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'{{short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{about|the plant, ''Spinacia oleracea''|other leaf vegetables|Spinach (disambiguation)}} {{speciesbox |name = Spinach |image = Spinacia oleracea Spinazie bloeiend.jpg |image_caption = Spinach plant with flowers |genus = Spinacia |species = oleracea |authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] }} '''Spinach''' (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a [[Leaf vegetable|leafy]] green [[flowering plant]] native to [[Central Asia|central]] and [[western Asia]]. It is of the order [[Caryophyllales]], family [[Amaranthaceae]], [[subfamily]] [[Chenopodioideae]]. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either fresh, or after storage using [[Food preservation|preservation techniques]] by [[canning]], [[Freezing (food)|freezing]], or [[Dehydrated food|dehydration]]. It may be eaten cooked or raw, and the taste differs considerably; the high [[oxalate]] content may be reduced by [[steaming]]. This Chicken and [https://maintaste.blogspot.com/2022/11/Chicken-and-Spinach-Manicotti.html Spinach] Manicotti recipe makes an encouraging supper your family will cherish. The children like to assist with [https://maintaste.blogspot.com/2022/11/Chicken-and-Spinach-Manicotti.html stuffing the noodles] as well! Delightfully presented with a firm plate of [https://maintaste.blogspot.com/2022/11/Chicken-and-Spinach-Manicotti.html mixed greens] and garlic bread. It is an [[annual plant]] (rarely [[biennial plant|biennial]]), growing as tall as {{convert|1|ft|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}}. Spinach may [[Overwintering|overwinter]] in [[temperate regions]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size: {{convert|2–30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1–15|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The [[flower]]s are inconspicuous, yellow-green, {{convert|3–4|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} in diameter, and mature into a small, hard, dry, lumpy [[fruit]] cluster {{convert|5–10|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} across containing several [[seed]]s. In 2018, world production of spinach was 26.3 million [[tonne]]s, with China alone accounting for 90% of the total.<ref name=faostat18/> ==Etymology== Originally from [[Persian language|Persian]] ''aspānāḵ'', entering into the [[European languages]] by way of [[Latin]], which received it from [[Arabic]].<ref name="Cresswell2010">{{cite book|author=Julia Cresswell|title=Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4i3zV4vnBAC|date=9 September 2010|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954793-7|page=415}}</ref> The Hindi word “Palak” also has its roots in Persian. The English word "spinach" dates to the late [[14th century]] from ''espinache'' (French: ''épinard'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Spinach |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/spinach#etymonline_v_24022 |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper |access-date=6 March 2019 |date=2019}}</ref> ==Taxonomy== Common spinach (''S. oleracea'') was long considered to be in the family [[Chenopodiaceae]], but in 2003 that family was merged into the Amaranthaceae in the order [[Caryophyllales]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Caryophyllales|url=http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/caryophyllalesweb.htm#Amaranthaceae|access-date=2020-12-02|website=www.mobot.org}}</ref><ref name="Dawling2013">{{cite book|author=Pam Dawling|title=Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlIwbBcglxEC&pg=PA244|date=1 February 2013|publisher=New Society Publishers|isbn=978-1-55092-512-8|pages=244–}}</ref> Within the family [[Amaranthaceae]] ''[[sensu lato]]'', Spinach belongs to the subfamily [[Chenopodioideae]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Rubatzky|first=Vincent E.|title=Spinach, Table Beets, and Other Vegetable Chenopods|date=1997|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6015-9_21|work=World Vegetables: Principles, Production, and Nutritive Values|pages=457–473|editor-last=Rubatzky|editor-first=Vincent E.|place=Boston, MA|publisher=Springer US|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-6015-9_21|isbn=978-1-4615-6015-9|access-date=2021-06-11|last2=Yamaguchi|first2=Mas|editor2-last=Yamaguchi|editor2-first=Mas}}</ref> ==Nutrients== {{nutritional value | name=Spinach, raw | water=91.4 g | kJ=97 | protein=2.9 g | fat=0.4 g | carbs=3.6 g | fiber=2.2 g | sugars=0.4 g | calcium_mg=99 | iron_mg=2.71 | magnesium_mg=79 | phosphorus_mg=49 | potassium_mg=558 | sodium_mg=79 | zinc_mg=0.53 | manganese_mg=0.897 | vitC_mg=28 | thiamin_mg=0.078 | riboflavin_mg=0.189 | niacin_mg=0.724 | vitB6_mg=0.195 | folate_ug=194 | vitA_ug=469 | vitA_iu=9377 | betacarotene_ug=5626 | lutein_ug=12198 | vitE_mg=2 | vitK_ug=483 | source_usda = 1 | note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/168462/nutrients Link to USDA database entry] }} Raw spinach is 91% water, 4% [[carbohydrates]], 3% [[protein]], and contains negligible [[fat]]. In a {{convert|100|g|abbr=on}} serving providing only 23 [[calories]], spinach has a high [[nutritional value]], especially when fresh, [[frozen food|frozen]], steamed, or quickly boiled. It is a rich source (20% or more of the [[Daily Value]], DV) of [[vitamin A]], [[vitamin C]], [[vitamin K]], [[magnesium]], [[manganese]], [[iron]] and [[folate]]. Spinach is a moderate source (10-19% of DV) of the [[B vitamins]], [[riboflavin]] and [[vitamin B6|vitamin B₆]], [[vitamin E]], [[calcium]], [[potassium]], and [[dietary fiber]] (table). Although spinach is touted as being high in iron and calcium content, and is often served and consumed in its raw form, raw spinach contains high levels of [[oxalates]], which block absorption of calcium and iron in the stomach and small intestine. Spinach cooked in several changes of water has much lower levels of oxalates and is better digested and its nutrients absorbed more completely.<ref name="National Osteoporosis Foundation 2015">{{cite web | title=Osteoporosis Diet & Nutrition: Foods for Bone Health | website=National Osteoporosis Foundation | date=2015-12-21 | url=https://www.nof.org/patients/treatment/nutrition/ | access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref><ref name="noonan">{{cite journal|journal=Asia Pac J Clin Nutr|year=1999|volume=8|issue=1|pages=64–74|title=Oxalate content of foods and its effect on humans|authors=Noonan SC, Savage GP|pmid=24393738|url=http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/8/1/64.pdf|doi=10.1046/j.1440-6047.1999.00038.x}}</ref> In addition to preventing absorption and use, high levels of oxalates remove iron from the body.<ref name="noonan"/><ref>{{Cite book| title = Nutrition and diet therapy| year = 1997| pages = 229| isbn = 978-0-8151-9273-2| last1 = Williams| first1 = Sue Rodwell| last2 = Long | first2 = Sara }}</ref> ===Vitamin K=== A quantity of 100 g of spinach contains over four times the recommended daily intake of [[vitamin K]] (table). For this reason, individuals taking the [[anticoagulant]] [[warfarin]] &ndash; which acts by inhibiting vitamin K &ndash; are instructed to minimize consumption of spinach (as well as other dark green leafy vegetables) to avoid blunting the effect of warfarin.<ref name="mayo">{{cite web |author=Sheps SG|title=Warfarin diet: What foods should I avoid? |url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thrombophlebitis/expert-answers/warfarin/faq-20058443 |publisher=Mayo Clinic |access-date=6 March 2019 |date=19 April 2018}}</ref> ==History== Spinach is thought to have originated about 2,000 years ago in [[Name of Iran|ancient Persia]] from which it was introduced to India and [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient China]] via [[Nepal]] in 647 AD as the "Persian vegetable".<ref name="vf">{{cite web|date=2019|title=Spinach history - origins of different types of spinach|url=http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/spinach-history/|access-date=2 November 2019|publisher=Vegetable Facts}}</ref> In AD 827, the [[Saracen]]s introduced spinach to [[Sicily]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rolland|first1=Jacques L.|title=The Food Encyclopedia|last2=Sherman|first2=Carol|date=2006|publisher=Robert Rose|isbn=9780778801504|location=Toronto|pages=335–338}}</ref> The first written evidence of spinach in the [[Mediterranean]] was recorded in three 10th-century works: a medical work by al-Rāzī (known as [[Rhazes]] in the West) and in two agricultural treatises, one by Ibn Waḥshīyah and the other by Qusṭus al-Rūmī. Spinach became a popular vegetable in the Arab Mediterranean and arrived in Spain by the latter part of the 12th century, where Ibn al-ʻAwwām called it ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|raʼīs al-buqūl}}'', 'the [[rais|chieftain]] of [[leafy greens]]'.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ibn al-ʻAwwām|first1=Yaḥyá ibn Muḥammad|title=Kitāb al-Filāḥah|year=1802|chapter=23.8|author-link1=Ibn al-Awwam|access-date=July 30, 2014|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daZEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA160}}</ref> Spinach was also the subject of a special treatise in the 11th century by Ibn Ḥajjāj.<ref>[[Clifford A. Wright]]. ''Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and their Preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa, with More than 200 Authentic Recipes for the Home Cook''. (Boston: Harvard Common Press, 2001). pp. 300-301.</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2022}} Spinach first appeared in England and France in the [[14th century]], probably via Spain, and gained common use because it appeared in early spring when fresh local vegetables were not available.<ref name="vf" /> Spinach is mentioned in the first known English [[cookbook]], the ''[[Forme of Cury]]'' (1390), where it is referred to as 'spinnedge' and 'spynoches'.<ref name="vf" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rolland|first1=Jacques|url=http://www.canadianliving.com/glossary/spinach.php|title=Spinach|last2=Sherma|first2=Carol|work=The Food Encyclopedia: Over 8,000 Ingredients, Tools, Techniques and People|publisher=Robert Rose|year=2006|location=Toronto|access-date=March 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724195456/http://www.canadianliving.com/glossary/spinach.php|archive-date=July 24, 2011}}</ref> During [[World War I]], wine fortified with spinach juice was given to injured [[Military of France|French soldiers]] with the intent to curtail their [[hemorrhage|bleeding]].<ref name="vf" /><ref name="GrieveGrieve1971">{{cite book|author1=Margaret Grieve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgfHxvGFHAoC&pg=PA761|title=A modern herbal: the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folk-lore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs, & trees with all their modern scientific uses|author2=Maud Grieve|date=1 June 1971|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-22799-3|pages=761–|access-date=13 August 2010}}</ref> ==Production, marketing, and storage== {| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; width:18em; text-align:center;" |+ Spinach production - 2020<br /> !Country !Production <br><small> (millions of tonnes)</small> |- |{{CHN}} || 28.5 |- |{{USA}} || 0.37 |- |{{KEN}} || 0.24 |- |{{TUR}} || 0.23 |- |-bgcolor="#CCCCCC" |'''World''' || '''31.0''' |- |colspan=3 |<small>Source: [[FAO|UN Food & Agriculture Organization]], Statistics Division (FAOSTAT)<ref name="faostat18">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|publisher=UN Food & Agriculture Organization|title=Crops/Regions/World List for Production Quantity of Spinach in 2018|year=2018|access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref></small> |} In 2020, world production of spinach was 31.0 million [[tonne]]s, with China alone accounting for 92% of the total.<ref name=faostat18/> Fresh spinach is sold loose, bunched, or packaged fresh in bags. Fresh spinach loses much of its nutritional value with storage of more than a few days.<ref name="sd">{{cite web | url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050323124809.htm | title=Storage time and temperature effects nutrients in spinach | access-date = 2008-07-05}}</ref> Fresh spinach is packaged in air, or in nitrogen gas to extend shelf life. While refrigeration slows this effect to about eight days, fresh spinach loses most of its folate and carotenoid content over this period of time. For longer storage, it is [[Canned vegetables|canned]], or blanched or cooked and frozen.<ref name=sd/> Some packaged spinach is exposed to radiation to kill any harmful bacteria. The [[Food and Drug Administration]] approves of irradiation of spinach leaves up to 4.0 [[kilogray]]s, having no or only a minor effect on nutrient content.<ref name="bliss">{{cite web|author=Bliss|first=Rosalie Marion|date=27 May 2010|title=Nutrient retention of safer salads explored|url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2010/nutrient-retention-of-safer-salads-explored/|publisher=US Department of Agriculture}}</ref> Spinach may be high in cadmium contamination depending on the soil and location where the spinach is grown.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxguides/toxguide-5.pdf |title=ToxGuide for cadmium |publisher=Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, US Department of Health and Human Services |location=Atlanta, GA |date=October 2012}}</ref> ==In popular culture== The comics and cartoon character [[Popeye|Popeye the Sailor Man]] is portrayed as gaining strength by consuming canned spinach.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/dec/08/ec-segar-popeye-google-doodle|title=E.C. Segar, Popeye's creator, celebrated with a Google doodle|last=Gabbatt|first=Adam|date=8 December 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=5 May 2010}}</ref> The accompanying song lyric is: "I'm strong to the finich ([[sic]]), 'cuz I eats my spinach."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holloway |first1=Diane |title=American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945 |date=2001 |publisher=Authors Choice Press |isbn=978-0-595-19331-8 |page=294 |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/American_History_in_Song/Zj5QxjMh9aAC |access-date=18 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref> This is usually attributed to the [[iron]] content of spinach, but in a 1932 strip, Popeye states that "spinach is full of [[vitamin A]]" and that's what makes people strong and healthy.<ref>Joe Schwarcz, ''Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Science of Everyday Life'', 2015, {{isbn|1770411917}}, p. 245; spinach actually contains [[beta-carotene]], which the body converts to vitamin A</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Food}} * [[Green leafy vegetable]] * [[Ipomoea aquatica]] * [[Kale]] * [[Mountain spinach]] * [[Palmer amaranth]] * [[Pkhali]] * [[Spinach dip]] * [[Spinach in the United States]] * [[Spinach salad]] * [[Spinach soup]] * ''[[Tetragonia tetragonioides]]'' * [[White goosefoot]] ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{Cookbook}} {{Commons category|Spinacia oleracea}} * {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Spinach}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q81464}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Spinach| ]] [[Category:Amaranthaceae]] [[Category:Flora of Nepal]] [[Category:Leaf vegetables]] [[Category:Plants described in 1753]]'