[Pil-pc-oceania] Jerusalem artichokes medicinal properties

[jedd]

On Sat, 9 Jun 2007, Deb Guildner wrote:
> I have had feeling of physical well-being within a couple of days after
> eating soup comprised largely of j.a's.
> No excess wind either....maybe an individul reaction?

 If you're calling me gassy - well, loud and proud sister.

 But .. there's some scientific basis for the claims made of same.

 Quoting from the astonishingly excellent Food & Cooking
 by Harold McGee (anyone who ever cooks should have
 a copy of this book)

> Roots and tubers from northerly members of the lettuce family share
> three characteristics: an abundance of fructose-based carbohydrates,
> little starch, and a mild flavour reminiscent of the true artichoke
> (also a lettuce relative).  The fructose carbohydrates (small-chain
> frutosans and starch-like inulin) provide both an energy store and an
> antifreeze mechanism for the overwintering plants.  Humans don't have
> the enzymes necessary to digest fructose chains, so beneficial bacteria
> in our intestines feed on them instead, in the process generating
> carbon dioxide and other gases that can cause abdominal discomfort if
> we've eaten a large potion of these vegetables.
>
> The sunchoke is the nonfibrous, plump tuber of a North American
> sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus) [...].   It's pleasantly moist,
> crunchy, and sweet when raw, becoming soft and sweet after brief
> cooking.  When cooked for 12-24 hours at a low temperature, around 93C,
> sunchoke carbohydrates are largely converted to digestible fructose,
> and the flesh becomes sweet and translucently brown, like a vegetable
> aspic.

 Jedd.