1992) due to increased ethnic diversity in the population, increased emphasis on healthy foods,
County Agricultural Commissioners in California, seven counties (Fresno, Monterey, Riverside,
production category. In these counties, Asian vegetable production accounted for 1.0% to 5.0%
of the farm-gate value of all fresh market vegetables.
In a previous review of Asian vegetables, Yamaguchi (1990) considered several vegetables
including water bamboo (Zizania latifolia), lotus root (Nelumbo nucifera), water spinach
(Ipomoea aquatica), yard-long beans (Vigna sesquipedalis), mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica),
and winter radishes (Raphanus sativuus). Our intention here is to review the production and
marketing of several other specialty Asian vegetables. In this paper we focus on examples from
the extensive groupings of warm-season fruit vegetables from the Cucurbitaceae (Yang and
Walters 1992; Ng 1993), including bitter melon (Momordica charantia), fuzzy melon
(Benincasa hispida), angled luffa (Luffa acutangula), as well as several cool-season leafy
vegetables including Chinese broccoli or gai-lan (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra), Chinese
flowering cabbages or choy sums (Brassica campestris var. parachinensis), and the leaves and
flower buds of Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum). The cucurbits that are included are
considered more heat tolerant than other more commonly grown members such as cucumbers
and summer squashes. The cool season vegetables included are much appreciated for their
quality (Willoughby 1995), but are not yet widely grown in the U.S. An additional emphasis in
this paper will be on the postharvest handling characteristics of these vegetables.
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