Garden cress is a tangy peppery flavored vegetable which is found growing in cool growing climates and prefers moist, fertile soil rich in organic matters. Because of its high nutritional value and unique taste it is found used as healthy addition to salads and sandwiches throughout the world.
| Name | Garden Cress |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Lepidium sativum |
| Native | Native to Persia and later spread to the gardens of India, Syria, Greece and Egypt. |
| Common/English Name | Peppergrass, poor man’s pepper, mustard and cress, pepperwort pepper grass, garden pepper cress |
| Name in Other Languages | English: cress Spanish: Mastuerzo Galician: Masturco Portuguese: Mastruco do Sul |
| Plant Growth Habit | Annual, erect herbaceous plant, |
| Growing Climate | cool growing conditions with full sun or partial shade |
| Soil | Moist, loose, well-draining and amended with compost and a well-balanced fertilizer |
| Plant Size | 60 cm (24 inches) |
| Root | Stringy white root |
| Stem | Erect, bluish-green, multi-branched stem that can reach 8 to 24 inches in height. |
| Leaf | Basal leaves of garden cress are compound-lobed and equipped with long petioles. Leaves on the upper parts of the stem are usually pinnately lobed. |
| Leaf Color | Green |
| Leaf Flavor | Peppery, tangy flavor |
| Leaf Taste | Peppery taste |
| Flower | White to pinkish flowers is only 2 mm (1/12 of an inch) across, clustered in branched racemes. contain both types of reproductive organs |
| Flowering Season | June to August |
| Fruit | Two-seeded, elliptic, flat, tip broadly winged, with notched tip, grey, approx. 6 mm (0.24 in.) long silicula. Stalk quite erect, 5–8 mm (0.2–0.32 in.) long. |
| Seed | Seeds are tiny and red brown colored |
| Varieties/Types | Wrinkled, Crinkled,Crumpled, Persian, and Curly. |
| Major Nutrition | Cress, garden, Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 271 µg (225.83%) Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) 34.5 mg (38.33%) Vitamin A, RAE 173 µg (24.71%) Manganese, Mn 0.276 mg (12.00%) Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 0.13 mg (10.00%) Vitamin B9 (Folate) 40 µg (10.00%) Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) 0.124 mg (9.54%) Copper, Cu 0.085 mg (9.44%) Iron, Fe 0.65 mg (8.13%) Potassium, K 303 mg (6.45%) |
| Health Benefits |
|
| Calories in 1cup (100gm) | 16 Kcal |