Cress is a herbaceous plant that has several varieties: watercress, bittercress, meadow cress, garden cress, capuchin cress, lettuce cress, etc.

They have a spicy smell, although not very strong; contain many useful substances, which makes it possible for many people to use them as a spice. Watercress is most commonly used in Western Europe.

WATERCRESS
(Nasturtium officinale L.)

Watercress is a perennial plant that grows wild in Central Europe. In Russia it grows in the southern regions, as well as in the North Caucasus and Central Asia. It takes root in damp places, swamps, ditches. Cultivated in Western Europe, England, France, and the USA.
It has other names: brun-cress, watercress, cut-ha, keycress, water horseradish.

Description
Watercress is a herbaceous plant with creeping stems up to 50-60 cm in length. Its green leaves have oval shape and attached to the branches in pairs.
The plant blooms with small white flowers collected in semi-umbrellas. After flowering, it forms a fruit pod with oblong seeds. Raw green leaves are used as a spice.

Chemical composition. Medicinal properties
Watercress - useful plant, rich in many substances: iron, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogenous oils, vitamins A, B, C, O, E, K, contains glycoside. Due to its properties, watercress is widely used in medical practice; it is prescribed for abnormal metabolism, to cleanse and improve the condition of the blood, as an expectorant and diuretic, for fever and scurvy. IN folk medicine used for nervous diseases. It is recommended to use it as food, as well as drink freshly prepared juices, especially for people suffering from diabetes.

Taste qualities. Application
The green leaves of the plant are used as a spice. Their taste is tart, bitter, and the aroma is sharp, pleasant, akin to the aroma of the well-known horseradish. It is added to salads, enriching useful substances, creating aroma, and also used as independent dish(salad), then others are taken as an additive spices or food products.
Complements well vegetable soups from greenery.

In addition, it improves the taste of fish and some meat dishes, sauces, and fillings.
Combined with mint and rosemary, it forms a savory mixture used in many dishes.

Watercress is added to sandwiches (fish, ham, cheese) giving them a mustard taste.

Watercress is combined with mayonnaise and vegetable oil.

Growing and harvesting

Watercress grows wild in places where moisture is present (ponds, springs, ditches, etc.). In the garden they are grown from seeds or cuttings. Loves shaded places. In early spring, you can plant first in a greenhouse, then two weeks later - in open ground. Irrigation grooves are made between the beds.

The plant is cut often until shoots with flowers appear. Then it can also be consumed, but the taste will be very bitter.

Watercress (like other types of watercress) is one of the few spices that is grown for use only in its raw form.

CAPUCCIN CRESS
(Tropaelum majus L.)

This is an annual spicy-aromatic plant, known to us more as an ornamental one - nasturtium. The homeland of Capuchin cress is South America. Distributed in many countries of Europe and Asia. In Russia it has taken root in the middle zone, in the Urals, and in Siberia.

It has other names: Indian cress, Spanish cress, colored lettuce, windcress, etc.

Description
Capuchin cress is a herbaceous plant from the nasturtium family. They decorate gardens, parks, and flower beds in garden plots. The low stem of the plant tends to creep. Blooms with bright red or orange flowers. Of particular value are the bright green leaves, which last all summer. They have a spicy pungent taste and are used as a spice.

Capuchin cress is a medicinal plant. It contains vitamins C, A. It has long been used as a remedy against scurvy, anemia, and to improve hair growth (the leaves are brewed with boiling water and allowed to stand for 2-3 minutes under a lid).

The plant contains antimicrobial substances, so it is used to cleanse the skin of rashes (scabies).

Nasturtium decoctions, which have diuretic properties, are used for diseases of the kidneys and bladder.

Essential oils are isolated from nasturtium to prepare medicinal products that relieve heart pain, restore balance, and lower blood pressure. Nasturtium fruits are boiled and the decoction is used as a laxative.

Leaves, hard flower buds, and unripe seeds are used as spices.

Nasturtium has a pleasant spicy aroma and improves appearance and taste summer salads from various vegetables.

The more people recognize nasturtium as a spice, the more often it is added to other dishes. It is used as vegetable puree, minced meat, added to solyankas, meat dishes, marinades. The leaves of the plant are edible and useful throughout the entire growth period.

The fruits and buds are used as a seasoning for pickling tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash.

Growing and harvesting.
Capuchin cress (nasturtium) reproduces by seeds. In early spring they are planted in well-fertilized prepared soil. Nasturtiums should be planted as much as necessary for the needs of the family.

After 12 days, the first leaves appear. If you need to dry the leaves for spice (which is also possible), then this is done before flowering. Spicy greens are used throughout the summer. You can prepare an exquisite seasoning from the buds and fruits of the plant; the latter are collected immediately after the flowers fall. Nasturtium leaves are salted using the dry salting method. Flower buds and fruits are pickled, adding only dill from the herbs. They can also be dried in the usual way.

GARDEN CRESS
(Lepidium sativum L.)

Garden cress is an annual herb that originates from Iran. Like many salads, it was around in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. e. known to the ancient Egyptians and Romans.

Pliny the Younger, a Roman writer, mentioned in his writings that during this period garden cress was grown as a cultivated plant in order to enrich food with useful substances and soothe nervous system and improve sleep.

It spread early to Europe, where it is cultivated in many countries. It is grown in the countries of Central Asia, in Russia - right up to the Far East.

It has other names: watercress, bedbug, kir-salad, pepper grass, tsitmati, peppercorn, horseradish, horseradish.

Description
Garden cress is an annual plant of the cruciferous family.
Garden cress has a straight trunk no more than 60 cm high. The main value of the plant is the leaves, which are different in shape: basal - light, petiolate, lobed; the upper ones are sessile, darker. It blooms, throwing out racemose inflorescences.
The fruit is a pod, the seeds are small, ovoid. Watercress leaves are pungent in taste, juicy and tender.

Chemical composition. Medicinal properties.
Garden cress is valuable for its leaves, rich in B vitamins and vitamin C, carotene, rutin, as well as calcium salts and other beneficial substances: magnesium, iron, iodine, phosphorus.

Thanks to this, watercress is mainly useful for digestion, improves appetite, and helps normalize blood pressure.

Fortified watercress leaves, as well as juice from them, are useful for scurvy and anemia. They gargle with the juice and drink it when they cough, as it has bactericidal properties, just like watercress seeds. Powdered with other additives, they are used in wound healing.

Taste qualities. Application.
Rich in vitamins and other useful substances, garden cress greens are used mainly for their intended purpose - in salads. The leaves are consumed fresh, juicy, adding other herbs, eggs, mayonnaise, etc.
Watercress is served with other dishes (meat, fish) along with sandwiches and side dishes.

The greenery of the plant goes well with omelettes and cottage cheese dishes, used as a seasoning for soups and sauces, together with tomatoes it is part of snacks.

Growing and harvesting
Watercress is a surprisingly fast growing plant. Propagated by seeds. To provide greens and vitamins for the whole summer, it must be sown at several times with a short interval. Within two weeks, with good care, it grows to a size where it can be eaten.

Grows in a variety of soils, where it can be sown in very early dates. It can grow in greenhouses, greenhouses, in a room in boxes, or in any other container.
Watercress is dried only to collect the seeds.

SEE ALSO

This name combines several types of mildly spicy, unstable herbaceous plants with an odor reminiscent of horseradish and eaten exclusively in fresh- in salads, sandwiches and soups, in fatty meat dishes as a side dish. The use of watercress is widespread in Western Europe, and in our country in the Baltic states and especially in Transcaucasia. Russian National cuisine almost does not know the use of watercress, with the exception of the ancient cuisine of the Pomors (Arkhangelsk region).

Meanwhile, watercress is an easily accessible spice rich in vitamins and other useful substances, which can significantly diversify food throughout the year.

WATERCRESS

Nasturtium officinale

Brun-cress, watercress, watercress, spring cress, water horseradish, watercress - a perennial plant of the cruciferous family. It was also used by the ancient Romans.

It grows wild in Central Europe, along the banks of rivers, mountain streams and clean (flowing) lakes. When grown in garden conditions, it requires shaded areas and frequent watering.

When cutting raw stems, a sharp nice smell and a volatile substance that, like horseradish, “eats the eyes.” It has a high content of vitamins C, K, A and E, as well as minerals, especially iron and iodine. In folk medicine it is used for nervous diseases and fever.

Culinary use similar to watercress.

BITTERCRESS

Cochlearia arctica

Spoon grass, spoon grass, spoon horseradish, varukha, sea ​​salad, scurvy grass is a biennial herbaceous plant of the cruciferous family. This plant is purely northern, it grows in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and the Arctic zone of Russia.

Only the youngest shoots and young leaves are used as a spice.

The plant is fermented, canned, and used in salads.

MEADOW CRESS

Cardamine pratensis L.

Field mustard, heart mustard, smolyanka is a perennial plant of the cruciferous family. Distributed mainly in Northern Europe.

It grows in damp places, along ditches, and is cultivated in gardens and orchards. Young leaves and shoots are eaten.

GARDEN CRESS

Lepidium sativum L.

Watercress, peppercorn, horseradish, horseradish, pepper grass, kir salad, titmati (cargo) - an annual plant of the cruciferous family. Homeland - Asia Minor. Cultivated in most European countries. We grow it mainly in Transcaucasia.

It is easily bred in winter and summer at home - in boxes and pots. The seeds germinate quickly. To obtain fresh watercress, it must be sown every week, since it is suitable for consumption only when it is very young - a week or two weeks old.

CAPUCHIN CRESS

Tropaeolum majus L.

Indian cress, windcress, Spanish cress, colored lettuce, nasturtium - an annual plant of the capuchin family. Homeland - South America. It is widely cultivated here as an ornamental flower plant.

Very little is consumed as food, despite the fact that almost all parts of the plant can be eaten: leaves, buds, flowers, seeds in green, unripe form. These latter can be marinated with other spices and stored for future use.

Mainly used only in salads and as a snack side dish for cold and hot dishes. meat dishes. Doesn't go into soups.

CRESS SALAD

Lepidium sativum L.

Bed bug, pepper grass, garden cress, horseradish, horseradish, pepper grass, kir-salad. An annual leafy vegetable plant of the cruciferous family. Its homeland is Egypt, it came to Europe in ancient times. Cultivated in most European countries.

The value of watercress is based on the content of vitamins C, B, K and carotene, as well as sugar; proteins, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, magnesium and sulfur compounds, mainly phenyl isothiocyanate, which give it a specific bitter and pungent taste, reminiscent of the taste of radish. The presence of the alkaloid glutotropeoline was detected.

To obtain fresh watercress, it must be sown every week, since it is suitable for consumption at a very young age - a week to two weeks.

Fresh herbs are used in the same way as other leafy vegetables. Used with cottage cheese, white cheeses, in the preparation of soups and omelettes. Used in some sauces, in combination with tomatoes as a snack, with various types fried fish, for sandwiches.

Watercress is a good antimicrobial agent. Greens are used for scurvy, anemia, loss of appetite; improves sleep and digestion, lowers blood pressure. Watercress seeds, crushed into powder, can replace mustard powder. It is believed that this powder, mixed with pork fat, is good remedy for skin diseases and non-healing wounds.

Watercress is an increasingly popular vegetable plant with a tangy flavor. He owes this to the mustard oil included in his chemical composition. Often those who try his greens for the first time say that they resemble or. However, its valuable and beneficial features have been known since ancient times.

The ancient Greek philosopher and healer Hippocrates used watercress as a restorative, used it to cleanse the blood and charge the body with vital energy. The ancient Egyptians used it as a medicine for potency and increasing libido. In the Middle Ages, the plant reached Europe, where it was in greatest demand among residents of Germany.

Its piquant taste is increasingly winning the hearts of consumers. This plant is also in demand because it is very easy to grow, not only in garden beds, but also on the windowsill at home. In addition, it appears much earlier than other green vegetable crops, easily tolerates frost and grows quickly.

Description of the plant, cultivation and care

Watercress has many different names and varieties. In Afghanistan it is called tertizak, in Georgia it is called tsitsmati. For Armenians it is known as kotham, and in Ukraine it is known as watercress or watercress. You can often hear other names: horseradish, garden cress or peppercorn.

There are several varieties of the plant: curly, whole-leaved and sowing. Each species has its own characteristic differences and varieties.

For example, curly cress has a small semi-raised rosette and intricately cut leaves. The rosette reaches seventeen centimeters in diameter. A typical representative of this group of salads is the “openwork” variety. This also includes early and mid-ripening plant varieties.

The whole-leaf variety of lettuce is characterized by a fairly large horizontal rosette, reaching up to twenty-one centimeters in diameter. This species usually grows up to five to six centimeters in height. This group includes late-ripening varieties, the most striking of which is “Ducat”.

Seeded watercress is a cross between the two previous varieties. Its rosette, large and semi-raised, has slightly dissected large-lobed leaves. This group includes the earliest ripening varieties: “Kurled”, “Zabava”, “Dansky”.

Other plant varieties include broad-leaved and narrow-leaved watercress, news, curly-leaved, common, local, spring and others.

Watercress is one of the species of the extensive cruciferous family of the genus Bedbug. The leaves of this vegetable crop have a green, slightly bluish color. Blooms in June with white or pink flowers. The fruit pods ripen towards mid-autumn.

Watercress is a picky and unpretentious plant. With proper care, the fresh greenery of the plant will delight you all year round.

Growing such a vegetable crop does not require significant labor costs. It can even grow on sand. But if you decide to grow it in the garden, it is advisable to prepare the soil for this in the fall. To do this, you need to remove all the weeds, dig up and add humus. In spring, the soil must be fluffed up and fertilized with compost or mineral complexes.

Plant seeds are sown in early spring, and after literally a month and a half of intensive growth they become edible. It can also be planted for the winter; it can withstand frost and is cold-resistant.

As a rule, it needs to be sown in rows, but it grows well in continuous beds. Watercress seeds are quite large, they can be easily distributed evenly in a row, deepening them by about one centimeter. The distance between the seedlings should be about five centimeters so that the plant’s rosette turns out to be large. The first shoots appear three days after sowing.

However, landing is not everything. In order for the plant to grow quickly and well, it must be watered in a timely manner. If you do not do this, the bug will throw out the arrow, and its leaves will become rough and tough.

How to water a plant correctly:

1. In the hot summer, be sure to water the watercress every day.
2. In cloudy weather, one watering will be enough for three to four days.
3. Overmoistening, as well as lack of moisture, negatively affects the plant, so it is important to maintain an optimal watering regime, and then the grass will be less susceptible to various diseases and pest damage.

We should also not forget about loosening the soil and getting rid of weeds.

The plant reproduces by seeds, and in order to use salad greens for quite a long time, they can be sown several times a year.

In order to collect good harvest watercress, it is necessary to use plant nutrition. But this must be done as carefully as possible. There should be little fertilizer and it should not be very concentrated, otherwise the green lettuce leaves will receive a large amount of nitrates. In such cases, it is best to fertilize the soil before planting the plants there.

Watercress is a shade-loving plant, so it will not be difficult to grow it at home. And thus have such greens in your kitchen all year round. To do this, you need to take a couple of small boxes that are not bulky and fit comfortably on the kitchen windowsill. Instead of soil, it is allowed to use substrate and even paper towels.

Lettuce seeds are sown once every ten days, sequentially in each of the boxes. Thus, while the leaves are being cut from one plant, another is just growing. Growing and caring for watercress is so simple that even beginners in gardening can do it.

Composition and beneficial properties of watercress

The mineral composition is represented by other salts.

In addition, the plant is rich in essential oils mustard oil, which contains propsoline, a glycoside that gives the salad a characteristic taste and aroma. The seeds contain fatty oil, and the roots of the plant include lepidin, a rather bitter substance widely used in the synthesis of drugs.

Regular consumption of this plant has significant benefits for the body:

• normalizes digestion and improves appetite;
• promotes the removal of dangerous toxins and harmful waste;
• normalizes blood pressure.

This green crop is widely used in the field of traditional medicine. It has long been used for anti-inflammatory and restorative purposes. Watercress was highly valued for its diuretic, soothing, wound-healing, expectorant and anti-sclerotic effects.

This herb improves sleep and effectively relieves depression due to the flavonoids included in its composition, which are.

Even in modern medicine, such a wonderful plant is appreciated: it is recommended to be used for the prevention of cancer, as well as for eye diseases.

Green leaves of watercress were used to treat skin diseases, ulcers and burns, as well as colds. It helped well with coughs, bronchitis and other inflammatory processes of the respiratory system.

They also took tinctures and decoctions from this plant for gallstone disease and joint pain. This plant was used as an adjuvant in the treatment of prostatitis and cancer. There was an opinion that the seeds of this salad improve potency and increase sexual desire.

As a result of various experiments, already in official medicine, scientists have discovered that lettuce contains substances that help maintain the integrity of blood cells. Therefore, its daily use significantly reduces the risk of blood cancer.

For the treatment and prevention of diseases, tinctures, decoctions, various infusions and oils are used. You can use both fresh and dry herbs. The simplest use is to eat watercress leaves or drink its juice every day.

Grinded into pulp fresh leaves Plants are great for healing wounds. By applying greens to the affected areas, it is fixed with bandages, which allows you to get rid of many skin problems.

The juice of the plant helps cope with dandruff, and added to the bath – with skin diseases.

For severe coughs, use original mustard plasters, which contain watercress seeds ground into powder.

Medicinal ointments and oils are made from this plant, but the latter cannot be prepared at home. Often they simply use an infusion of watercress seeds in vegetable oil.

The ointment can be prepared by mixing crushed dried stems and leaves of the plant with Vaseline or any fat in proportions of one to three. It is best to keep such products in a warm place for at least a week before consuming.

High content has a positive effect on the condition of the thyroid gland and has a positive effect on the functioning of the endocrine system as a whole.

Watercress is low in calories, it energy value is only 32 kcal per hundred grams of product. At the same time, it has high nutritional properties, saturates the body with vivacity and energy. Therefore, it is very effective in dietary programs.

If you eat the leaves of the plant every day, you can get rid of periodontal disease and other diseases of the teeth and gums.

Like any product, watercress has both benefits and harms. It is not recommended for use by people suffering from peptic ulcers and gastritis, as well as other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Overeating this vegetable is fraught with allergic reactions and irritations. It also provokes digestive problems.

Infusion of watercress leaves

• fresh watercress - three tablespoons;
• dry grass - two tablespoons;
• boiling water - one glass.

Mix dry and fresh leaves and pour boiling water and leave in a thermos or warm place for two to three hours.

The decoction is made in almost the same way, only the leaves need to be brought to a boil and simmered for about five to seven minutes over low heat.

Application in cooking and cosmetology

It is customary to use fresh lettuce leaves for food, since when dried or heat-treated they lose most of their valuable and beneficial qualities, as well as their wonderful aroma and characteristic pungent taste.

In Europe, this plant has won the hearts of ordinary people for a long time. In France, for example, Lambion watercress is very popular, having a sharper, spicy and rich taste.

You can cook almost any dish with this plant: be it cottage cheese casserole, omelette or regular sandwich.

This plant is also irreplaceable in cosmetology. In this area, its leaves, juice and even oil are used. After using masks based on it, the skin looks cleaner and fresher, and the hair becomes soft and silky. Watercress has anti-inflammatory properties, which has a calming effect on problematic skin, relieves acne and pimples.

At home, you can also prepare masks based on this plant, which will help get rid of flaking skin, normalize the functioning of the sebaceous glands, as well as stop the aging process and smooth out fine wrinkles.

Mask for oily skin

For preparation you will need:

• watercress greens - two tablespoons;
• – one teaspoon;
• egg white - one piece.

Chop fresh lettuce leaves and mix with other ingredients. Apply to the face and leave for about ten to twelve minutes, and then rinse with warm water.

Purifying mask for normal skin

To prepare you will need:

• fresh watercress - eight to ten leaves;
• – one teaspoon;
• – five to ten drops.

Grind the greens into a paste and mix with other ingredients. Apply the mixture to your face and keep for ten minutes. At the end of the procedure, wash with warm and then cool water.

Instead of conclusions

Watercress is a piquant herb that is widely used in various areas of human life. It is valued in cooking for its pungent taste and specific aroma. It is used as a spice or seasoning for various dishes. The valuable composition of the vegetable crop has made it indispensable in folk medicine and cosmetology. And his high nutritional value and low were liked in dietetics. The only thing is that you should not get too carried away with eating such a plant, otherwise you may develop digestive problems or allergic reactions.

Garden cress or watercress- Lepidium sativum L. is an annual plant from the cabbage or cruciferous family (Brassicaceae, or Cruciferae), 30 - 60 cm high. The stem is branched in the upper part. The basal leaves are pinnately dissected, with petioles; stem - entire, sessile; all leaves are bluish-green in color. The flowers are small, collected in loose racemes. Each flower has 4 green sepals, 4 white petals up to 3 mm long, 6 stamens, 2 of them shorter than the others, and a pistil with an upper ovary and a short style. The fruits are round-oval winged pods 5 - 6 mm long and about 4 mm wide. The seeds are small, ovoid, dark red in color.
This plant is not found anywhere in the wild. Watercress is a true cultivated plant; even its wild ancestors are unknown. There is evidence that watercress was grown in Western Asia many centuries BC. e. It was cultivated in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. From the first centuries to the present day, watercress has been grown in many countries of Western and Central Europe, Transcaucasia, Central and East Asia. It is also bred in North America. In Russia, watercress has not become noticeably widespread; it is mainly grown by amateurs in gardens and summer cottages. Russian breeders have bred several good varieties watercress.
Watercress is an early ripening, cold-resistant crop. It is sown in early spring. If the weather is favorable, seedlings appear 2-5 days after sowing, and 1-1.5 weeks after emergence, the leaves can already be used. Only young leaves, usually 1-2 weeks old, are collected for food. The optimal temperature for growth is 10 - 15 ° C; successful growth requires a lot of moisture, so watercress responds well to abundant, frequent watering. Prefers slightly shaded areas of the garden. Plants bloom about a month after germination, seeds ripen a month after the start of flowering. To have fresh leaves throughout spring and summer, watercress is usually repeated every 10-12 days. In winter it can be grown in boxes and pots on windows.

Food uses of cress

Used for food fresh watercress leaves. This is an excellent green for salads and side dishes, as well as a spicy seasoning for soups, gravies, meats and fish dishes. Crushed leaves are sprinkled boiled potatoes, scrambled eggs, omelette. The leaves have a tart taste and a characteristic odor reminiscent of the aroma of horseradish, which is why the plant is sometimes called “horseradish” and “horseradish”. The smell is explained by the presence of alyl mustard essential oil in the leaves. In addition, they are rich in salts of iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, contain up to 165 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and up to 3.8 mg of carotene (provitamin A). The seeds contain a lot (up to 50 and even 60%) of fatty oil, which, however, is not used for food, but can be used in soap production.

Medicinal value of cress and methods of medicinal use of cress

Like other spices, watercress leaves increase appetite and improve digestion. A salad made from them is a good antiscorbutic remedy. For the prevention and treatment of vitamin deficiencies and anemia, drink 3 times a day a teaspoon of juice squeezed from above-ground shoots of cress.
Cress juice is used as a diuretic and for cholelithiasis.

It improves digestion and sleep, helps reduce blood pressure. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day with meals.
The leaves also have a diuretic and sedative effect and improve sleep.