What is the latest burdock?

Burdock, also known as Dalizi, evil fruit, burdock, etc., is a biennial herb of the genus Asteraceae, with high edible and nutritional value, and can be fried, cooked, eaten raw or processed into beverages. In China, it is mainly distributed in Taiwan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang and other places. Xuzhou Fengxian, Peixian in Jiangsu Province and Cangshan in Shandong Province have a long history and large area.

Burdock was introduced and improved into food from China in Japan more than a thousand years ago. When Japan occupied Taiwan, it asked local farmers to plant large quantities of burdock in Tainan. The main reason is that Tainan has loose sand on the banks of the Zengwen River, the climate of the Tropic of Cancer and the famous Alishan vein make the local burdock unique and precious. At present, Taiwan has been eaten as a vegetable for many years and is known as the birthplace of burdock.

Burdock has thick fleshy taproots up to 15 cm long and up to 2 cm in diameter with branched roots. Stem erect, to 2 m tall, stout, base to 2 cm in diam., usually purplish red or purplish red, with many raised stripes, branches obliquely ascending, numerous, all stem branches sparsely papillate short hairs and long spider silk hairs mixed with brownish-yellow small glandular dots.

Burdock basal leaves broadly ovate, up to 30 cm long, 21 cm wide, margin sparsely shallowly wavy concave teeth or tooth tip, base cordate, with petiole up to 32 cm long, discolored on both sides, green above, sparse hispid hairs and yellow glandular spots, grayish white or light green below, thinly tomentose or villus sparse, yellow glandular spots, petiole gray-white, dense spider silky villi and yellow glandular spots, but the middle and lower parts are often depilated. Cauline leaves homomorphic or subhomomorphic to basal leaves, with equal and equal amount of indumentum, small leaves connected to lower part of inflorescence, base truncate or shallowly cordate.

Most or a few of the heads of burdock are arranged in loose corymbs or panicles at the top of stems and branches, and the peduncles are stout. Involucre ovate or ovoid, 1.5 × 2 cm in diam. Involucral bracts multilayered, numerous, outer triangular or lanceolate-subulate, ca. 1 mm wide, middle and inner layer lanceolate or linear-subulate, 1.5-3 mm wide, all bracts subequal, ca. 1.5 cm long, with cartilaginous hooks at the tip. Florets purplish red, Corolla 1.4 cm long, tubular length 8 mm, eaves 6 mm, outside without glandular spots, Corolla lobes about 2 mm long.

The achene of burdock is oblong-ovate or oblique-oblong-ovate, 5-7 mm long and 2-3 mm wide, flattened on both sides, light brown, with many veinlets and dark brown or colorless spots. Crown hairs multilayered, light brown, coronal hairs setose-hispid, unequal, up to 3.8 mm long, base disjointed into rings, scattered and deciduous. The flower and fruit period is from June to September.

Burdock contains inulin, cellulose, protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other vitamins and minerals, among which the content of carotene is 150 times higher than that of carrots, and the content of protein and calcium is the first in rhizomes. Burdock root contains inulin and volatile oil, burdock acid, a variety of polyphenols and aldehydes, and rich in cellulose and amino acids.

Burdock root contains a variety of essential amino acids, and the content is high, especially the high content of amino acids with special pharmacological effects, such as brain-strengthening aspartic acid accounts for 2528% of the total amino acids, arginine accounts for 180.20%, and contains Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and other essential elements and trace elements.