Chard

Chard is a spinach family whose leaves are appreciated and eaten as a vegetable in winter or summer. The plant, whose homeland is the Mediterranean basin, Anatolia, the Caucasus and the Middle East, has wild examples in the countryside of our country. These are collected by the poor and their leaves are eaten. It is also frequently grown as a cultivated plant in our country.

It is a biennial herbaceous plant that can grow up to one meter tall. Its large, broad, thick-veined long leaves are dark or light green depending on the variety. The leaf stalks are also green or sometimes red depending on the variety. The leaf edges are straight or wavy, the leaf blades are curly or flat.

The flowers that bloom in the second year of the plant are light green or greenish yellow. The seeds are also dark colored and form small balls. The leaves of the chard are consumed by cooking like spinach, sautéing or stuffing with meat.

NUTRITIONAL VALUES

BENEFITS TO OUR HEALTH

Chard is a plant rich in beta carotene, a source of vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid. The vitamin A content is especially high in chard with red leaf stalks. The other nutritional values of chard are very close to those of spinach.

The unpretentious chard plant, whose nutritional values are similar to those of spinach, is an important food. In addition, its leaves have tonic effects.

Chard leaves prevent anemia with the iron and folic acid they contain. In addition, eating chard minimizes the risk of pregnant women giving birth to children with spina bifida (a disease in which one side of the spine is open).

The seeds of the Swiss chard have traditionally been used in folk medicine as a semi-poultice and as a blood-thinning agent.