Spinach is a versatile vegetable, making for a healthy addition to your diet.
It comes in three major varieties, each having its unique characteristics.
Read ahead to learn more about them.
Spinach is a flowering plant that can grow up to 30 cm in height. It has been used for culinary purposes for thousands of years.
It makes for a staple ingredient in several dishes of Indian cuisine. It has a distinct flavor, which feels refreshing in the hot season. Also, being a nutritional powerhouse, it offers an incredible range of benefits to your health.
It can be categorized into three major types:
Savoy Spinach is a cold-hardy class of vegetable
Savoy spinach is also known as curly-leaf spinach, as its leaves have dark green curly leaves. It boasts a crispy texture, and also a very distinctive flavor in comparison to the other variants. It's a rich source of folate, vitamin C, and beta carotene.
It has two variants - Regiment Spinach and Bloomsdale Spinach.
Regiment spinach has broad leaves, and also a crispy flavor which can make any regular dish mouth-watering.
Bloomsdale spinach has long and curly dark-green leaves. It boasts a nutty flavor, making it an amazing ingredient in several types of curries.
Semi-Savoy Spinach is disease resistant
Semi-savoy spinach also has a crispy flavor and texture, just like the savoy variety of spinach. It's packed with anti-disease properties that help keep your risk of many different diseases at bay. Also, it contains a good amount of lutein, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, glutathione, beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and more.
It can further be divided into four basic types - Tyee, Teton, Catalina, and Indian Summer.
Tyee spinach boasts dark and thick green leaves, and also a scrumptious flavor in both raw and cooked forms.
Teton spinach has tender leaves that grow very quickly. It's a powerhouse of B-complex vitamins.
Catalina spinach boasts a crunchy flavor, making for an amazing ingredient in salads.
Indian summer spinach has crisp and dark green leaves. It's usually harvested during the winter season and fall.
Smooth-Leaf Spinach takes a very less time to grow
Smooth-leaf spinach, as the name suggests, boasts smooth green leaves that are easy to clean. The leaves are fast-growing and can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator. Thanks to its distinct sweet flavor, it can be added to several different types of curries.
It's available in two major varieties - Space Spinach and Red Cardinal Spinach.
Space spinach grows in moist soil with a pH level of around 6.5 to 7.5.
Red cardinal spinach leaves boast a red hue, hence the name! It can be used as a dressing for a variety of salads.
Besides these, some alternative varieties of spinach are Malabar Spinach, New Zealand Spinach, etc.
