Mizuna

Mizuna (ミズナ（水菜）, "water greens"), kyouna (京菜),[1] Japanese mustard greens,[2][3] or spider mustard,[2] is a cultivar of Brassica rapa var. niposinica.

Mizuna
Mizuna
SpeciesBrassica rapa var. nipposinica
CultivarMizuna

Description and use
Mizuna atop pasta and smoked salmon

Possessing dark green, serrated leaves, mizuna is described as having, when raw, a "piquant, mild peppery flavor...slightly spicy, but less so than arugula."[4] It is also used in stir-fries, soups, and nabemono (Japanese hot pots).

Varieties
A salad of mizuna and daikon

In addition to the term mizuna (and its alternates) being applied to at least two different species of Brassica, horticulturalists have defined and named a number of varieties. For example, a resource provided by Cornell University and the United States Department of Agriculture lists sixteen varieties including "Early Mizuna", "Kyona Mizuna", "Komatsuna Mizuna", "Vitamin Green Mizuna", "Kyoto Mizuna", "Happy Rich Mizuna", "Summer Fest Mizuna", "Tokyo Early Mizuna", "Mibuna Mizuna", "Red Komatsuna Mizuna", "Waido Mizuna" and "Purple Mizuna".[5] There is also a variety known as pink mizuna.[6]

Cultivation

Mizuna has been cultivated in Japan since ancient times. Mizuna was successfully grown in the International Space Station in 2019.[7] It grows in hardiness zones 4 to 9, prefers full sun or partial shade, well-drained soil and a pH of 6.5-7.0.[8] It can be grown as a microgreen, sowing every 3 cm, or for its leaves with a 20 cm spacing.[9] It is produced by more than 30 countries around the world, but China, Japan, South Korea, India and United States account for 70% of global production.[10]

References
  1. USDA GRIN Taxonomy, retrieved 18 November 2016
  2. Mark Bittman Leafy Greens: An A-to-Z Guide to 30 Types of Greens Plus More than 120 ..., p. 66, at Google Books
  3. "MUSTARD GREENS FOR EATING COOKED". realseeds.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  4. Discovering Mizuna
  5. Vegetable Varieties for Gardenders
  6. "Japanese Pink Mizuna". www.rareseeds.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  7. "Astronauts Enjoy Space Veggies and Look to the Future of Cosmic Salads". Space.com. 21 November 2019.
  8. "How to Grow Japanese Green Mizuna".
  9. Iannotti, Marie. "Mizuna Plant Profile". the spruce. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  10. "Global mizuna production". husfarm.com.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brassica rapa subsp. nipposinica.
Wikispecies has information related to Brassica rapa subsp. nipposinica.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.