Vegetables

Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and seeds.

The alternate definition of the term vegetable is applied somewhat arbitrarily, often by culinary and cultural tradition. It may exclude foods derived from some plants that are fruits, flowers, nuts, and cereal grains, but include some fruits such as tomatoes and courgettes, flowers such as broccoli, and seeds such as pulses.

Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the Vegetable Group.

Subgroups

Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned, or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up, or mashed.

Based on their nutrient content, vegetables are organized into 5 subgroups: dark-green vegetables, starchy vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas, and other vegetables.

• Dark-green vegetables: All fresh, frozen, and canned dark-green leafy vegetables and broccoli, including amaranth leaves, bok choy, broccoli, chamnamul, chard, collards, kale, mustard greens, poke greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, taro leaves, turnip greens, and watercress.
• Red and Orange Vegetables: All fresh, frozen, and canned red and orange vegetables or juice, including calabaza, carrots, red or orange bell peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, 100% tomato juice, and winter squash.
• Beans, Peas, Lentils: All cooked from dry or canned beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils, including black beans, black-eyed peas, bayo beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), edamame, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, mung beans, pigeon peas, pinto beans, and split peas. Does not include green beans or green peas.
• Starchy Vegetables: All fresh, frozen, and canned starchy vegetables, including breadfruit, burdock root, cassava, corn, jicama, lotus root, lima beans, plantains, white potatoes, salsify, taro root (dasheen or yautia), water chestnuts, yam, and yucca.
• Other Vegetables: All other fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables, cooked or raw, such as asparagus, avocado, bamboo shoots, beets, bitter melon, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (green, red, napa, savoy), cactus pads (nopales), cauliflower, celery, chayote (mirliton), cucumber, eggplant, green beans, kohlrabi, luffa, mushrooms, okra, onions, radish, rutabaga, and seaweed.

Healthy diet and vegetables

Eating a variety of vegetables from all five subgroups - dark green, red and orange, beans, peas and lentils, starchy and other - is a key component of a healthy diet. This includes all forms of vegetables, such as fresh, frozen, canned and dried, consumed in cooked or raw forms, including 100% vegetable juices.

How to increase vegetable intake?

To increase vegetable intake and meet recommendations, focus on eating nutrient-dense forms with limited added salt, butter or creamy sauces. The majority of the U.S. population does not consume enough vegetables, with most consumed as a separate food item, mixed dish or snack. To increase intake, try incorporating vegetables into mixed dishes like sandwiches, pasta, and casseroles, and shifting to nutrient-dense forms with less added sodium.

How many vegetables are needed?

The amount of vegetables you need to eat depends on your age, sex, and level of physical activity. Recommended total daily amounts and recommended weekly amounts from each vegetable subgroup are shown in the two tables below.

Why is it important to eat vegetables?

Eating vegetables provides health benefits – people who eat more vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

Nutrients

• Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, and/or cholesterol.)
• Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.
• Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.
• Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
• Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods, and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.
• Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.
• Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

Health benefits

• Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
• Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.
• Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as some vegetables and fruits, may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
• Eating vegetables and fruits rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss.
• Eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Leafy and salad vegetables

Vegetables

Types

1. Apple Guava (Psidium guajava) - Apple guava is the most commonly cultivated variety of guava. It is also known as tropical guava and is native to Central and South America. The fruit has a round or oval shape and a greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow when ripe. The flesh is creamy white or pinkish, and it is sweet and fragrant. Apple guava is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants.
2. Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana) - Pineapple guava is also known as feijoa, and it is native to South America. The fruit has a greenish-gray skin that is rough to the touch, and the flesh is creamy white with a sweet and tangy flavor. Pineapple guava is high in vitamin C and antioxidants.
3. Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) - Strawberry guava is native to South America and is also known as Cattley guava. The fruit has a small size, and its skin is thin, smooth, and red or yellow. The flesh is white, pink, or red and has a sweet and tangy flavor. Strawberry guava is high in vitamin C and antioxidants.
4. Lemon Guava (Psidium guineense) - Lemon guava is native to Brazil and has a round shape with a yellowish-green skin. The flesh is yellow and has a tangy flavor similar to lemon. Lemon guava is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.

Cultivation of Vegetables

Guava is a tropical fruit that is easy to grow and requires little maintenance. The best time to plant guava is in the spring, and it grows best in well-drained soil with a pH between 4.5 and 7.0. Guava trees can grow up to 30 feet tall, but they can be pruned to a smaller size.

Guava trees need full sun and regular watering, especially during the dry season. Fertilization is also necessary, and it is recommended to use a balanced fertilizer every three months. Guava fruit takes around four to six months to ripen, and it is best to harvest it when it is fully matured.

Pictures of Vegetables

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  Psidium guajava

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  Guava

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  Psidium guajava

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  Psidium guajava

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  Guava fruit

Nutrition information of Vegetables

• USDA on Vegetables

Vegetables Amaranth Amaranthus cruentus Arugula Eruca sativ Beet (greens) Beta vulgaris vulgaris Bok choy (白菜) Brassica rapa (chinensis) Borage greens Borago officinalis Broccoli (leaves / stalks) Brassica oleracea Brussels sprouts Brassica oleracea (gemmifera) Cabbage Brassica oleracea (capitata) Catsear Hypochaeris radicata Celery Apium graveolens

Veggies Celtuce Lactuca sativa (asparagina) Chaya Cnidoscolus aconitifolius Chickweed Stellaria Chicory Cichorium intybus Chinese mallow Malva verticillata Garland Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum coronarium Collard greens Brassica oleracea Common purslane Portulaca oleracea Corn salad Valerianella locusta Cress Lepidium sativum

Other veggies Dandelion Taraxacum officinale Dill Anethum graveolens Endive Cichorium endivia Fat hen Chenopodium album Fiddlehead Pteridium aquilinum Athyrium esculentum Fluted pumpkin Telfairia occidentalis Garden rocket Eruca sativa Golden samphire Inula crithmoides Good King Henry Chenopodium bonus-henricus Grape (leaves) Vitis

More veggies Greater plantain Plantago major Kai-lan (芥蘭 Gai lan) Brassica rapa (alboglabra) Kale Brassica oleracea (acephala) Komatsuna Brassica rapa (pervidis (komatsuna) Kuka Adansonia Lagos bologi Talinum fruticosum Lamb's lettuce Valerianella locusta Lamb's quarters Chenopodium album Land cress Barbarea verna Lettuce Lactuca sativa

Iceberg lettuce field in northern Santa Barbara County.

Spinach in flower

Popular vegetables

• amaranth leaves
• arrowroot
• artichoke
• arugula
• asparagus
• bamboo shoots
• beans, green
• beets
• belgian endive
• bitter melon
• bok choy
• broadbeans (fava beans)
• broccoli
• broccoli rabe
• brussel sprouts
• cabbage, green
• cabbage, red
• carrot
• cassava (yuca root)
• cauliflower
• celeriac (celery root)
• celery
• chayote
• chicory (curly endive)
• collards
• corn
• crookneck
• cucumber
• daikon
• dandelion greens
• edamame, soybeans
• eggplant
• fennel
• fiddleheads
• ginger root
• horseradish
• jicama
• kale
• kohlrabi
• leeks
• lettuce, iceberg
• lettuce, leaf
• lettuce, romaine
• mushrooms
• mustard greens
• okra
• onion (red)
• onions
• parsnip
• peas, green
• pepper, green
• red pepper
• pepper, sweet red
• potato, red
• potato, white
• potatoes_small
• potato, yellow
• pumpkin
• radicchio
• radishes
• rutabaga
• salsify (oysterplant)
• shallots
• snow peas
• sorrel (dock)
• spaghetti squash
• spinach
• squash, butternut
• sugar snap peas
• sweet potato
• swiss chard
• tomatillo
• tomato
• turnip
• watercress
• yam root
• zucchini

External links

• Wikipedia

• USDA nutritional information on Vegetables

See also

• Herbs
• Glossary of vegetables
• Vegetable juice
• List of culinary fruits
• List of vegetables
• List of leaf vegetables
• List of foods
• Dictionary of foods
• Vegetable recipes