white asparagus
ingredient / ingredient-asparagus-white
ホワイトアスパラガス / Asparagus officinalis L.
Asparagus harvested in darkness without allowing shoots to emerge above ground, by heaping soil over the ridges or using similar shading.
Photographs (captions in Japanese)
Raw white asparagus spears, entirely white and apparently just harvested, stacked on a metal dish.
Shown: Asparagus officinalisPart / state: Harvested spears (raw, uncooked, white plants grown with light excluded)
Photo: Aspergekennis / CC BY-SA 3.0 / original image / ledger's original image
Scope and provenance of the photo
Identification: Identified as labelled in the source. Uploaded by an account of a Dutch producers' organization. No cultivar name is given. I opened the image and confirmed that the whole stalks are white to cream in color and in a raw state with no sign of heating or seasoning.
Image shown: The original from Wikimedia Commons, reduced to 2400 px on the long side. No cropping or color changes. For display, a WebP capped at 1200 px wide is served; the ledger's original image can be checked from the link above.
On this page (8 sections)
Reading the bitterness
White asparagus is a cultivation type harvested underground in darkness after about 20 cm of additional soil is placed over the ridge. It contrasts with green asparagus, which emerges above ground after sprouting and grows in sunlight; the difference is whether shading is used.
The effect of shading cultivation is also reflected in composition. Steroid saponins such as protodioscin and shatavarin have been reported to be significantly more abundant in white type. Both are glycosides with steroid skeletons and are positioned as candidates for bitterness-contributing constituents discussed below.
Bitter constituents have also been identified. Using quantification by HPLC-MS/MS and calculation of dose-over-threshold (DoT), spirostane-type monodesmosidic saponins in raw spears and furostane-type bidesmosidic saponins after heating have each been reported as the main bitterness contributors. However, this remains confirmed only at abstract level; individual DoT values and panel size are not available from the abstract.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Used as support for blanching cultivation by adding soil. / Used as support for the contrast in shading with the green type. / Used as support for the report that steroid saponins are more abundant in white type. / Used as support for the description of shatavarin as a saponin more abundant in white type.
Checked for this overview: Used as support for the report that the main bitter saponins differ before and after heating.
Follow the connections
white asparagus →is processed by→ asparagus blanching (mounding)
green asparagus →differs from→ white asparagus
protodioscin →occurs in→ white asparagus
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (2)
Note: Reusing compound-protodioscin already recorded in the fenugreek context for the asparagus context.
Show data
compound-protodioscin —occurs_in→ ingredient-asparagus-whiteShow data
compound-shatavarin —occurs_in→ ingredient-asparagus-whiteSensory (1)
Scope: White asparagus spears, raw and after heating
Note: This is confirmation at abstract level; individual DoT values have not been confirmed.
Show data
ingredient-asparagus-white —has_principal_bitter_compound→ (the claim sentence above)How processing and cooking change it (2)
Show data
ingredient-asparagus-white —is_processed_by→ process-asparagus-blanchingShow data
ingredient-asparagus-green —differs_from→ ingredient-asparagus-white