The Nutritional Value and History of Celery Leaf

Nutrition

Celery, raw (Apium graveolens)

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy                     67 kJ (16 kcal)
Carbohydrates                2.97 g (including fibre)
Starch                    0.00 g
Sugars                     1.34 g
lactose                    0.00 g
Dietary fiber                1.6 g
Fat                    0.17 g
Saturated                0.042 g
Trans                    0.000 g
Monounsaturated                0.032 g
Polyunsaturated                0.079 g
Protein                    0.69 g

Vitamins

Vitamin A equiv.            (3%) 22 µg
Thiamine (B1)                (2%) 0.021 mg
Riboflavin (B2)                (5%) 0.057 mg
Niacin (B3)                (2%) 0.320 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)            (5%) 0.246 mg
Vitamin B6                (6%) 0.074 mg
Folate (B9)                (9%) 36 µg
Vitamin B12                (0%) 0.00 µg
Choline                    (1%) 6.1 mg
Vitamin C                (4%) 3.1 mg
Vitamin D                (0%) 0 IU
Vitamin E                (2%) 0.27 mg
Vitamin K                (28%) 29.3 µg

Minerals

Calcium                    (4%) 40 mg
Copper                    (2%) 0.035 mg
Iron                    (2%) 0.20 mg
Magnesium                (3%) 11 mg
Phosphorus                (3%) 24 mg
Potassium                (6%) 260 mg
Sodium                    (5%) 80 mg
Zinc                    (1%) 0.13 mg

Other Constituents

Water                    95.43 g
Alcohol (ethanol)            0.0 g
Caffeine                0 mg
Cholesterol                0 mg

Units

 
µg = micrograms
mg = milligrams
IU = International units

Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Celery is used in weight-loss diets, where it provides low-calorie dietary fibre bulk. Celery is often incorrectly thought to be a "negative-calorie food", the digestion of which burns more calories than the body can obtain. In fact, eating celery provides positive net calories, with digestion consuming only a small proportion of the calories taken in.

Allergie

Celery is among a small group of foods (headed by peanuts) that appear to provoke the most severe allergic reactions; for people with celery allergy, exposure can cause potentially fatal anaphylactic shock. The allergen does not appear to be destroyed at cooking temperatures. Celery root—commonly eaten as celeriac, or put into drinks—is known to contain more allergen than the stalk. Seeds contain the highest levels of allergen content. Exercise-induced anaphylaxis may be exacerbated. An allergic reaction also may be triggered by eating foods that have been processed with machines that have previously processed celery, making avoiding such foods difficult. In contrast with peanut allergy being most prevalent in the US, celery allergy is most prevalent in Central Europe. In the European Union, foods that contain or may contain celery, even in trace amounts, must be clearly marked as such.

Chemistry   

Polyynes can be found in Apiaceae vegetables like celery, and their extracts show cytotoxic activities. Celery contains phenolic acid, which is an antioxidant.

Apiin and apigenin can be extracted from celery and parsley. Lunularin is a dihydrostilbenoid found in common celery.

The main chemicals respo

nsible for the aroma and taste of celery are butylphthalide and sedanolide.

History   

Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf note that celery leaves and inflorescences were part of the garlands found in the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun (died 1323 BC), and celery mericarps dated to the seventh century BC were recovered in the Heraion of Samos. However, they note "since A. graveolens grows wild in these areas, it is hard to decide whether these remains represent wild or cultivated forms." Only by classical times is it certain that celery was cultivated.

M. Fragiska mentions an archeological find of celery dating to the 9th century BC, at Kastanas; however, the literary evidence for ancient Greece is far more abundant. In Homer's Iliad, the horses of the Myrmidons graze on wild celery that grows in the marshes of Troy, and in Odyssey, there is mention of the meadows of violet and wild celery surrounding the cave of Calypso.

In the Capitulary of Charlemagne, compiled ca. 800, apium appears, as does olisatum, or alexanders, among medicinal herbs and vegetables the Frankish emperor desired to see grown. At some later point in medieval Europe celery displaced alexanders.

Celery's late arrival in the English kitchen is an end-product of the long tradition of seed selection needed to reduce the sap's bitterness and increase its sugars. By 1699, John Evelyn could recommend it in his Acetaria. A Discourse of Sallets: "Sellery, apium Italicum, (and of the Petroseline Family) was formerly a stranger with us (nor very long since in Italy) is an hot and more generous sort of Macedonian Persley or Smallage...and for its high and grateful Taste is ever plac'd in the middle of the Grand Sallet, at our Great Men's tables, and Praetors feasts, as the Grace of the whole Board".

Celery makes a minor appearance in colonial American gardens; its culinary limitations are reflected in the observation by the author of A Treatise on Gardening, by a Citizen of Virginia that it is "one of the species of parsley." Its first extended treatment in print was in Bernard M'Mahon's American Gardener's Calendar (1806). After the mid-19th century, continued selections for refined crisp texture and taste brought celery to American tables, where it was served in celery vases to be salted and eaten raw.

To be continue in our next post.......