Rhubarb is a vegetable recognized for its reddish stalks and bitter style.
In Europe and North America, it’s cooked and infrequently sweetened. In Asia, its roots are used medicinally.
This text offers an in depth overview of rhubarb, together with its makes use of and potential well being advantages.
What’s rhubarb?
Rhubarb is famend for its bitter style and thick stalks, that are often cooked with sugar.
The stalks vary in shade from pink to pink to pale inexperienced and have a consistency that’s just like celery.
This vegetable requires chilly winters to develop. Because of this, it’s primarily present in mountainous and temperate areas world wide, particularly in Northeast Asia. It’s additionally a typical backyard plant in North America and Northern Europe.
A number of varieties and species exist. Within the West, the most typical selection is named culinary or backyard rhubarb (Rheum x hybridum).
How is it used?
Rhubarb is an uncommon vegetable as a result of it’s very bitter and barely candy.
In truth, it’s simply mistaken for a fruit. Including to the confusion, rhubarb is formally labeled as a fruit by the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) (1).
On account of its bitter style, it’s hardly ever eaten uncooked. As a substitute, it’s usually cooked — both sweetened with sugar or used as an ingredient.
It wasn’t till the 18th century, when sugar grew to become low-cost and available, that rhubarb grew to become a preferred meals.
Earlier than that, it was primarily used medicinally. In truth, its dried roots have been utilized in conventional Chinese language drugs for 1000’s of years.
Solely the stalks are eaten, mostly in candy soups, jams, sauces, pies, tarts, crumbles, cocktails, and rhubarb wine.
As candy rhubarb pies are a standard dessert in the UK and North America, this vegetable is usually known as “pie plant.”
Nutrient content material of rhubarb
Rhubarb is just not particularly wealthy in important vitamins, and its calorie content material is low.
Nonetheless, it’s a superb supply of vitamin K1, offering round 26–37% of the Every day Worth (DV) in a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving relying on whether or not it’s cooked (2, 3).
Like different vegetables and fruit, it’s additionally excessive in fiber, offering comparable quantities as oranges, apples, or celery.
A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of cooked rhubarb with added sugar incorporates (3):
Though there are respectable quantities of calcium in rhubarb, it’s primarily within the type of the antinutrient calcium oxalate. On this kind, your physique can’t soak up it effectively (4).
It’s also reasonably excessive in vitamin C, boasting 6% of the DV in a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving.
Well being advantages of rhubarb
Research on the well being advantages of rhubarb are restricted.
Nonetheless, just a few research have examined the results of remoted rhubarb stalk elements, equivalent to its fiber.
Could decrease levels of cholesterol
Rhubarb stalks are a superb supply of fiber, which can have an effect on your ldl cholesterol.
In a single managed research, males with excessive ranges ate 27 grams of rhubarb-stalk fiber each day for a month. Their complete ldl cholesterol dropped by 8% and their LDL (unhealthy) ldl cholesterol by 9% (5).
This useful impact is just not unique to rhubarb fiber. Many different fiber sources are equally efficient (6).
Supplies antioxidants
Rhubarb can be a wealthy supply of antioxidants.
One research means that its complete polyphenol content material could also be even increased than that of kale (7).
The antioxidants in rhubarb embody anthocyanins, that are liable for its pink shade and thought to supply well being advantages. Rhubarb can be excessive in proanthocyanidins, also referred to as condensed tannins (8, 9).
These antioxidants could also be liable for a number of the well being advantages of fruits, pink wine, and cocoa (10, 11).
Why does it style bitter? – “calcium in rhubarb”
Rhubarb might be essentially the most sour-tasting vegetable yow will discover.
Its acidity is principally because of its excessive ranges of malic and oxalic acid. Malic acid is without doubt one of the most plentiful acids in vegetation and contributes to the bitter style of many vegetables and fruit (8).
Curiously, rising rhubarb in darkness makes it much less bitter and extra tender. This selection is called pressured rhubarb, which is grown in spring or late winter.
Security and unwanted effects
Rhubarb is among the many richest dietary sources of calcium oxalate, the most typical type of oxalic acid in vegetation.
In truth, based on people custom, rhubarb shouldn’t be harvested previous late June, as oxalic acid ranges are stated to rise from spring to summer season.
This substance is especially plentiful within the leaves, however the stalks might also comprise excessive quantities, relying on the range.
An excessive amount of calcium oxalate can result in hyperoxaluria, a severe situation characterised by the buildup of calcium oxalate crystals in numerous organs.
These crystals might kind kidney stones. Sustained hyperoxaluria can result in kidney failure (12).
Not everybody responds to dietary oxalate in the identical means. Some persons are genetically predisposed to well being issues related to oxalates (13).
Vitamin B6 deficiency and excessive vitamin C consumption might also improve your danger (14).
Moreover, rising proof suggests this downside is worse for individuals who lack sure useful intestine micro organism. Curiously, some intestine micro organism, equivalent to Oxalobacter formigenes, degrade and neutralize dietary oxalates (15, 16).
Though studies of rhubarb poisoning are uncommon, ensure you devour it carefully and keep away from the leaves. What’s extra, cooking your rhubarb might cut back its oxalate content material by 30–87% (17, 18, 19, 20).
Easy methods to prepare dinner rhubarb
Rhubarb might be eaten in quite a few methods. It’s often utilized in jams and desserts, which comprise loads of added sugar.
That stated, it’s simple to make use of in low-sugar recipes — and even cooked with no sugar in any respect.
Just a few inventive concepts embody rhubarb salad and wholesome rhubarb crumble. You can even add this vegetable or its jam to your morning oatmeal.