Vegetables

Veganism has some stylish new spokespeople -celebs like Bill Clinton, Katie Holmes and Portia de Rossi

Khaleej Times: WALK INTO PURE Food on Manhattan’s chic Irving Place and back into its spacious, luxurious garden, and you might spot actress Katie Holmes. Or Alec Baldwin and his new girlfriend, whom he met at the restaurant.

Fresh Plaza: Intensive botanical explorations for taxonomic studies on the members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) in India by V.P. Thomas and M. Sabu of the University of Calicut, have resulted in the discovery of an interesting species of Amomum (Cardamom) from Silent Valley National Park on the Western Ghats of Kerala. The ginger family consists of 53 genera and over 1,200 species, many of which are widely used as spices, for medical purposes, or simply for decoration. Amomum Roxb. is the second largest genus within the Zingiberaceae, comprising about 150-180 species, including several types of cardamom. Widely distributed in Southeast Asia, the genus is represented by 23 species in India, mostly restricted to North-East India, South India and the Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

The News: Potato prices have sharply declined as farmers are dumping the vegetable into the market due to lack of returns on them against the total input cost, said one farmer on Saturday.

Pakistani potatoes are being sold at the maximum rate of Rs400 per 40 kg in the Karachi wholesale market, against earlier rates which had been over Rs800 per 40 kg.

The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) allows import of 16 types of vegetables by trucks through land route from India by making amendments in the Import Policy Order 2009. The MoC also amended the Export Policy Order 2009 to allow organic brown sugar’s export. The MoC also made amendments in the Export Policy Order 2009 through which organic brown sugar is eligible for export. The MoC notified about the amendments in Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2009-12 by making amendments in the Import Policy Order 2009 and Export Policy Order 2009. Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had accorded approval to these amendments and later the federal cabinet had also enforced these amendments.

Without a solution for the food crisis life in Mars will never be possible. As the German magazine P.M. MAGAZIN (edition 01/2012) says, researchers are frantically searching for ways to grow fruits and vegetables in space. One thing seems to be clear though; vegetables from space contain more vitamins.

More than 500,000 tonnes of onion waste are thrown away in the European Union each year. However, scientists say this could have a use as food ingredients. The brown skin and external layers are rich in fibre and flavonoids, while the discarded bulbs contain sulphurous compounds and fructans. All of these substances are beneficial to health. 

The brown skin and external layers of the onions are rich in fibre and flavonoids.

New research suggests eating vegetables gives you a healthy tan. The study, led by Dr Ian Stephen at The University of Nottingham, showed that eating a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables gives you a more healthy golden glow than the sun.

The research, which showed that instead of heading for the sun the best way to look good is to munch on carrots and tomatoes, has been published in the Journal Evolution and Human Behaviour.

The face in the middle shows the woman's natural colour. The face on the left shows the effect of sun tanning, while the face on the right shows the effect of eating more carotenoids. Participants thought the carotenoid colour looked healthier.

The UK supermarket Sainsbury's is selling heart-shaped cucumbers that it has grown especially for February 14. And it is confident they will be popular with those cooking romantic meals for their loved ones this weekend. Elaine Young, at Sainsbury’s, said: ‘Valentine’s Day carries such an element of surprise we hope this year’s fun love cucumber will get hearts racing, whether it’s in a romantic packed lunch or a lovingly prepared salad. ‘They only launched yesterday but they have already received a great reception from customers. ‘They have been lovingly grown and we’re really proud to be the first retailer to create something like this.’ She assured customers that the new curves – which were achieved by growing the vegetable in a heart-shaped mould for ten days – had not affected the taste.

The smell of pumpkin may produce sexual arousal in men, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation of Chicago.

Scientists believe the carotenoid antioxidants found in such vegetables promote health by counteracting oxygen-related damage to DNA.

Eating lots of orange and dark green veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans may be tied to less disease and longer life, suggests a new study.

This time it is not the beta-carotene in vegetables that has the spotlight, but rather its cousin: alpha-carotene. Both are members of the carotenoid antioxidant family. Scientists believe carotenoid antioxidants promote health by counteracting oxygen-related damage to DNA.

Lettuce in a floating tray system causes roots to stay down and catch nutrients from the water. This system, in which the plant is not in contact with the ground but takes its nutrients from the water, already occupies 6% of the 235 hectares of greenhouses in Navarra and is still growing. Tomato production increases by 25% with this system, and leaf crops up to 100%.

Lettuce is grown in a floating tray on top of an aqueous solution. Since lettuce does not stay fresh for long they harvested just before sale. Although it may sound like science fiction, this agricultural practice is a reality that is gaining ground in the fields of Navarre.

A Michigan couple is croaking about an unusual, tiny, hitchhiker they found in their bag of frozen vegetables they bought at the Meijer supermarket.

Well, yes and no.

Vegetarians' diet does give them substantially more energy from that of a meat eater's which can lead to some zeal in the bedroom. One in four men will be impotent by the time they're 65, but vegetarians are much less likely to have problems with clogged arteries, one of the leading causes of impotency. Most vegetarians have trimmer bodies as well, leading to better body images and more comfort in their birthday suits.

How to cut, scoop and carve a pumpkin into a world-class Halloween masterpiece.

Last night was pumpkin-carving night at my house. Out came the carving supplies, and down we sat to create our masterpieces. Back in the day (you know, a million years ago when I was a kid) it seemed like you were creative if you carved circles instead of triangles for your jack-o'-lantern's eyes.  But today the sky is the limit when it comes to pumpkin carving designs.

Don't let all of these new designs scare you. Fortunately, there are free templates galore on the Internet for everything from apples to zebras and anything in between. All you have to do is print, trace and carve. Here's how to turn your plain old pumpkin into this year's Halloween masterpiece:

In a major step that will boost the benefits associated with one of the most commonly consumed staple foods, a team of Indian researchers have developed a new transgenic potato. The genetically modified potato consists of nearly 60 percent more protein and increased amino acids levels than the naturally occurring variant of the same.