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  • From: David Travis <djtravis@hotmail.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] [Fwd: [SANET-MG] Jerusalem Artichokes, An Overlooked Market
  • Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:40:38 +0000



Re: artichokes, I'm wondering whether or not they have been "overlooked"
because they simply don't make a very good food source.

I remember reading an article in the British Journal of Medicine talking
about how inulin, the main chemical in Jerusalem artichokes, is not
digestible by the human gut. This is presumably why Jerusalem artichokes are
"great" for dieters, so the promotional emails go, but I doubt that many
people realize that they are "great for dieters" in the same sense that
eating sawdust or any other non-digestable organic substance is "great".

Part of me is always hoping that Jerusalem artichokes really are a great
food, and that somehow I've misunderstood something about the varieties that
are out there or how it behaves in the human gut. I kind of doubt that a
different variety of J.a. magically avoids this problem, since the problem
has to do with the basic way the plant stores its energy, rather than some
incidental feature that could be bred out of it. Nevertheless, if anyone who
knows more about the plants or nutrition can weigh in here, I'd really
appreciate it.

Because the other part of me is just kind of dumbfounded that people are
still trying very hard to convince themselves and others to eat a plant that
is fundamentally indigestible, in which case it would be a prime example of
permaculture hype gone awry.

I hope that's not the case, of course. I love the idea of a food plant
growing like a weed.

- David

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