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Turnip
Scientific Name: Brassica campestris rapa
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The Turnip (Brassica campestris var. rapa, or Brassica rapa) is botanically a close relative of cabbage (Brassica oleracea), rape (Brassica napus) and rapeseed (Brassica rapa var. oleifera). The latter, for morphological and commercial reasons, is often confused with colza (var. oleifera of Brassica napus). Another variety, sometimes called turnip is the rutabaga, Swedish turnip, Russian turnip or Swede (Brassica campestris, var. napo-brassica). The turnip is a biennial plant with a characteristic edible, tuberous root (or hypo-cotyl) of various shapes in the different cultivars (flattened and disclike or cylindrical). It is believed to have originated in Europe. Together with the cabbage, the turnip has been for a long time the staple food of the peoples of northern and central Europe, and its use declined only after the introduction of the potato. Trying to summarize and simplify the complex and long list of commercial varieties is very difficult. The four main types of turnip and some representative varieties of garden turnip are based on the shape of the root: (1) long types with a root three or more times as long as broad; (2) spindle-shape (tankared) with a root twice as long as broad; (3) round or globe shape; and (4) flat with roots broader than long. One other type, the foliage turnips, corms no swollen root but a cluster of leaves that are cooked as potherbs (greens). Seven-Top and Shogoin are foliage turnips. Popular round turnips are Just Right, Purple-top White Globe and Yellow Globe, Tokyo Cross, and Amber Globe. Flat or flattened globe varieties are Tokyo Market, Early Purple-top Milan, and Flat Milan. The turnip has very little nutritional value: it contains mostly water, 1% protein, traces of fats and 6 - 7% carbohydrates. It is used especially for the preparation of soups, in Irish stew, and as a winter vegetable. [Bianchini, Francesco, Corbetta, Francesco, Pistoia, Marilena, The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables, United States Translation: Crown Publishers, New York, 1976; Originally published in Italy as I Frutti della Terra, Arnoldo Mondadori Publisher, Italy, 1973]