Chenopodium album: Difference between revisions
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19. Amarendra Dhar Dwivedi, K. Gopal, Biosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles using Chenopodium album leaf extract, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 369, 27-33, 2010. |
19. Amarendra Dhar Dwivedi, K. Gopal, Biosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles using Chenopodium album leaf extract, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 369, 27-33, 2010. |
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==External links== |
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* Michigan State University Weed Science- Michigan's Worst Weeds- [http://www.msuweeds.com/michigans_worst_weeds/common_lambsquarters/ Common lambsquarters (''Chenopodium album'')] |
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Revision as of 02:44, 10 March 2011
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| Chenopodium album | |
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium.
In Britain the plant is considered a weed, and is known there as fat-hen[1][2] or goosefoot,[3] though these names are used for other Chenopodium species; or, more specifically, as white goosefoot,[3] lamb's quarters,[4] nickel greens,[citation needed] pigweed,[4] or dungweed,[citation needed]. (The name "fat-hen" or "fat hen" is also used for smearwort, a plant from a different genus.)
The plant is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India as a food crop[5], and in English texts it may be called by its Hindi name bathua or bathuwa (बथुआ).[6]
Distribution
Its native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation,[7] but includes most of Europe,[8] from where Linnaeus described the species in 1753.[9] Plants native in eastern Asia are included under C. album, but often differ from European specimens.[10] It is widely introduced elsewhere, e.g. Africa,[11] Australasia,[12] North America,[4] and Oceania,[3] and now occurs almost everywhere in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland.
Botany
It tends to grow upright at first, reaching heights of 10–150 cm (rarely to 3 m), but typically becomes recumbent after flowering (due to the weight of the foliage and seeds) unless supported by other plants. The leaves are alternate and can be varied in appearance. The first leaves, near the base of the plant, are toothed and roughly diamond-shaped, 3–7 cm long and 3–6 cm broad. The leaves on the upper part of the flowering stems are entire and lanceolate-rhomboid, 1–5 cm long and 0.4–2 cm broad; they are waxy-coated, unwettable and mealy in appearance, with a whitish coat on the underside. The small flowers are radially symmetrical and grow in small cymes on a dense branched inflorescence 10–40 cm long.[2][3][4][10]
Taxonomy
Chenopodium album has a very complex taxonomy and has been divided in numerous microspecies, subspecies and varieties, but it is difficult to differentiate between them. The following infraspecific taxa are accepted by the Flora Europaea:[8]
- Chenopodium album subsp. album
- Chenopodium album subsp. striatum (Krašan) Murr
- Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) Uotila
Published names and synonyms include C. album var. microphyllum, C. album var. stevensii, C. acerifolium, C. centrorubrum, C. giganteum, C. jenissejense, C. lanceolatum, C. pedunculare and C. probstii.
It also hybridises readily with several other Chenopodium species, including C. berlandieri, C. ficifolium, C. opulifolium, C. strictum and C. suecicum.
Cultivation
Regions Where Cultivated
The species is cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop (such as in lieu of Spinach) as well as animal feed in Asia[5] and Africa, in Europe and North America it is commonly regarded as a weed.[13]
Potential Impact on Conventional Crops
It is one of the more robust and competitive weeds, capable of producing crop losses of up to 13% in corn, 25% in soybeans, and 48% in sugar beets at an average plant distribution.[citation needed] It may be controlled by dark tillage, rotary hoeing, or flaming when the plants are small. Crop rotation of small grains will suppress an infestation. It is difficult to control with chemical means. [citation needed] Its pollen can contribute to hayfever-like allergies.[citation needed]
Beneficial Use in Ecological Pest Control
Chenopodium album is vulnerable to leaf miners, making it a useful trap crop as a companion plant. Growing near other plants, it attracts leaf miners which might otherwise have attacked the crop to be protected. It is a host plant for the beet leafhopper, an insect which transmits curly top virus to beet crops.
Uses and Consumption
Food
The leaves and young shoots may be eaten as a leaf vegetable, either steamed in its entirety, or cooked like spinach, but should be eaten in moderation due to high levels of oxalic acid.[14] Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Quinoa is a closely related species which is grown specifically for its seeds.[15] It is also used as a medicinal plant in traditional African medicine.
Archaeologists analysing carbonized plant remains found in storage pits and ovens at Iron Age and Roman sites in Europe have found its seeds mixed with conventional grains and even inside the stomachs of Danish bog bodies.[16]
In India the leaves and young shoots of this plant are used in dishes such as Sarson Da Saag, soups, curries and in Paratha stuffed breads, especially popular in Punjab. The seeds or grains are used in phambra or laafi, gruel type dishes in Himachal Pradesh, and in mildly alcoholic fermented beverages such as soora and ghanti.[17]
As a walking stick
The stalk hardens with age. In China, the stalk had been used as a walking stick since ancient times. For example, the following passage comes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Chapter 1:
... the old man had a youthful countenance, and was carrying a walking stick fashioned from the hardened stalk of a goosefoot (Chenopodium album) plant. (Wikisource translation)
Animal Feed
As some of the common names suggest, it is also used as food (both the leaves and the seeds) for chickens, hens and other poultry. However, the nitrates in the plant can be converted very efficiently to nitrites in the rumen of cattle, leading to changes in haemoglobin and reducing the ruminants' oxygen binding capacity.
Silver and Gold nanoparticles synthesis:
Chenopodium album plant leaves are used in biosynthesis of Ag and Au nanoparticles.This pristine method is rapid,facile,convenient,less time consuming,environmentally safe and can be applied in a variety of existing applications[19].
References
- ^ BSBI: Database of names (xls file)
- ^ a b Flora of NW Europe: Chenopodium album
- ^ a b c d Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: Chenopodium album
- ^ a b c d Flora of North America: Chenopodium album
- ^ a b "Handbook of Herbs Cultivation and Processing", By Niir Board, p. 146
- ^ [1]
- ^ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Chenopodium album
- ^ a b Flora Europaea: Chenopodium album
- ^ Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum 1: 219. Facsimile.
- ^ a b Flora of China: Chenopodium album
- ^ African Flowering Plants Database: Chenopodium album
- ^ Australian Plant Name Index: Chenopodium album
- ^ Grubben, G. J. H., & Denton, O. A. (2004). Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
- ^ Johnson, Derek; Kershaw, Linda; MacKinnon, Andy; Pojar, Jim (1995). Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 1-5510-5058-7.
- ^ PROTAbase: Chenopodium album
- ^ Miles, David (1978). An introduction to Archaeology. Great Britain: Ward Lock. p. 99. ISBN 0-7063-5725-6.
- ^ The himalayan grain chenopods. I. Distribution and ethnobotany
19. Amarendra Dhar Dwivedi, K. Gopal, Biosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles using Chenopodium album leaf extract, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 369, 27-33, 2010.
External links
- Michigan State University Weed Science- Michigan's Worst Weeds- Common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album)