Radish

Radish is one of the nutritious root vegetables featured in both raw salads as well as in main recipes. This widely used root vegetable belongs to the family of Brassica. In Chinese culture, radish along with cabbage and soybean curd (tofu) believed as healthy and sustenance food items. A popular Chinese proverb goes like this, “eating pungent radish and drinking hot tea, let the starved doctors beg on their knees.” The vegetable is thought to have originated in the mainland China centuries ago, and today, it is one of the widely cultivated crops throughout the world. Botanical name: Raphanus sativus. Radishes can come in different forms; widely varying in size, color, and crop duration. They broadly categorized into four main types depending upon the harvest season; summer, fall, winter, and spring. Growers classify them by their shapes, colors, and sizes, such as black or white with round or elongated roots. The sharp, pungent flavor of radish comes from “isothiocyanate” compound in them, varying from mild in the case of white-icicles to very hot in the red globe and other pigmented varieties. Tender top greens of radish are also eaten as leafy greens in some parts of the world.