Stellaria media

(hviezdica prostredná, ptačinec žabinec, chickweed)



Jedno- až dvojročná bylina s poliehavou alebo vystúpavou rozkonárenou stonkou dlhou 8 – 60 cm. Listy má vajcovité, striedavé, končisté, dlhostopkaté, horné skoro sediace. Kvety sú drobné, biele, v listnatých dvojramenných vrcholíkoch. Kvitne takmer celý rok – od februára do decembra, často pod snehom; čerstvú vňať žerú radi spevaví vtáci a hydina ("kuracie črevo", "kuračka")

Composition
Figures in grams (g) or miligrams (mg) per 100g of food.
Leaves (Dry weight)
0 Calories per 100g
Water : 0%
Protein: 14.5g; Fat: 2.4g; Carbohydrate: 63.9g; Fibre: 20.5g; Ash: 19.3g;
Minerals - Calcium: 0mg; Phosphorus: 0mg; Iron: 0mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 0mg; Potassium: 0mg; Zinc: 0mg;
Vitamins - A: 30mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.02mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0.14mg; Niacin: 0.51mg; B6: 0mg; C: 375mg;

Edible Uses
Young leaves - raw or cooked as a potherb[2, 7, 9, 12, 52, 54, 183]. They can be available all year round if the winter is not too severe[85]. Very nutritious, they can be added to salads whilst the cooked leaves can scarcely be distinguished from spring spinach[4, K]. The leaves contain saponins so some caution is advised.

FOOD USES: Chop common and star chickweed, and add them, raw, to salads, or cook them like spinach. Mouse-ear chickweedís so hairy, you have to cook it.
Chickweed gets its common name because chickens love it. Raw, it tastes like corn silk. I demonstrate this to school kids with a chicken imitation, then I grab the herb from the teacher's hand with my teeth and swallow it—corny, but consistent with the plant's flavor!
Cooked, chickweed tastes like spinach. Include any of the species in soups and stews, but cook no more than 5 minutes to prevent overcooking. Unlike most other edibles, the stems, as well as the leaves and flowers, taste good.
Cooking shrinks chickweed by 3/4, concentrating the nutrients and compensating for whatever vitamins cooking destroys.

Vitamins
Chickweed contains 4 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin A per serving. Vitamin A benefits your eyes, and it's especially important to make sure children get the vitamin A they need each day. A February 2011 article in "The Economist" says that up to 500,000 children become blind annually due to vitamin A deficiency. Chickweed also provides vitamin C and several B vitamins.
Minerals
Eat chickweed to increase your iron intake. Each serving of this green contains 33 percent of the amount you need each day. You also take in 3 percent of the iron you require daily. Research published in the January 2011 issue of the journal "Nutrition Research" correlates the calcium in plant sources, such as chickweed, with decreasing the chance of developing osteoporosis. This study included post-menopausal Korean women, so more research is needed to determine if this finding carries over to all women. Chickweed also contains magnesium, potassium, selenium, manganese and zinc.
Phytochemicals
Eat chickweed to increase your intake of phytochemicals, compounds that derive from plants. These compounds include beta-carotene, rutin and genistein. The rutin in chickweed may have a role in treating or preventing some types of cancer. Evidence in the January 2011 edition of "Environmental Toxicology" suggests that rutin may stop leukemia tumor growth, although this research used animal models. Human studies are needed to confirm rutin's importance for inhibiting leukemia.
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Stellaria+media
http://www.campanula.estranky.sk/clanky/ekologia-a-environmentalna-vychova/hviezdica-prostredna-_stellaria-media_.html
http://abecedazahrady.dama.cz/clanek/ptacinec-zabinec-plevel-nejzelenejsi
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Chickweed.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/393151-nutrition-of-chickweed/#ixzz2WYNOi4su

#cancer prevention #rutin #weed #winter green

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