443/http://www.britishasparagusfestival.org/about/ |archive-date=27 March 2019 |access-date=26 March 2019 |work=British Aparagus Festival |publisher=British Asparagus Festival}}</ref>
+The green crop is significant enough in California's [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] region that the city of [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] holds a festival every year to celebrate it. [[Oceana County, Michigan]], the self-proclaimed "asparagus capital of the world", hosts an annual festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Asparagus Festival |url=https://www.nationalasparagusfestival.org/ |access-date=2020-10-20 |website=asparagusfestival |language=en}}</ref> The [[Vale of Evesham]] in [[Worcestershire]] (another "asparagus capital"<ref>{{cite web | title=A Visitor's Introduction to Evesham | publisher=Choosewhere | url=https://choosewhere.com/evesham-visitor-guide | access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref>) celebrates the annual British Asparagus Festival, with auctions of the best crop, an "Asparagus Run" modelled on the Beaujolais Run, and a weekend "Asparafest" music festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Festival |url=http://www.britishasparagusfestival.org/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327014443/http://www.britishasparagusfestival.org/about/ |archive-date=27 March 2019 |access-date=26 March 2019 |work=British Aparagus Festival |publisher=British Asparagus Festival}}</ref>
-Many German cities hold an annual ''Spargelfest'' (asparagus festival) celebrating the harvest of white asparagus. [[Schwetzingen]] claims to be the "Asparagus Capital of the World".<ref name="Davis-2008">{{cite news |last=Davis |first=William A. |date=14 May 2008 |title=Buried treasure: white asparagus |work=The Christian Science Monitor |location=Schwetzingen, Germany |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0514/p17s01-hfgn.html?page=2 |access-date=26 March 2019}}</ref>
+Many German cities hold an annual ''Spargelfest'' (asparagus festival) celebrating the harvest of white asparagus. [[Schwetzingen]] claims to be the "Asparagus Capital of the World".<ref name="Davis-2008">{{cite news |last=Davis |first=William A. |date=14 May 2008 |title=Buried treasure: white asparagus |work=The Christian Science Monitor |location=Schwetzingen, Germany |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0514/p17s01-hfgn.html?page=2 |access-date=26 March 2019}}</ref>
 <!--"The town of Beelitz in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area" was mentioned here, situating it in northeastern Germany that (see Cultivation) is famous for asparagus cultivation — but not a word about a festival...-->
@@ Line 253: / Line 255: @@
 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121211010030/http://database.prota.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=QBE_QUERY&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdatabase.prota.org%2Fsearch.htm&TN=PROTAB~1&QB0=AND&QF0=Species+Code&QI0=Asparagus+officinalis&RF=Webdisplay PROTAbase on ''Asparagus officinalis'']
 * [http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Asparagus+officinalis ''Asparagus officinalis'']&nbsp;– Plants for a Future database entry
-* {{cite web|url= http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121018213610/http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 October 2012 |title=World Asparagus Situation and Outlook }}&nbsp;{{small|(55.0&nbsp;KB)}}&nbsp;– 2005 USDA report
+* {{cite web|url= http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121018213610/http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Hort_Circular/2005/08-05/Asparagus%20article.pdf |archive-date= 18 October 2012 |title=World Asparagus Situation and Outlook }}&nbsp;{{small|(55.0&nbsp;KB)}}&nbsp;– 2005 USDA report
 * {{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020917233130/http://ohioline.osu.edu/b826/index.html |title=Asparagus Production Management and Marketing |date=17 September 2002}}&nbsp;– commercial growing (OSU bulletin)

Asparagus: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:34, 26 October 2025

Contents

Description

Etymology

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Cultivation

Companion planting

Production

Uses

Nutrition

Culinary

White asparagus

In culture

Effects on urine

Celebrations

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links

Navigation menu

Asparagus: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:34, 26 October 2025

Description

Etymology

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Cultivation

Companion planting

Production

Uses

Nutrition

Culinary

White asparagus

In culture

Effects on urine

Celebrations

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links

Navigation menu

Search