Lettuce
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2008-07-15T21:00:55Z
AzaToth
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/* Cultivation */ no need to point out US specific data
:''This article is about the plant. For the Tokyo Mew Mew character, see [[Lettuce Midorikawa]].''
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{{Taxobox
| name = Lettuce
| image = Iceberg lettuce in SB.jpg
| image_width = 260 px
| image_caption = Iceberg lettuce field in Northern [[Santa Barbara County]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asterales]]
| familia = [[Asteraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Lactuca]]''
| species = '''''L. sativa'''''
| binomial = ''Lactuca sativa''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
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[[Image:2005lettuce and chicory.PNG|thumb|Lettuce and [[chicory]] output in 2005]]
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{{nutritionalvalue | name=Lettuce (butterhead) | water=96 g | kJ=55 | protein=1.4 g | fat=0.2 g | carbs=2.2 g | fibre=1.1 g | iron_mg=1.2 | vitC_mg=4 | vitA_ug=166 | folate_ug=73 |vitK_ug=24| right=1 | source_usda=1 |note=Vit. K<ref>{{cite journal
| author =Molly Damon, Nancy Z. Zhang, David B. Haytowitz, Sarah L. Booth
| title =Phylloquinone (vitamin K<sub>1</sub>) content of vegetables
| journal =Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
| volume =18
| pages =751–758
| publisher =Elsevier
| date =2005
| doi =10.1016/j.jfca.2004.07.004}}</ref>}}
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The '''Lettuce''' (''Lactuca sativa'') is a [[temperate]] [[annual plant|annual]] or [[biennial plant]] of the daisy family [[Asteraceae]]. It is most often grown as a [[leaf vegetable]]. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold and raw, in [[salad]]s, [[hamburger]]s, [[taco]]s, and many other dishes. In some places, including [[China]], lettuce is typically eaten cooked and use of the stem is as important as use of the leaf. Both the English name and the [[Latin]] name of the genus are ultimately derived from ''lac'', the Latin word for “[[milk]]”,<ref>{{cite book | last = Simpson | first = D.P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | date = 1979 | edition = 5 | location = London | pages = 883 | id = ISBN 0-304-52257-0}}</ref> referring to the plant’s milky juice. Mild in flavour, it has been described over the centuries as a cooling counterbalance to other ingredients in a salad.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grigson |first=Jane |authorlink=Jane Grigson |title=The Vegetable Book |year=1978 |pages= p. 312-14|publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=0-14-046-352-6}}</ref>
==Description==
The lettuce plant has a short stem initially (a [[Rosette (botany)|rosette]] growth habit), but when it blooms the stem lengthens and branches, and it produces many flower heads that look like those of [[dandelion]]s, but smaller. This is called [[wiktionary:bolt#Verb|bolting]]. When grown to eat, lettuce is harvested before it bolts. Lettuce is used as a food plant by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]]. The largest lettuce head, of the Salad Bowl cultivar, weighed 11 [[Kilogram|kg]] (25 [[Pound (mass)|lb]]) grown by Colin Bowcock of [[Willaston]], [[England]], in [[1974]].
==Cultivation==
Lettuce is grown commercially worldwide.
===History===
The lettuce that we see today actually started out as a weed around the Mediterranean basin. Served in dishes for more than 4500 years, lettuce has certainly made its mark in history- as seen from tomb paintings in Egypt to the depiction of many different varieties in ancient Greek relics. Christopher Columbus introduced lettuce to the new world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foodreference.com/html/artlettuce.html|title=Lettuce:Food Facts & Trivia|accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref>
=== Cultivars ===
There are six commonly recognised [[Cultivar Group]]s of lettuce which are ordered here by head formation and leaf structure; there are hundreds of [[cultivar]]s of lettuce selected for leaf shape and colour, as well as extended field and shelf life, within each of these Cultivar Groups:
*'''Butterhead''', also called '''Boston''' or '''Bibb''', forms loose heads; it has a buttery [[Texture (food)|texture]]. Butterhead cultivars are most popular in Europe.
*'''Chinese lettuce''' types generally have long, sword-shaped, non-head-forming leaves, with a bitter and robust flavour unlike Western types, appropriate for use in [[stir frying|stir-fried]] dishes and [[stew]]s. Chinese lettuce cultivars are divided into “stem-use” types (called [[celtuce]] in English), and “leaf-use” types such as ''youmaicai'' ({{zh-cp|c=油麦菜|p=yóumàicài}}) or ''shengcai'' (生菜).
*'''Crisphead''', also called '''Iceberg''', which form tight, dense heads that resemble [[cabbage]]. They are generally the mildest of the lettuces, valued more for their crunchy [[Texture (food)|texture]] than for flavour. Cultivars of iceberg lettuce are the most familiar lettuces in the [[USA]]. The name Iceberg comes from the way the lettuce was transported in the US starting in the 1920s on train-wagons covered in crushed ice, making them look like icebergs.
*'''Looseleaf''', with tender, delicate, and mildly flavoured leaves. This group comprises oak leaf and lollo rosso lettuces.
*'''[[Romaine lettuce|Romaine]]''', also called '''Cos''', is a head-forming type with elongated leaves.
*'''Summer Crisp''', also called '''Batavian''', which form moderately dense heads with a crunchy texture; this type is intermediate between iceberg and looseleaf types.
Some lettuces (especially iceberg) have been specifically bred to remove the bitterness from their leaves. These lettuces have a high water content with very little nutrient value. {{Fact|date=January 2008}} The more bitter lettuces and the ones with pigmented leaves contain [[antioxidant]]s. {{Fact|date=January 2008}}
<gallery>
Image:Lettuce Cultivars by David Shankbone.JPG|Some lettuce cultivars
Image:Romaine.jpg|A [[Romaine lettuce]]
Image:Lactuca compounds.svg|Chemical compunds which occur in lettuce:<br>1: α-Lactucerol (=Taraxasterol); 2: β-Lactucerol (=Lactucon, Lactucerin); 3: Lactucin; 4: Lactucopicrin.
Image:Lettuces.JPG|More lettuce cultivars
</gallery>
== Breeding ==
''L. sativa'' can easily be bred with closely related species in ''[[Lactuca]]'' such as ''[[Lactuca serriola|L. serriola]]'', ''[[Lactuca saligna|L. saligna]]'', and ''[[Lactuca virosa|L. virosa]]'', and breeding programs for cultivated lettuce have included those species to broaden the available [[gene pool]]. Starting in the 1990s, breeding programs began to include more distantly related species such as ''[[Lactuca tatarica|L. tatarica]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/85/11/1517 | title = Phylogenetic relationships among Lactuca (Asteraceae) species and related genera based on ITS-1 DNA sequences | author = Wim J. M. Koopman, Eli Guetta, Clemens C. M. van de Wiel, Ben Vosman and Ronald G. van den Berg | journal = American Journal of Botany | year = 1998 | volume = 85 | pages = 1517–1530}}</ref>
==Nutrition==
Lettuce is a fat free, low [[calorie]] food. It is a valuable source of [[vitamin A]] and [[folic acid]]. [[Lactucarium]] (or “Lettuce Opium”) is a mild [[opiate]]-like substance that is contained in all types of lettuce. Both the Romans and Egyptians took advantage of this property eating lettuce at the end of a meal to induce sleep.<ref>
[http://www.selfsufficientish.com/lettuce.htm "Lettuce - ''Lactuca sativa'' - Daisy family"]. Hamilton, Dave (2005).</ref>
==Religious restrictions==
The [[Yazidi]] consider eating lettuce [[Taboo food and drink|taboo]].
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{Wikibooks|Gardening/Lettuce}}
* [http://vric.ucdavis.edu/selectnewcrop.lettuce.htm "Iceberg and Leaf Lettuce"], University of California
[[Category:Asteraceae]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
[[ar:خس]]
[[bar:Salot]]
[[ca:Enciam]]
[[cs:Locika setá]]
[[cy:Letysen]]
[[de:Gartensalat]]
[[el:Μαρούλι]]
[[es:Lactuca sativa]]
[[eo:Kultiva laktuko]]
[[eu:Uraza]]
[[fr:Laitue cultivée]]
[[ko:상추]]
[[it:Lactuca sativa]]
[[he:חסת התרבות]]
[[mk:Зелена салата]]
[[ms:Salad]]
[[ja:レタス]]
[[pl:Sałata siewna]]
[[pt:Alface]]
[[ru:Салат (растение)]]
[[simple:Lettuce]]
[[sr:Зелена салата]]
[[fi:Lehtisalaatti]]
[[sv:Sallat]]
[[to:lētisilau]]
[[tr:Marul]]
[[zh:生菜]]