Lettuce

The Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold and raw, in salads, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes. In some places, including China, lettuce is typically eaten cooked and use of the stem is as important as use of the leaf. The lettuce plant has a short stem initially but when it blooms the stem lengthens and branches to produce many flower heads -- called bolting -- when grown to eat, lettuce is harvested before it bolts.

History Of Lettuce

The lettuce that we see today actually started out as a weed around the Mediterranean basin. Served in dishes for more than 4500 years, lettuce has certainly made its mark in history -- as seen from tomb painting in Egypt to identification of many different types of lettuces in ancient Greece relics by various Greek scholars. Christopher Columbus introduced lettuce to the new world and from there, lettuce in the United States began cultivating.

Lettuce Nutrition Info

Lettuce is exceptionally low in calories and contains over 90% water. However, dark lettuce leaves are rich in folate and contain useful amounts of beta-carotene as well as vitamin C, potassium and certain phyto-chemicals (coumarins, flavonoids and lactucin) that act as a mild sedative, especially when eaten with bread.

Lettuce Health Benefits

Lettuce aids digestion and promotes liver health. It can also reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and cataracts. Other research shows it helps to reduce the risk of cancer and may ease nervous insomnia. If iceberg is the only type of lettuce you eat, you are choosing the least-nutritious member of a family of nutritional champions. Any other lettuce or leafy green vegetable would be a better choice. Most other greens are also good sources of vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate, and dietary fiber as well as some calcium. As a general rule, the darker green the leaves, the more nutritious the salad green. For example, romaine or watercress have seven to eight times as much beta-carotene, and two to four times the calcium, and twice the amount of potassium as iceberg lettuce. By varying the greens in your salads, you can enhance the nutritional content as well as vary the tastes and textures.

Storing Lettuce

Most lettuces and other greens keep best in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper. Soft-leaved lettuces do not keep as well as firm greens, such as romaine or iceberg lettuce: Iceberg should keep for up to two weeks, romaine for about 10 days, and butterhead and leaf lettuces for about four days. Generally it is recommended to store lettuce in a referigerator drawer in an airtight container. As it will store better with a minimum of moisture, many recommend putting a paper towel into the airtight container to absorb moisture.

Lettuce Trivia

There are six commonly recognised groups of lettuce: Butterhead, most popular in Europe, but often called Boston or Bibb, forms loose heads and has a buttery texture. Chinese lettuce types generally have long, sword-shaped, non-head-forming leaves, with a bitter and robust flavour. Crisphead, also called Iceberg, form tight, dense heads that resemble cabbage and are generally the mildest of the lettuces, valued more for their crunchy texture than for flavour. Looseleaf, with tender, delicate, and mildly flavoured leaves comprises oak leaf and lollo rosso lettuces. Romaine, also called Cos, is a head-forming type with elongated leaves. Summer Crisp, also called Batavian, which form moderately dense heads with a crunchy texture is an intermediate between iceberg and looseleaf types.

The largest lettuce head weighed 11 kg (25 lb), of the Salad Bowl cultivar, grown by Colin Bowcock of Willaston, England, in 1974.

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