Jerusalem Artichoke/Sunchoke
More Information
Jerusalem artichoke is a bumpy, fleshy root vegetable of the sunflower family of plants.
Most commonly known as sunchoke, this perennial plant bears numerous starchy edible rhizomes firmly attached to the stem below the ground surface. The tubers feature grey, purple, or pink colour skin and sweet delicate white flesh inside. This nutty and flavourful, starch-rich root is eaten much the same way like jicama or potato, when eaten raw it has similar taste and texture to an earth chestnut. Scientific name: Helianthus tuberosus. “Often called earth apples or sunroot” With no relation to the regular green globe type artichoke.
Growing Sunchokes
The sunchoke is a hardy perennial that is very easy to grow, growing from 5 to 10 feet tall. The plant has rough-textured leaves 4 to 8 inches long and is topped with small yellow flowers 2 to 3 inches across, similar to a small sunflower. Sunchokes will survive a hard freeze if protected by a layer of soil or mulch making this plant hardy from zones 3 -9. Harvest your sunchokes regularly or they can become invasive when ignored. Give them their own space at the back of the garden or along a fence. This way they won’t shade out other plants or invade their territory with their height.
Planting is best done in spring. They require a sunny location and little care beyond a bit of water if the summer is dry. If you already grow sunchokes, dig up last year’s crop and add a bit of compost to the soil before replanting the smallest of the tubers to harvest for the following season. Harvest your sunchokes just before the first frost. Don’t get impatient. Cold weather brings out the characteristic sweetness and crisp texture. Add sunchokes to soups, salads and much more!
Health Benefits
Sunchokes are superstars when it comes to intestinal health. These little roots are packed with inulin which is a non-digestible dietary fibre with strong prebiotic properties. Sunchokes also play a role in the prevention of colon cancer. Studies show that the byproducts created during the fermentation process of the dietary fibre inulin, suppress and block cancerous tumour cell growth in the colon.
Sunchokes are high in potassium, magnesium iron and protein, one cup serving of sunchokes contains 643 mg of potassium, which is essential for overall health and can help to reduce heart disease. Increasing your dietary potassium, in addition to reducing excess sodium, is especially beneficial for people at risk for high blood pressure.
Eating sunchokes can decrease blood cholesterol. Along with normalizing blood triglyceride levels, these small vegetables affect the way that the body metabolizes fats thanks to their high levels of probiotics. (please consult a medical professional and/or do your own research)
