Allium ochotense

Allium ochotense is a primarily East Asian species of wild onion native to northern Japan, Korea, China, and the Russian Far East, as well as on Attu Island in Alaska.^[1]

Some authors have considered A. ochotense as belonging to the same species as A. victorialis,^[3] but more recent authorities have treated it as a distinct species.^{[1][4][5][6][7]}

General description

Allium ochotense grows to 20–30 cm (8–12 in) in height,^[8] with a strong garlic-like odor,^[8] and has "bulbs.. surrounded by a grayish-brown, netlike coating. The leaves are 1-3 glabrous, broadly elliptic,... perianth (flower) whitish-green".^[9] The plant is slow-growing, and aside from seed-propagation, "A. victorialis has two vegetative propagation systems; one is tillering and the other is adventitious buds".^[10]

The plant has intense garlic-like odor, and the presence of specific odor agents have been identified by researchers (#Chemistry). The garlicky odor (cf. allicin content) is thought more intense than garlic itself.

Distribution

Allium ochotense is centered in the Amur River basin area, thus, it occurs in the Amur, Khabarovsk, Primorye regions of Siberia, and into Sakhalin and Kuril Islands within the Russian Far East. In China, the plant grows in Inner Mongolia and China ((Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning), Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, Sichuan. The range also includes Korea, and Japan (Hokkaido and Honshu). The plant's range extends nominally into the United States, but A. ochotense is only found natively growing on Attu Island which is the westernmost extreme island of the Aleutian archipelago. There are colonies on Unalaska Island but they are though to be introduced.^[11]

Chemistry

Researchers have identified 1-propenyl disulfides and vinyldithiins as odor compounds.^[12] Specific odor agents include: "methyl allyl disulfide (Chinese chive odor), diallyl disulfide (garlic-like odor), and dimethyl disulfide and methyl allyl trisulfide (pickles-like odor)".^[13]

Culinary uses

In Siberia, the young shoots are eaten.^[9][14]

In China its name is given as gecong (Chinese: 各蔥(茖蔥); pinyin: gěcōng; Wade–Giles: ko³-t'ung¹; literally: "ge onion") or shancong (Chinese: 山蔥; pinyin: shāncōng; Wade–Giles: shan¹-t'ung¹; literally: "alpine onion").^[14][15] But its use may be not be widespread. One source only mentions that the Jiarongic minority harvest the "tender unfolding leaves" which they sun-dry and serve on special occasions.^[16]

Japan

The Japanese name gyōja ninniku (ギョウジャニンニク (行者葫)) means literally "a (type of) garlic that a gyōja makes use of as food,"^[8] where a gyōja signifies a monk or a lay person engaged in ascetic training outdoors (cf. shugyō (修行), Shugendō).

The wild onion grows in colonies from Hokkaido down to the Kinki area (Nara Prefecture^[8]), in coniferous and mixed forested wetlands in subalpine terrain. Much of its flourishing habitat occurs in nature reserves such as National Parks. Hence it is considered a scarce sansai (wild-harvested vegetable), and commands high prices at the market.

Ainu people

The wild onion is an important ethnobotanic food plant for the indigenous Ainu people of Japan. In the Ainu this onion is called pukusa,^[17][18] kitobiru,^[18] or ( since "biru/hiru" is a Japanese word for onion-type plants), simply kito.^[19]

This wild onion comes into season in Hokkaido for foraging from early-to-mid May. The Ainu would traditionally gather the leaves (but not the whole bulb), which are chopped up, and dried for future use.^[18]

The plant may be used by the Ainu in the savory soup called ohaw (オハウ), or in the ratashkep (rataskep) (ラタシケプ), described as a type of stew using multi ingredients, or a dish where ingredients are tossed in animal fat oil.

modern-day use

The leafstalk can be preserved by steeping in soy sauce, or the fresh leaves can be made into ohitashi (parboiled and served plain or with dashi flavor), made into gyōza (pot-sticker dumplings), blended into tamagoyaki type omelet. The young unraveled leaves with stalk about 1 cm (half-inch) have rich flavor and fragrance, and are especially prized. Also, the stalks being commercially grown by blanching (cf. white asparagus) has been gaining popularity.

Poisonous look-alikes

There are a number of inedible or poisonous plants that can be mistaken for victory onions in Japan, and those reported cases of consumption and illness include: Veratrum album (Ja: baikeisō), Veratrum stamineum (Ja: ko-baikeisō), Colchicum autumnale (Ja:inu-safuran) and Lily of the Valley.^[20] The distinctive smell should tell it apart.

Cultivation

From around 1990, it has been grown horticulturally in Hokkaido and snowy regions on the eastern side of Honshū. Outbreaks of plant disease have been reported in these onion paddy farms.^[21] It requires approximately 4 years from sowing to harvest.

Cultivars

At Utsunomiya University's Agriculture Department, the research group led by then assistant professor Nobuaki Fujishige developed an A. ochotense × A. tuberosum (garlic chives) hybrid, which they dubbed gyōjana (行者菜).^[22] It resembles the garlic chive in outward appearance, but inherits the thick-stalked trait of A. victorialis, and like the garlic chive, is ready for harvest after 1 year. It has been sold in the commercial market since 2008 in Nagai, Yamagata.^[23]。

Medicinal use

This pukusa or wild onion has been used as folk remedy among the Ainu. For example, it is administered as a diuretic to treat urine blockage relating to certain stomach disorders.^[19]

Magical use

Ainu folklore held that due to its odor, this wild onion was capable of repelling diseases. So when an epidemic broke out, the onion would be left hanging at the entrances to the village or dangled from the eaves of each house.^[24]。

Gallery

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  A. ochotense (Hokkaido)

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  A. ochotense (Nagano prefecture)

See also

• sansai
• ramsons
• Allium tricoccum (ramps)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allium ochotense.

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