Artemisia princeps

Artemisia princeps
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Artemisia
Species: A. princeps
Binomial name
Artemisia princeps
Pamp.
Synonyms[1]
  • Artemisia montana var. nipponica (Nakai) Pamp.
  • Artemisia parvula Pamp.

Artemisia princeps, or Japanese mugwort, is an Asian plant species in the sunflower family, native to China, Japan, and Korea.[2] It is a perennial, very vigorous plant that grows to 1.2 meters. This species spreads rapidly by means of underground stolons and can become invasive. It bears small, buff colored flowers from July to November which are hermaphroditic, and pollinated by wind.[3] The leaves are feather shaped, scalloped and light green, with white dense fuzz on the underside.

Edible uses

Leaves and young seedlings can be eaten raw or cooked.[4] They can also be used in salads and soups after removal of the bitterness. The young leaves can be lightly boiled before being pounded and added to glutinous rice dumplings known as mochi to which they give a pleasant colour, aroma and flavour.[5][6] Mugwort mochi can be found in many North American health food stores.[5]

Traditional uses

Artemisia princeps is one of the varieties of mugwort used as moxa in Moxibustion,[7] a traditional medical practice of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal and Vietnam. An evaluation of the efficacy of the smoke and water extracts of the herb found that both preparations inhibited the growth of a specific line of breast cancer cells in vitro.[8] Phenolics from A. princeps (caffeoylquinic acids (CQA) such as 3-CQA (chlorogenic acid), 4-CQA, 5-CQA (neochlorogenic acid), 1,5-diCQA, 3,4-diCQA, 3,5-diCQA and 4,5-diCQA) alleviated the oxidative stress and enhanced the viability of certain neuronal cells in vitro.[9]

Etymology

In China it is known as huanghua ai (黄花艾, lit. yellow-flower mugwort).[10] In Japan it is called yomogi (ヨモギ) and the leaves are sometimes blanched and added to soups or rice.[11] Its leaves, along with those of hahagohusa, are a fundamental ingredient in kusa mochi (lit. "grass cake"), a Japanese confectionery, to which it imparts its fresh, springlike fragrance and vivid green coloring.[12]

In Korea, it is called ssuk (쑥) or tarae ssuk (타래쑥)[10] which is deeply related to Dangun Sinhwa (단군신화), legend of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom. It is also widely used in Korean cuisine and also as medicine.[13] It is used for making tteok (rice cake),[14] jeon (Korean style pancake), ssuk kimchi, (쑥김치), ssukguk (쑥국, soup made with ssuk) and so forth.

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List Artemisia princeps Pamp.
  2. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 20-21 Page 704 魁蒿 kui hao Artemisia princeps Pampanini, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s.,. 36: 444. 1930.
  3. ↑ "Artemisia princeps - Pampan.". Plants For A Future Database. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  4. ↑ Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3-87429-216-9
  5. 1 2 Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
  6. ↑ Plants for a Future Database
  7. ↑ Ryuzo, Oda (2000). "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Artemisia princeps and A. montana.". Japanese Journal of History of Pharmacy 35 (1): 55–62. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  8. ↑ Artemisia princeps var orientalis Induces Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells
  9. ↑ Lee, SG; Lee, H; Nam, TG; Eom, SH; Heo, HJ; Lee, CY; Kim, DO (2011). "Neuroprotective effect of caffeoylquinic acids from Artemisia princeps Pampanini against oxidative stress-induced toxicity in PC-12 cells". Journal of food science 76 (2): C250–6. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.02010.x. PMID 21535743.
  10. 1 2 Takeatsu Kimura; Paul P. H. But; Ji-Xian Guo; Chung Ki Sung (1996). International Collation of Traditional and Folk Medicine: Northeast Asia. World Scientific. pp. 159p. ISBN 981-02-2589-X.
  11. ↑ Hosking, Richard (January 1997). A Dictionary of Japanese Food. Tuttle Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-8048-2042-4.
  12. ↑ Takahashi, Masumi; Natsuko Hosokawa; Keiko Mori. "Yomogi (Mugwort)". Japan Through Young Eyes. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  13. ↑ "쑥【Ssuk】" (in Korean). National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology of South Korea.
  14. ↑ Food in Korea : Korean Food Culture

See also

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