Which fern is edible? Edible fern: useful properties, photo. Where does the fern grow edible? How to cook an edible fern?

Which fern is edible? Does it have useful properties, and how to make such a product at home? The answers to all these questions can be found in the materials in this article.

Edible fern: species

In the world there are about 10 thousand different kinds of ferns. Such plants can be found anywhere, including in marshy places and even deserts. But most often they grow in the forest zone.

Different fern habitats directly contributed to their diversity. They can differ significantly not only in their external shape and size, but also in their internal structure, as well as in their chemical and physiological characteristics.

What edible fern do you know? The most popular plant, which is used for cooking various dishes, is the common eagle. Also in food use osmundu Asian and ostrich.

Features and collection of plants

To make the edible fern after the cooking it turned out delicious and tender, its shoots are harvested at a young age, until they become stiff.

The harvest season for such plants is early spring, when leaves start to blossom on trees and lush grass appear. Edible fern should be used immediately for cooking various dishes or processed to a semi-finished product that will be stored for a long time. To the semi-finished products include three types of plants: frozen fern, salted and dried. The first option is the simplest and most common among housewives. However, it is not used on an industrial scale.

Spread

Now you know which fern is edible. Where does this plant grow? Orlyak, osmunda asian and ostrich are widely distributed around the globe, except for steppes, arctic regions and deserts.

In Russia, such plants can be found in the European part, the Far East, Siberia and the Urals. They also grow in Europe, Asia and North America.

Edible fern eagle, Asian osmunda and ostrich are very often found in forest zones, on open hills and in thickets of shrubs.

Useful properties and composition

What is remarkable about fern edible? Useful properties of this product are known to a few. Moreover, most housewives do not even suspect that the plant in question can be eaten.

According to experts, the rhizomes of this product contain starch, saponins, alkaloids, eagle-tannic and cyanic acids, as well as essential oils, fat, flavonoids and tannins. As for young shoots, they are very rich in tocopherol, vitamins, riboflavin, nicotinic acid and carotene.

Of the trace elements, the plants well accumulate iodine, calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, sodium, copper, sulfur, nickel and phosphorus.

The proteins contained in the edible fern, in their properties are very close to the proteins of cereal crops. They are just as easily absorbed by the human body.

For a long time, such a plant is consumed by residents of the Far East, as well as citizens of Japan and Korea. They believe that this product favorably affects their growth, helps to form a strong skeleton and metabolism. In addition, lovers of this plant claim that it has a good effect on the activity of the nervous system, improves the overall condition of the endocrine system, increases efficiency and removes radionuclides from the body.

What else is useful fern edible, a photo of which is presented in this article? For medical purposes, this product has been used for a long time. Inside use not only young shoots of fern, but also its rhizomes. For example, a decoction from the roots of this plant is actively taken with diseases of the intestine and spleen. In addition, it effectively helps with joint aches, jaundice, diarrhea, chest and headache, as well as noise in the ears and head, dry pleurisy.

A decoction made from edible fern is often used as a diuretic, laxative, anthelmintic and analgesic. Also this plant relieves stress and stimulates metabolism.

Outwardly, the broth from the rhizomes of the product under consideration is used for eczema, wounds, abscesses and scrofula. As for the infusion, it can be used for rheumatism (in the form of baths) and ulcers.

Contraindications for use

Despite the fact that all the listed fern species are edible, it is necessary to include them in your diet with extreme caution. This is due to the fact that the adult plant is very poisonous. It can contain bitter cyanide glycosides, tannins, cyanide and carcinogenic compounds. The concentration of these substances increases gradually, as the plant develops and grows.

It should also be noted that it is strictly forbidden to use fern during pregnancy and during breastfeeding.

An overdose of this product can lead to vomiting, convulsions, nausea, lowering of blood pressure, headache, respiratory depression, dizziness, weakening of cardiac work and even death.

Application in Cooking

The fern of edible species is actively used in cooking. Of the young leaves are often prepared different salads. In addition, the original "snails" are fried, boiled, salted and marinated for the winter, and also used as a special seasoning for meat.

The most popular among culinary edible ferns is the common eagle. His unusual name he received due to the similarity with the wing of a bird of prey.

Such a plant is quite common throughout Russia, and it is not difficult to find it.

Young shoots, which are used to prepare various dishes, are formed in May. At first they resemble a kind of "snail", and in the course of development they unfold and become like a hook.

A crust of edible leaf is called rachis. To taste it looks very much like ceps. Raw rachis are poisonous, therefore it is necessary to heat them.

Fern edible: how to cook?

As stated above, a fresh plant is not subject to storage. This is due to the fact that it hardens very quickly, as a result of which it is simply impossible to consume in food. Therefore, freshly collected shoots of fern should be immediately salted or boiled in salted water, and then dried.

If you decide to use the last cooking option, then fresh leaves must be thoroughly washed and put in a saucepan with boiling salty water. In this form, the plant should be cooked for no more than 5 minutes. After that, it is required to throw it back in a colander and shake it vigorously.

As for salting, this process is carried out in the following way: fresh and thoroughly washed greens are placed in enameled containers, pour over ordinary table salt (at the rate of 250 g of spices per 1 kg of plant), cover with a smaller wooden lid, and then press down with oppression. In this case, the weight of the latter must necessarily be equal to the weight of the product used. In this form, salted green leaves for 7-8 days.

After the brine begins to cover the wooden cover, it is slowly poured. Together with it all the bitterness inherent in young shoots will go away.

Prepared in this way, the product can be extinguished. It is first fried together with onions, and then poured with fresh sour cream and cooked in this form for several minutes. To the table the ready stew is served with greens and fried tomatoes.

Also pickled fern can be fried in deep-fried, pre-dipping it into a pancake dough.

If none of the presented methods suits you, then the salty product can be simply chopped and added to salads, pizza, soup and so on.

Interesting fact

In the mythology of the Slavs, fern flowers were always endowed with magical properties, although these plants do not bloom. In the night of Ivan Kupala, couples in love are actively looking for this mythical flower, believing that it will necessarily bring them eternal happiness (according to legend, such a flower dissolves only for a moment).