Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) occurs as flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to central & southwestern Asia. These are an annual plant (rarely biennial) growing to 1 m tall. A leaves are alternate, elementary, ovoid to triangular-depending, super variable inside size from either astir Three-30 cm hanker & One-15 cm broad, by owning big leaves at a base of the plant & little leaves higher on the flowering stem. A flowers are invisible, yellow-green, Three-Four millimeter across, maturing into the little tough dry lumpy fruit cluster 5-10 millimetre through containing many seeds.

Cultivation and uses
Spinach is an significant leaf vegetable, now grown throughout a moderate regions of the globe. These are virtually all productive around cool seasons & climates, since heat might reason a spinach to attend seed as well early. Whilst cooked its volume is decreased by ternion fourths.

History
Spinach was number 1 cultivated within southwestern Asia, perhaps within Persia; the word itself derives from either Persian اسفناج Esfenaj. It was introduced to Europe by the Arabs in the late Middle Ages, and it shortly became the popular leafy vegetable.

Growing spinach
Spinach is among a virtually all popular garden vegetables for, among other reasons, its tolerance of cold temperatures. These are super easily to cultivate & is ordinarily began (varying from either climate) within the area of in late wintertime or even early spring. These are the super productive vegetable however is short lived & bolts quickly to flower and seed when a weather condition gets heater. Several assume page-grown spinach superior to commercial spinach inside flavor & quality. Spinach is utilized as a food plant by occasionally Lepidoptera species including Heart and Club.

Nutrition
Inside popular folklore, spinach is supposed to exist as rich inside iron; in reality it hwhen all about a equivalent iron content as any more green vegetable. A cast-iron content experienced been determined by Dr. E. von Wolf in 1870, but a misplaced decimal point in his publication led to a figure ten times too high. Inside 1937, German chemists reinvestigated this "miracle vegetable" and chastised a mistake. It was described by T.J. Hamblin in British Medical Journal, December 1981.

But, spinach occurs as rich source of Vitamin A, Vitamin E and several vital antioxidants. On the veto side, spinach is likewise high within oxalates, which can contribute to gout. Recently, opioid peptides called rubiscolins have also been detected around spinach.

Spinach is source of folic acid, and this vitamin was number one purified from either spinach.

Storage
Spinach loses great deal of its nutritionary value sustaining storage of to a higher degree two or three years. When refrigeration slows this outcome to astir eight years, spinach may lose virtually all of its pteroylmonoglutamic acid & carotenoid content. This is worth shopping for whilst purchasing spinach away from year. In case a product has been "in transit" (picked, filtered, shipped & shelved) for even supplementary than 1 or 2 years it might require to become utilized nearly immediately to stand great deal nutritionary profit. This is inside spite of the taste & appearance of the plant which could however seem ticket.

Recently spinach should become filtered thoroughly and so may be stored loosely within an unsealed bag in the crisper tray of the icebox for two or three years. Possibly at 4°C, spinach loses great deal of its nutritionary value by eight years then for even yearn storage it should become recently frozen, cooked & frozen or canned. Storage in the deep-freeze may be for as much as eight months.

Trivia
Spinach is what gives cartoon character Popeye his superhuman strength. Inside 2005, the poll of 2,000 humans revealed spinach to exist as Britain's 8th favourite culinary vegetable.

Other species called spinach
the title spinach has been applied to a total of leaf vegetables, each related & unrelated to spinach: ;Related species Chard (Beta vulgaris, Amaranthaceae), also referred to as spinach beet or even perpetual spinach. Orache (Atriplex species, Amaranthaceae), as well known as "mountain spinach" or even "French spinach". Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus, Amaranthaceae) and more Chenopodium species, also known as "Lincolnshire spinach". ;Unrelated species New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia, Aizoaceae). Water spinach (Convolvulaceae). Malabar spinach (Basellaceae). A greens of various nightshade, legume and cucurbit species are as well referred to as spinach, untamed spinach, African spinach or even morogo (within Southern Africa).