Chives, is a plant belonging to the onion family without bulb. Native to Asia, it is cultivated practically every month of the year in temperate and subtropical zones. Its greatest use is for the creation of salads, giving a touch of flavor very tasty. Its scientific name is Allium schoenoprasum.
The plant where the chives are born is in continuous flowering, producing white and pink flowers, which in turn produce a multitude of seeds similar to the onion but smaller size. This plant has essences that have the characteristic of a spicy flavor, more than the common onion, hence the peculiar circumstance of tearing eyes when cutting scallions. These particles are volatile and dilute very quickly in water creating sulfuric acid. This is caused in the eye and it cries from the stinging.
Its leaves are highly prized in the gourmet world of haute cuisine, as its fine and spiky green leaves have a delicate flavor that completes the dishes in an exquisite way. Its consumption is advisable to be freshly cut fresh product.
Characteristics of Chives
The Chives, it doesn’t matter the denomination, within the gastronomic scope is a kind of onion without bulb with many characteristics that enhances the flavor of soups, creams and salads of chives and widely used in many recipes.
The characteristics of Chives for health improvements are multiple: Calms joint pains, facilitates the digestive process, alkalinizes blood flow, mixed with oil helps improve hoarseness and clarifies the voice. It must be taken into account that it belongs to the onion family and its properties are not inferior to its main matrix.
Health benefits of Chives
Chives is a plant that must be taken into account as a natural cure or preventive remedy for diseases, since its health benefits are very noticeable. Helps protect against prostate, esophageal or stomach cancer. Chives have also been shown to improve the quality of sleep and the learning and memory process. It is a good fighter against a process of depression and its characteristic helps to absorb fat from the structure of our cells.
Thanks to the components of chives, the inclusion of this plant in the diet helps to improve the hardening of the veins, which leads to an improvement in blood pressure. It also prevents the creation of clots in the blood, thus avoiding the risk of heart attacks or heart related diseases.
Why is it good to eat chives?
Chives contain a high amount of vitamin A, B and C if the plant is fresh. It also provides lipid and protein vitamin intake to the body. Its consumption is interesting because of its high content in fiber, carbohydrates, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, ethereal oil and sulfur, all very healthy components for the human body and the diet of an adult person.
It is recommended a fresh use of the leaves of chives to take advantage of all its nutrients in the cooking of recipes, or to use raw in sandwiches or salads.
It is highly advisable to use this plant in the kitchen given its wide spectrum of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The use of chives in our diet brings us benefits against the following diseases.
An important specification before reading the following paragraphs is that we should not be mistaken in the use of chives, the ingestion of this plant does not cure cancer, its culinary characteristics if it helps to prevent it.
In the case of prostate cancer, several studies have confirmed that there is a correlation between chives and prostate, esophageal and stomach cancer. These studies determined that intake of chives prevents the development of this disease.
Another of the health benefits of the consumption of chives is the improvement of sleep and mood.
Uses of Chives
Chives leaves can be used for different processing. It is usually used for the preparation of condiments, as it imposes a very personalized flavor, somewhat spicy but tasty. It brings its delicate touch to a wide variety of dishes, sandwiches, sauces, salads and soups. Use should be made with fresh and freshly cut onion plants, although they can be dehydrated or cooked for eating.
Outside the gastronomic field Chives or Chives are also an anti-bacterial agent and are used as fungicides and disinfectants.
How to sow the Chives
The Chives is a plant resistant to the cold which favours its sowing outside the areas of the species such as the tropics and subtropical zones. However, it is essential to use fertile soil.
Due to the hardness of this plant, chives can be grown at sea level up to 2500 meters high and must be planted every four weeks during spring and summer. The seed placement in the crop must be placed at a depth of one centimetre and the rows must be more than 20 centimetres apart.
Depending on the season in which the chives are sown, the time of ripening and formation is different. During the spring and summer it usually ripens in 8 weeks, however, if we talk about winter the process can last up to 30 weeks. If the choice of crop is in summer, you should take into account the varieties of chives, not all of them can withstand high temperatures.
Sowing Chives quite simple. It can be done with the seed or also with the roots of the bulbs of the plant. When the plant has sprouted, the grower must ensure that there is a distance between chives and chives of at least 2.5 cm in order to maintain an appropriate culture structure that favours the growth of chives.
As far as irrigation is concerned, the scallion must have water when it is dry and remove weeds from its surroundings with regularity. It is also advisable to plant parsley among chives to keep away the fly that destroys the crop. In addition, this crop can be damaged by fungi or larval pests that grow on the roots of the plant. For this, the crop must be treated with appropriate insecticides.
If the plant has been planted in a container and is too small when it has grown, the complete piece can be transported to a larger pot or by dividing the plant into two parts with a knife.
Names of Chives
Chives are a plant spread all over the world thanks to its versatility in its cultivation and the benefits it brings to the health and diet of every area of the planet. This plant is named after them. Here are some of them.
- In English: Chives
- In Catalan: Cebollí
- In Italian: Scalogno
- In German: Scallion
- In Portuguese: Cebolinha
- In French: Ciboule
Other fruits and vegetables that may interest you
There are many fruits and vegetables that have multitude and health benefits. Some of them are the most popular in the world, given their exploitation worldwide, but there are many others that can provide you with all the vitamins you want. Here is a brief list of recommended fruits and vegetables that establishes some relationship with chives by sharing certain benefits:
In the diversity of products is the richness of the diet. It is necessary to know more fruits and vegetables to incorporate it into daily meals and recipes in order to take the vitamins necessary for health without an imbalance in the diet.