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Spinacia oleracea

Common name:	Spinach	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The leaves of most varieties of spinach are high in oxalic acid[218]. Although not toxic, this substance does lock up certain minerals in a meal, especially calcium, making them unavailable to the body. Therefore mineral deficiencies can result from eating too much of any leaf that contains oxalic acid. However, the mineral content of spinach leaves is quite high so the disbenifits are to a large extent outweighed by the benefits. There are also special low-oxalic varieties of spinach that have been developed. Cooking the leaves will also reduce the content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	The origin of this plant is uncertain, it probably arose in S.W. Asia.
Habitat:	Not known in the wild.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. inermis[G] S. oleracea var. inermis[G] S. spinosa[G] Spinaca oleracea[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ch'Ih Ken Ts'Ai [E], Epinard [E], Espinaca [E], Ispanak [E], Ispinakh [E], Po Leng Ts'Ai [E], Po Ssu Ts'Ao [E], Po Ts'Ai [E], Spinach [B,H,E,P,L], Spinagh [E], Spinazie [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	oleracea = vegetable like
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Dominican Republic Haiti Iraq Turkey Us

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to September. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Wind. The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Colouring Leaves Seed.

Leaves - raw or cooked[1, 2, 16, 37, 132]. Tender young leaves can be added to salads, older leaves are used as greens or added to soups etc[183, 201]. The leaves contain oxalic acid (6 - 8% in young leaves, 23 - 27% in the cotyledons)[218], see the notes above on toxicity. A nutritional analysis of the leaves is available[218].
Seeds - raw or cooked. It can be sprouted and added to salads[183].
Chlorophyll extracted from the leaves is used as an edible green dye[142].

Composition

Leaves (Dry weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0 Calories: 285 Protein: 28 Fat: 5.5 Carbohydrate: 40 Fibre: 8 Ash: 23
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 800 Phosphorus: 415 Iron: 80 Sodium: 650 Potassium: 4500 VitaminA: 50 Thiamine: 0.7 Riboflavin: 2 Niacin: 8 VitaminC: 600
Source: [218]
Notes : The values here are based on the median figures of those quoted in the report. Vitamin A figures are in milligrammes.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Carminative Febrifuge Hypoglycaemic Laxative.

The plant is carminative and laxative[218]. In experiments it has been shown to have hypoglycaemic properties[218]. It has been used in the treatment of urinary calculi[240].
The leaves have been used in the treatment of febrile conditions, inflammation of the lungs and the bowels[240].
The seeds are laxative and cooling[240]. They have been used in the treatment of difficult breathing, inflammation of the liver and jaundice[240].

Other Uses

Dye.

A yellow dye is obtained from the leaves[100].

Cultivation details

Plants grow best and produce their heaviest crop of leaves on a nitrogen-rich soil[16, 37, 200]. They dislike very heavy or very light soils[37]. They also dislike acid soils, preferring a neutral to slightly alkaline soil[200]. Plants require plenty of moisture in the growing season, dry summers causing the plants to quickly run to seed[27]. Summer crops do best in light shade to encourage more leaf production before the plant goes to seed[27], winter crops require a warm dry sunny position[1, 27].
Young plants are hardy to about -9° c[200].
Spinach is often cultivated for its edible leaves, there are some named varieties[132, 183]. These varieties can be grouped into two main types as detailed below:-
Forms with prickly seeds. These are the more primitive forms. Their leaves are more lobed and they are in general more cold tolerant and also more resistant of summer heat[264]. They were more often used to produce a crop in the winter[200, 264].
Forms with round seeds have been developed in cultivation, These have broader leaves, tend to be less cold hardy and were also more prone to bolt in hot weather[264]. They were used mainly for the summer crop[200]. Most new cultivars are of the round seeded variety and these have been developed to be more resistant to bolting in hot weather, more cold tolerant, to produce more leaves and also to be lower in calcium oxalate which causes bitterness and also has negative nutritional effects upon the body[264].
Some modern varieties have been developed that are low in oxalic acid. Edible leaves can be obtained all year round from successional sowings[200]. The summer varieties tend to run to seed fairly quickly, especially in hot dry summers and so you need to make successional sowings every few weeks if a constant supply is required. Winter varieties provide leaves for a longer period, though they soon run to seed when the weather warms up.
Spinach grows well with strawberries[18, 20]. It also grows well with cabbages, onions, peas and celery[201]. A fast-growing plant, the summer crop can be interplanted between rows of slower growing plants such as Brussels sprouts. The spinach would have been harvested before the other crop needs the extra space[200]. Spinach is a bad companion for grapes and hyssop[201].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ from March to June for a summer crop. Make successional sowings, perhaps once a month, to ensure a continuity of supply. The seed germinates within about 2 weeks and the first leaves can be harvested about 6 weeks later. Seed is sown in situ during August and September for a winter crop.

Cultivars

'': There are some named varieties of this annual vegetable, with new forms being developed. At present there is not time to enter these in the database and it is recommended that you consult the book 'The Fruit and Vegetable Finder' which is updated regularly and can be obtained from libraries.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Spinaca oleracea (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[16] Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0
A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[132] Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth.
Lovely pictures, a very readable book.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[264] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables Macmillan Reference Books, London. 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.

Readers Comments

Spinacia oleracea

Klaus Dichtel (allmendeperma@web.de) Fri Jan 24 13:56:40 2003

Last june I cooked besides the leaves of "Monopa" & "Matador" the flowers and flowerstems. This meal gave an unpleasant burning in the mouth and had to be quit.

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