This heirloom romaine is named after Parris Island (with two ‘r’s’), an island off the coast of South Carolina.
Parris Island romaine has crunchy, sweet leaves. This is the classic salad lettuce. It is heat tolerant and early (65 days).
We also love romaine because it is high in phytonutrients, such as Vitamin A and Vitamin K. We were happy to find out that just one cup of romaine provides 4,094 units of vitamin A (82% of Daily Recommended Value) and 48.2 micrograms of vitamin K (60% of Daily Recommended Value).
We were also happy to find out that eating romaine might help our brains!
Yes, you read that right. We stumbled upon a fascinating scientific report that discovered that phytochemicals in romaine have neuroprotective effects. The paper doesn’t have the most catchy title – ‘Antineurodegenerative Effect of Phenolic Extracts and Caffeic Acid Derivatives in Romaine Lettuce on Neuron-Like PC-12 Cells’ – but that’s okay, the results are pretty significant. The authors, Im and colleagues (2010), sum up their findings (or skip down to the bottom of the paragraph for our summary):
“The phenolic extract of romaine lettuce protected PC-12 cells [neuron-like cells] against oxidative stress caused by H2O2 in a dose-dependent manner. Isochlorogenic acid, one of the phenolics in romaine lettuce, showed stronger neuroprotection than the other three caffeic acid derivatives also found in the lettuce. Although romaine lettuce had lower levels of phenolics and antioxidant capacity compared to other common vegetables, its contribution to total antioxidant capacity and anti-neurodegenerative effect in human diets would be higher because of higher amounts of its daily per capita consumption compared to other common vegetables.”*
In other words, because we eat romaine on a regular basis (or can), romaine “can contribute a considerable amount of phenolics and antioxidants to our diets”, which can provide important neuroprotective effects.
Check out our Musing on the powerful protective effects and health benefits of the humble lettuce.
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How to Grow Lettuce from Seed? Here are the main things to know about growing lettuce from seed. (1) Lettuce seeds need light to germinate. Sow seeds on the surface of soil, press in and cover lightly with soil; (2) Keep soil moist as lettuce has a shallow root system; and (3) Sow or plant out in early spring before weather gets hot. Lettuce will bolt (go to seed) and become bitter tasting when the temperatures get hot. (4) Spacing: In the garden, sow seed every 1-2″ and then thin to about 8-10″ apart when seedlings are 2″ tall. This will give your seedlings enough room to form full heads.
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*We like this run-through by Im et al (2010): ”For the nutritious contribution of a given food like a vegetable to our diets, two factors—its nutrient concentration and daily per capita consumption—should be simultaneously considered. In the United States, per capita consumption of lettuces (43.7 mg/day per capita) such as iceberg, romaine, and leaf is surpassed by that of both potatoes (153.0 mg/day per capita) and tomatoes (104.8 mg/day per capita), but is higher than that of most other vegetables such as sweet corn (32.7 mg/day per capita), onions (26.8 mg/day per capita), carrots (14.6 mg/day per capita), cabbages (11.7 mg/day per capita), and broccolis (10.4 mg/day per capita). Therefore, lettuce, with its high per capita consumption but relatively low concentration of nutrients like phenolics, could contribute a considerable amount of phenolics and antioxidants to our diets.”
