There are a number of horticultural plants that taste too bitter. However, this is not a serious problem since there is a method to make them edible: bleaching.
By preventing them from producing chlorophyll, we can grow them without having to worry about anything. If you don’t believe me, find out how to whiten vegetables .
Index
- 1 What is plant bleaching?
- 2 When is it done?
- 3 How do they whiten?
What is plant bleaching?
It is a very simple method that we can carry out on those horticultural plants that have a bitter taste, such as artichokes, chicory, dandelions, Scobiosa, rhubarb or soapwort, which consists of covering them so that they do not receive light sun . In this way, they are prevented from producing chlorophyll, which is the pigment that, in addition to giving color to the leaves, makes them have that characteristic flavor.
When is made?
The best time to blanch greens and vegetables is one to two weeks before harvest . It is not possible before because the plant is too young, and we could run the risk of losing it.
How are they whitened?
There are several ways to do it:
- Tied : the plants are tied with elastic bands. It is widely used for lettuce.
- Plastic bells : They are shaped like a hemisphere with a hole at the top. It is usually white, although there are also other colors such as green. It is a widely used method for chicory.
- Paper : the stems are wrapped with paper and attached with adhesive tape. It is something that is done for example for thistles.
- Plant the plants very close together : what is achieved is that they cannot receive a large amount of sunlight. This is used a lot for celery.
Although if we do not want to whiten them we can buy specific varieties that do not turn green at all, such as yellow celery.
