Microsoft Word Asian vegetables Progress in New Crops 1996. doc
ASIAN COOL-SEASON LEAFY VEGETABLES
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| ASIAN COOL-SEASON LEAFY VEGETABLES
Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Sprengel, syn. A. odorum). Chinese chives have a long history of cultivation for culinary and medicinal use. Three horticultural products are derived from Allium tuberosum: the green ( Fig. 6
) and blanched leaves and the closed flower buds. In addition, the bulbs may be harvested and used like garlic. The common name Chinese chives is most often used for A. tuberosum, but it is also called oriental garlic, Chinese leek, garlic chives, or flowering leek. All parts of the plant have a mild garlic flavor, and like common chives, Chinese chives are mainly used as a fresh culinary herb (Larkcom 1991). Chinese chives is a perennial plant 30 to 45 cm in height that grows in a clump of 4 to 10 bulbs, each producing 4 to 5 thin flat leaves. Chinese chives is a cool season vegetable which flowers in the hot summer months. The plants live for many years, developing large spreading rhizomes. Chinese chives are usually divided into leafy and flowering types, although most current cultivars are dual purpose. They tolerate a wide range of climates and soils. As a commercial crop they are grown in beds as a semi-permanent crop for 4 to 5 years, and are intercropped with quick growing leafy greens. Limited harvesting is done during the first year's growth so that reserves build up in the roots. Blanching, or growing the chives in the dark produces a higher value product with soft, yellow leaves and a more subtle garlic flavor. Typically, a green chive production cycle is alternated with a blanched chive production cycle under favorable growing conditions. Under slower growing conditions, only one or two cuttings of blanched chives per year will be taken as it weakens the plant. After harvesting green leaves, resprouting plants are covered with clay pots, or commercially, with plastic films, straw mulches or earth. Green chives are be stored at least two weeks at low temperatures (Zong and Cantwell unpubl.). Blanched chinese chives are higher respiring and more perishable than the green leaves, and shelf-life is <5 days. Both green and blanched chives are packed in waxed boxes containing 5 to 10 kilos of product. They may be vacuum-cooled, air-cooled or ice-cooled. A paper liner used inside the boxes may result in heat build up, expecially if the product has not been precooled and the box has little venting. Flower buds are bunched and banded and shipped vertically in single layer trays or packed horizontally in boxes used for the leaves.
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