Herbs from Distant Lands: Cryptotaenia japonica

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PLANT PROFILE

Cryptotaenia japonica is a small herbaceous plant from family of Apiaceae also called Umbelliferae family. It is native to shady places and forests of Northeast China, Korea and Japan, and some says that also those of North America. While other recognize the American plants as different species called Cryptotaenia canadensis (there are different opinions, some that both ''species'' are identical, some that they differ slightly but significantly enough to distinct it under separate names, as species, subspecies or varieties, e.g. Cryptotainia canadensis var. japonica ).
C. japonica is nowadays best known worldwide as Mitsuba or Japanese Parsley, as it is common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, used in many ways like common Parsley (that originate from Europe). There are records of Mitsuba cultivation in Japan dated as far back as to seventeenth century, but it is still often harvested from its wild state. It is also very important as both wild and cultivated vegetable in China and Korea. And thanks to it's easy propagation threw seeds, its popularity recently spread from Asia across most of the world. As the seeds quickly become available in most of online shops with rare vegetables and herbs seeds worldwide, and in many countries also Mitsuba plants are nowadays sold in nurseries of edible plants.
But although Mitsuba became quite common view in veggie gardens of greens lovers in many countries across the world. It is rarely known for its medicinal value, except for Japan, China and Korea. Where, despite being mostly used as a vegetable, it is also very popular and highly regarded as a medicinal plant in its true meaning, listed along with the healing herbs. (And this fact actually makes Cryptotaenia also similar to Parsley, which although commonly known around the world as healthy greens, is rarely utilized as an actual herbal medicine. Despite that even ancient Egyptians was using it as a cure for diseases of kidneys and urinary tract, like stones and inflammations.)

Cryptotaenia japonica has quite few common names in English, like Japanese Parsley, Japanese Honewort, Japanese Wild Parsley, Stone Parsley, Japanese Wild Chervil and Mountain Celery. But like I mentioned earlier, its most popular name worldwide nowadays is Mitsuba, which is its Japanese name.
Here are some of its vernacular names from other countries : San Ip, San Ye Qin, Ya Er Jin, Ya Er Quin, Yajiaoban (China), Salderi Djepang (Malaysia), Padudugnamul (Korea), Japanische Petersilie, Kanadische Rispendold, Kanadische Steinpetersilie, Dreiblat (Germany), Persil japonais (France), Perejil Japones (Spain), Skrytnica Japonskaja (Russia), Japaninyrttiputki (Finland), Japońska Pietruszka (Poland).

Besides for sometimes being named as Cryptotaenia canadensis or Cryptotaenia canadensis subsp. japonica or Cryptotainia canadensis var. japonica, it has other (not used nowadays) synonym - Deringa japonica.
In China three forms of this species are recognized : Cryptotaenia japonica f. japonica, Cryptotaenia japonica f. dissecta and Cryptotaenia japonica f. pinnatisecta.
In USA some garden centers are selling Cryptotaenia japonica var. atropurpurea - cultivar with purple leaves, said to grow better under full sun than green one. But its ornamental value might not last long, as there are reports that its maroon spring foliage color fades toward green as the season progresses.

CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING

Cryptotaenia japonica leaves grows straight from the root-base, more upright in shade while more horizontal under strong sun. The leaf three separate blades are usually around 5cm long, and the leaf stem has 10 -15cm. But the flower stalk can reach around 1m in height.
Mitsuba is a short-lived plant, and depend on climate and conditions it grows it can be either annual, biennial or perennial. It can grows a multiple new segments of leaves rosettes from one rootbase, which produce later its own roots. After the flowering, the separate rosette of leaves with flower stalk, dies as soon as the seeds will mature. The other leaves rosettes from that root clump will live until its life cycle will be ended with delivery of seeds too. So in convenient conditions one Cryptotaenia clump can live on for years, if some of its rosettes will not flower before creating new offshoot rosettes. And new Mitsuba plants can be created by clumps division into separate rosettes segments with own roots.
But it also grows so well from the seeds, that in some climates its seedlings might easily overtook lot of your garden space. Becoming even invasive in shady areas with rich, moist compost soil, that it loves. Cryptotaenia flowering occurs mainly during dry season, that's why in some regions it might not flower easily or even at all. The plants therefore can be forced into flowering, by planting them in a pot and put in sunny dry space, gradually giving it less and less water.
Container cultivation of Mitsuba is just as easy as the garden one, whether it is outdoor or indoor. And one of the reasons why I like it so much, is the fact that it grows great in tropics unlike European Parsley. I was trying to grow few Petroselinum Parsley cultivars when I first came to the Philippines, with sad effect. It's leaves was yellowing prematurely from excess of sun and heat, and all the plants get rot after week of strong rainfall of rainy season. In the same time I've noticed that Japanese Parsley can flourish even in strong heat, under strong sun, as long as it have enough water (Its leaves will be smaller and more tough than those of Mitsuba grown in shade, but it is still good). And that C. japonica plants survived whole rainy season even in spots that was waterlogged. All of my Mitsuba plants (that did not flowered) get died only when the drought get severe during dry season. There are different opinions about how hardy Mitsuba really is, some says that it can survive even frosts as strong as -30°C.

Opinion that Cryptotaenia japonica differs from Cryptotaenia canadensis by '' having more inflorescence and floral bracts, and with more flowers in the umbellules (ultimate floral clusters)''. Might be in my view wrongly caused by the observation of the fact, that Cryptotaenia plants in places of shorter vegetation period like in Canada. Will have smaller number of leaves in one segment rosette that raise flower stalk, than those from relatively warmer regions in Japan or China. In the Philippines I've seen C. japonica plants with very branched flower stalks around 1m tall. While those that have sprouted last and had no time to grow strong before dry period, or stayed small due to poor soil that contained more clay than compost, grow small stalk with only few flowers. So this should be verified by growing the plants of both geographic origin next to each other, to make proper observations.

Cryptotaenia japonica is still often harvested from its wild state, from forests and other shady areas, at elevations from 200 to 2400m. But it is more and more widely cultivated by people in their veggie-herb gardens or just in pots, as well as in big scale plantations, including hydroponics cultivation. In Japan, in order to achieve more tender petiole stems, Mitsuba is often cultivated in techniques of blanching, either in dark conditions or under special layer of sand. In commercial growing the main harvest usually begins after 2 months, and whole plants are harvested by uprooting.
In household cultivation Mitsuba leaves can be harvested separately, leaving few leaves on every plant to ensure its further good growth. But it is convenient to keep lots of those Mitsuba plants to harvest it whole by uprooting, if you want to storage it for longer time without wilting. You can keep those uprooted plants later in room temperature, with its roots immersed in water. While the separated leaves are best to be kept in foil bag in fridge.
Unlike Petroselinum Parsley, I've never seen Cryptotaenia japonica to create one main, thick, storage root. Instead it grows few main, relatively thin (less than 1cm) roots from each clump, that can have even more than five separate leaves rosettes, sometimes called crowns. Yet Mitsuba roots are still appreciated as a vegetable.

Cryptotaenia is rather resistant to pest and diseases, but snails and slugs like it. Copper rings around the plants or copper wall borders are good defense, as snails and slugs will never touch the brass. I've read that also application of lime around the plants keep them away, but if the leaves will touch the lime it will turn black.
In greenhouses occasionally white flies and grey mold had also been noted on Mitsuba.

CULINARY USES

Mitsuba is best known in culinary world for being one of the traditional Japanese vegetables. But apart from being one of the most important greens in Japanese cuisine, it is also commonly used and highly regarded in many parts of China, Korea and Taiwan. As its English name Japanese Parsley indicate, its leaves posses aroma similar to that of a Parsley leaves, but also resemblance to Celery, and I would even say that it has some note of a Lovage (all of those plants belongs to the same plants family).
Cryptotaenia leaves with stems are mainly used fresh, chopped, shredded or putted whole on top of sandwiches, salads, soups, etc. But just like Parsley it can be also dried, crushed and used to sprinkle food like other dried herbs, although it is then less aromatic than when fresh. And aroma is what Mitsuba is so appreciated for in Japanese, Chinese and Korean cuisine.
Japanese people believe that Mitsuba's aroma stimulate appetite. They add it's leaves with stems as a topping in miso soup, Japanese-style steamed eggs, and other foods since ancient times. It is often considered to be more of a potherb than a vegetable, as it is used in rather moderate amounts, like a garnish and flavoring. But some people also eat it fresh or blanched as a vegetable side dish, or cook it in soups, stews or stir-fries. When cooked, the leaves should be added near the end, as longer cooking destroys all its aroma and flavor. Whole leaves are also used for tempura and a variety of fried foods like spring rolls. The leaf stems or young flower stems can be also candied in sugar. In Japan Mitsuba stems are often valued more than leaf blades itself. And you can often buy there on vegetable markets bundles of Cryptotaenia leaves with abnormally long petioles (30cm), which is effect of special deliberate technique of growing, and called Itomitsuba.
Kirimitsuba and Nemitsuba are kinds of Mitsubas grown in eastern Japan under blanching conditions protected from sunlight. The first one is grown in blanching room and the petioles are eaten without the roots. In the second technique, plants are cultivated with sand, and the petioles are eaten with the roots.
Cryptotaenia roots are mainly cooked or fried, but it can be eaten raw too. The seeds are used as a spice for cookies, biscuits, cakes and breads or food dishes. Mitsuba seedlings are used as sprouts, added to soups, sandwiches, salads or other foods.

Persons that have allergy to Parsley, Celery, Celeriac, Lovage, Parsnip, Angelica or any other plant from Apiaceae family should be very cautious when trying Mitsuba, or in strong cases avoid its consumption at all. There are some reports of dermatitis from repeated contact with it and toxicity from eating large quantities of the plant.
Cryptotaenia canadensis considered by many people to be seperate species than Cryptotaenia japonica is said to have nearly identical flavor.

MEDICINAL USES

Cryptotaenia japonica has long traditions of medicinal uses in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Its chemical constituents, and pharmacological actions has been tested in those countries for few decades, with significant increase in number of the researches in last decade. But the data is still limited, and outside of the region this plant is very rarely known as medicinal herb, despite its growing popularity worldwide as a vegetable.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine and Japanese Kampo, the whole Mitsuba plant, especially aerial parts, are used as a tonic to strengthen the body and remove toxins, eliminate inflammation, quicken blood, disperse swelling and help remove phlegm.
It is consumed to treat: weakness, mounting qi, urinary problems, strangury, colds, cough, pneumonia, fevers, diarrhoea, inflammations, meningitis, rheumatism, haemorrhages, painful menstruation, wind-fire toothache, herpes zoster, itchy skin and traumatic injury. It is also used as a female aphrodisiac.

Cryptotaenia japonica leaves and stems has been proved in scientific tests to act as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. It has been highly reputed in folkloric medicine as a diuretic, hypotensive, hypocholesterolemic, and antiobesity agent.
Mitsuba seeds aqueus extract has shown in vitro powerful ferrous chelating and DPPH scavenging effects, and the seeds essential oil to be a prominent hypolipidemic agent.

Cryptotaenia japonica is one of the ingredients in TCM formula for topical treatment of breast cancer. K7G and tilianin extracted from C. japonica showed good inhibition of melanin production in a dose-dependent manner with no cytotoxity, in B16 melanoma murine tumor cell line.

Aerial parts of Mitsuba contain vitamins A, B1, B2, B9 and C, carotenoids, big ammounts of iron, around 2% protein, over 4% carbohydrate, and about 0.23% fat. It is a good source of flavonoids (luteolin, apigenin and p-coumaric acid are its main compounds). It also contain : cryptotaenen, kiganen, kiganol, petroselic acid, vanillic acid, chlorogenic acid, pentadecanoic acid, isomesityl oxide, mesityl oxide, methyl isobutyl ketone, genistein, tilianin, phytol and beta-sitosterol.
The essential oil of the Mitsuba has been found to be dominated by several seskuiterpene constituents, including cuparene, alpha- and beta-selineine, germacrene D, trans-farnesene, beta-elemene and eremophilene, it also contain monoterpenes like beta-myrcene, beta-pinene, a-pinene, camphene, p-pinene, sabinene, myrcene and limonene.

The seeds contains about 22% of oil, huge amount of soluble dietary fibers (SDF), abundant amount of soluble arabinogalactan, polyphenolics, flavonoids and terpenes (germacrene, selinene, farnesene, elemene).

Herbs from Distant Lands

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Cryptotaenia japonica - Mitsuba, Japanese Parsley