Vegetable is an
edible plant or plant part other than its sweet fruit or seed. It can be a
plant as a whole or stem, leaf, flower or fruit. The common vegetables include potato,
cucumber, brinjal, tomato, drumstick etc. Vegetables are widely used for making
a variety of recipes and the most popular vegetable recipe include salads,
soups, sauce, sweets etc. Carrot,
pumpkin, gour etc are used for making cake while rhubarb like vegetables ate
used for making sweet pie. Certain vegetables can be consumed raw while other
can be in cooked form. Vegetables
contain lot of vitamins and minerals besides containing protein, fats, fibers
and carbohydrates. Phytochemicals that are contained in vegetables provide
antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral and anticarcinogenic
properties to the vegetables. Hence consuming vegetables daily helps to remain
healthy. Based on the parts which are edible vegetables are classified in to
·
Flower bud vegetables which
include broccoli, globe artichoke, cauliflower etc
·
Seed vegetables that cocnsist
of peas, sweet corn, popcorn, beans etc
·
Leaf vegetables include
amaranthus, kale, cabbage, collar greens, lettuce, spinach, turnip, water crest,
garlic chives etc
·
Leaf sheath vegetables include
leeks
·
Bud vegetables consist of
capers, Brussels sprout
·
Stem vegetables include
kohlrabi
·
Stem shoot vegetables include
bamboo shoots, asparagus, gin vegetales ger etc
·
Tubers consist of sweet
potatoes, potato, artichokes, yams, taro etc
·
Whole-plant sprouts include
mung beans, soybean, alfalfa, urad etc
·
Root vegatbles include
parsnips, carrots, beets, radishes, budrocks, turnip etc
·
Bulb vegetables include onions,
garlic, shallots etc
·
Fruit vegetables include
cucumbers. Tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers, egg plant, ladies finger, squashs, ash
gourd etc
Vegetables are
highly perishable due to its higher water content and most of the vegetable
farmers process their vegetables to store them for long and to get good price
for their products. Processed products like sauce, ketchep, puree, chutney,
chips, juice, soup etc fetch good price for the farmers and provide good shelf
live for the products. Vegetables are
also preserved by freezing and for freezing blanch the vegetables first and
there are different methods of blanching which include water blanching, steam
blanching and microwave blanching.
Thereafter cool the vegetables quickly and then freeze by keeping in
containers. Vegetables can also can to
preserve them for future usage. Processed form of vegetables such as puree,
chips, sauce etc can be used readily. Some
vegetables are dehydrated such dehydrated inion, dehydrated garlic, cabbages,
ginger, cucumber, spinach, potato, green chillies etc which can be stored for
long. In order to process the vegetables
wash them thoroughly to remove the dust and pesticide residues and then process
them accordingly. The value of canned, frozen and dried vegetables is
increasing year after year just of their availability throughout the year and
taste. Vegetable pickles are another important category of processed vegetable
and is very popular in the market.
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