Asparagus Health Article

Old farmers will tell you that it takes bitter winters with hard-frozen ground to bring out the best in asparagus, a perennial whose root mass, or crown, lies buried and dormant for months each year before sending forth new growth when the warm days of spring finally arrive.

The quintessential spring food for many of us, asparagus is undeniably at its succulent peak for North Americans from April through June when the domestic—and wild—crops appear.

Country folk have relied on asparagus’s cleansing, diuretic powers to provide an annual "spring tonic" to purge the system of a winter’s worth of accumulated stodgy eating and indoor living. Cooks for at least a millennium have known it as the most regal of vegetables, and herbalists can wax endlessly about its reputed health benefits—fighting cancer, strengthening heart muscle, calming nerves and improving digestion.

A Glass of Wine, A Spear of Asparagus & Thou

A known favorite of lusty kings, emperors and French sybarites, such as Madame de Pompadour, asparagus remains near the top of most lists of aphrodisiacs. To satisfy their needs, wealthy Romans dispatched "asparagus fleets" around the sandy shores of the Mediterranean in search of wild shoots for medicinal, culinary and "recreational" uses.

It may be best not to break out that dusty bottle of Chateau Margaux ’61 to celebrate the first asparagus of the season. The sulfur compounds in asparagus are said to cast a bitter pall over some fine wines. The acidity of a sauvignon blanc or a German Riesling Kabinett can hold its own against the assertive flavor of asparagus.

"Britney" Spears

Off-peak imported asparagus (mostly from Peru, Mexico and Chile) is now a pop vegetable, accounting for about 90% of all U.S. consumption between September and December.

American consumption of fresh asparagus is up dramatically in recent years to about a pound per person per year. The world’s leading consumers are the Germans, who eat an average of 2 1⁄4 pounds per year and celebrate spring with asparagus revelries, or spargelfesten.

Nutritional Scorecard for 6 medium spears (raw)= Calories: 22, Total Fat: 0.2 g, Carbohydrate: 4.4 g, Protein: 2.2 g, Fiber: 2.0 g, Vitamin A: 559.7 IU, Vitamin K: 38.4 mcg, Folate: 122.9 mcg, Potassium: 262.1 mg, Selenium: 2.2 mcg.

Buyer’s Guide

Consumers who choose spindly asparagus are actually missing the juicy tenderness of fatter, more robust spears. "Elegantly thin" asparagus is less sweet, more grassy and herbaceous.

Pricy white asparagus—favored in Europe and South America—is grown under mounds of earth or, more commonly today, under black plastic row covers to exclude light and prevent the development of green chlorophyll pigments.

Purple asparagus is naturally colored by anthocyanin and has 20% more sugar. It turns a bright green when cooked.

Freshness Counts

Like sweet corn, asparagus is best eaten within hours or days of picking—before sugars turn to starch. (Prime commercial asparagus is rapidly hydrocooled to 34°F and kept cold until it gets to market.) Shun any spear that appears shriveled or whose bud is spreading open. To store for several days, if absolutely necessary, trim off the bottoms and stand upright in a dish of water in the refrigerator.

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