Barbarea Explained

Barbarea (winter cress or yellow rocket) is a genus of about 22 species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in southern Europe and southwest Asia. They are small, herbaceous, biennial or perennial plants with dark green, deeply lobed leaves and yellow flowers with four petals.

Selected species

• Barbarea australis
• Barbarea balcana
• Barbarea bosniaca
• Barbarea bracteosa
• Barbarea conferta
• Barbarea hongii
• Barbarea intermedia
• Barbarea lepuznica
• Barbarea longirostris
• Barbarea orthoceras
• Barbarea rupicola
• Barbarea sicula
• Barbarea stricta
• Barbarea taiwaniana
• Barbarea verna
• Barbarea vulgaris

Uses

They grow into rosettes of edible cress foliage that resemble dandelion leaves. Barbarea verna, known as upland cress, early winter cress, American cress, Belle Isle cress and scurvy grass, is used to add a spicy taste to salads and mixed leaf greens for cooking.^[1]

Chemical compounds

Winter cress contains different glucosinolates, flavonoids, and saponins.^{[2] [3] [4]}

See also

• Rocket (arugula)

External links

• Flora Europaea: Barbarea
• Flora of China: Barbarea

Notes and References

1. Book: Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Stackpole Books. 1974. 0-8117-0616-8. Harrisburg, PA. 250. 799792. Bradford Angier.
2. Vera Kuzina . Jens Kvist Nielsen . Jörg Manfred Augustin . Anna Maria Torp . Søren Bak . Sven Bode Andersen . 2011 . Barbarea vulgaris linkage map and quantitative trait loci for saponins, glucosinolates, hairiness and resistance to the herbivore Phyllotreta nemorum . . 72 . 2–3 . 188–198 . 10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.11.007 . 21130479. 2011PChem..72..188K .
3. Lea Dalby-Brown . Carl Erik Olsen . Jens Kvist Nielsen . Niels Agerbirk . 2011 . Polymorphism for novel tetraglycosylated flavonols in an eco-model crucifer, Barbarea vulgaris . . 59 . 13 . 6947–6956 . 10.1021/jf200412c . 21615154.
4. Niels Agerbirk . Carl Erik Olsen . amp . 2011 . Isoferuloyl derivatives of five seed glucosinolates in the crucifer genus Barbarea . . 72 . 7 . 610–623 . 10.1016/j.phytochem.2011.01.034 . 21354584. 2011PChem..72..610A .