Green, long celery sticks.
- Celery is from the family Apiaceae, which is the family of carrots and parsley, and its scientific name is Apium graveolens.
- Celery is a crunchy and crisp vegetable that can be green, yellow green, white or reddish purple in colour, and can be eaten raw or cooked.
- Celery is a biennial plant that grows up to one metre (3.3 feet) tall and generally has green, leafy tops, and is said to help keep one’s mouth and teeth clean.
- There are three main types of celery – leafy celery, that has lots of leaves that are used and small stalks that are not generally eaten; stalk celery, where the stalks are mainly used and the leafy parts are generally not eaten; and root celery, known as celeriac, that is mostly grown for its edible roots.
- Celery has white or cream coloured flowers that produce small edible seeds.
- Celery was first named in 1664, ‘celery’ coming from the French word ‘céleri’, which originally came from the Greek word meaning parsley, ‘selinon’.
- Celery leaves and seeds are often used as herbs or spices while the stalks and leaves can be used as a vegetable in salads or main dishes.
- Celery seeds can lower a rat’s blood pressure, and women should not consume large amounts of the seeds if they are pregnant.
- All parts of celery, most notably the seeds, can cause an anaphylactic reaction in those people who are allergic to the vegetable, that cannot be removed by cooking, and is not uncommon in some parts of Europe, where it is mandatory to label products that have or may contain celery.
- Celery contains significant portions of vitamin A and folate, and is high in vitamin K, with one serve containing approximately 2/5 of the recommended daily intake.
Bibliography:
Celery, 2011, Fresh for Kids, <http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/celery/celery.html>
Celery, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celery>
