# Can someone solve my turnip question? :)



## Rocky_B (Mar 31, 2006)

Is turnip a carb?


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## aggies1ut (Mar 31, 2006)

A turnip is a root vegetable. A member of the Brassica is a genus, (lpants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae)). The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards.


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## Rocky_B (Mar 31, 2006)

aggies1ut said:
			
		

> A turnip is a root vegetable. A member of the Brassica is a genus, (lpants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae)). The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards.


 
...so it isn't a carb..


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## Trouble (Apr 1, 2006)

Are you having a hard time understanding English here?

A root vegetable is a carb.  Turnips are one of the borderline starchy/fiberous types.

Starchy (High Carb) Vegetables
The main veggies to be avoided when reducing carbohydrates are the starchier vegetables:

    * Beets
    * Carrots (depends on diet)
    * Corn
    * Parsnips
    * Peas
    * Plantains
    * Potatoes in all forms
    * Winter Squashes (particularly acorn and butternut)

Low Carb Vegetables
The least carby veggies are towards the beginning of the list, and the carbier ones are towards the end ??? these are mostly non-starchy and are generally lower GI index carbohydrates. 

    * Sprouts (bean, alfalfa, etc.)
    * Greens ??? lettuces, spinach, chard, etc.
    * Radicchio and endive count as greens
    * Bok Choy
    * Celery
    * Radishes
    * Broccoli
    * Cauliflower
    * Cabbage
    * Mushrooms
    * Avocado
    * Cucumber
    * Peppers (all kinds)
    * Summer Squash (including zuchinni)
    * Scallions
    * Asparagus
    * Bamboo Shoots
    * Leeks
    * Brussels Sprouts
    * Snow Peas (pods)
    * Green Beans and Wax Beans
    * Tomatoes
    * Eggplant
    * Artichoke Hearts
    * Fennel
    * Onions
    * Okra
    * Spaghetti Squash
    * Carrots
    * Turnip
    * Water Chestnuts
    * Pumpkin


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## BigDyl (Apr 1, 2006)

Your Question is:  "Is a Turnip a Carb."  Well my friend, I can answer this quite simply, unlike some people...




Turnip can refer to three vegetables, which are described under the articles Turnip (Brassica rapa), Rutabaga, and Jicama. The confusion results from the following regional differences of usage.

Scientific term Brassica rapa Brassica napus or B. napobrassica Pachyrhizus 
Southern and Commonwealth English turnip swede (= Swedish turnip) yam bean 
American English turnip rutabaga jicama 
Irish, Scottish and Northern English swede turnip (neep)   
Malaysian, Singaporean, and Philippine English     turnip 
Canadian (Newfoundland) English   turnip jicama 
Also called white turnip or summer turnip yellow turnip or winter turnip sweet turnip 

Brassica napus and B. napobrassica are called swedes (a shortening of Swedish turnip) in England, especially in the South, and in most dialects of Commonwealth English. Rutabaga is mostly an American-English word. The rutabaga or swede differs from the turnip (Brassica rapa) in that it is typically larger and yellow-orange rather than white.

However, in some dialects of British English the two vegetables have overlapping or reversed names. In the north of England and Scotland, the larger, yellow rutabagas are called turnips (sometimes shortened to neeps in Scotland), while the smaller white turnips are called swedes.


Category: Brassicaceae



turnip (turnips)

A vegetable of with edible roots and greens. Brassica rapa L. 



*By now you must be wondering about the Brassicaceae family. * 



Brassicaceae  Family:

A
Acanthocardamum
Aethionema
Alpine pennycress
Alyssum
Annual honesty
Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabis
Arabis alpina
Aubrieta
B
Barbarea
Black mustard
Boechera
Brassica
Brassica juncea
Brassica oleracea
Brassica rapa
Broccoflower
Broccoli
Broccolini
Brussels sprout
C
Cabbage
Cakile
Camelina
Camelina sativa
Capsella
Cardamine
Cardamine californica
Cardamine pratensis
 C cont.
Cauliflower
Cheiranthus
Chinese cabbage
Collard greens
Crambe
Cress
D
Daikon
Dame's Rocket
Desert candle
Draba
Draba lactea
E
Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket'
F
Franciscan wallflower
G
Garden cress
H
Hedge Garlic
Horseradish
I
Isatis
K
Kai-lan
Kale
Kerguelen cabbage
Kohlrabi
L
Land cress
Lepidium
Lepidium campestre
Lepidium virginicum
Lobularia
Lobularia maritima
Lunaria
Lundy cabbage
M
Maca
Malcolmia
 M cont.
Matthiola
Moricandia
Mustard plant
N
Nasturtium (scientific name)
Nozawana
P
Pepperwort
Perennial honesty
R
Radish
Rapeseed
Raphanobrassica
Raphanus
Red Cabbage
Rockcress
Rorippa
Rose of Jericho
Rutabaga
S
Scurvy-grass
Seakale
Shepherd's Purse
Sinapis
Spring greens
T
Turnip
Turnip (Brassica rapa)
V
Virginia stock
W
Wallflower
Wasabi
Watercress
Wild radish
Wo 



Turnip and Its Hybrid Offspring


Much confusion surrounded the origins, even the identity, of turnips and rutabagas, or "Swedes," for a long time. They are distinctly different species.

Most varieties of turnip are white-fleshed and most varieties of rutabaga are yellow-fleshed, but there are also white-fleshed rutabagas and yellow-fleshed turnips. Rutabaga leaves are smooth like cabbage leaves, while those of the turnip are somewhat rough, with sparse, stiff "hairs" over them.

The most significant difference between them, however, is in the make-up of their mechanisms of heredity, the structures of their individual cells. The turnip has 20 chromosomes, while the rutabaga has 38. And thereby hangs a tale-the tale of the origin of the rutabaga.





*Another study proves this:*


Study Indicates a Turnip-Cabbage Cross

Recent botanical detective work indicates that a rather rare kind of hybridization between some form of cabbage (18 chromosomes) and turnip (20 chromosomes) resulted in the new species, rutabaga (20 + 18 = 38 chromosomes).


No one knows when or where this occurred, but the new species was probably first found in Europe some time in the late Middle Ages. There was no record of it until 1620 when the Swiss botanist Caspar Bauhin described it.

Turnip (Brassica rapa) is of ancient culture, many distinct kinds having been known to the Romans at the beginning of the Christian Era. Some of those varieties bore Greek place names, indicating earlier culture and development by the ancient Greeks.

In the first century Pliny described long turnips, flat turnips, round turnips. He wrote of turnips under the names rapa and napus. In Middle English this latter term became nepe, naep in Anglo-Saxon. One of these words, together with turn ("made round"), became our common word "turnip."

Man appreciated the usefulness of the turnip during the prehistoric development of agriculture, and the plant was so easy to grow in so many places that it became widely distributed all the way from the Mediterranean across Asia to the Pacific.

The European types of turnip, our commonest kinds, developed in the Mediterranean area. The basic center of the Asiatic kinds is in middle Asia, west of the Himalayas. There are also two secondary centers-eastern Asia and Asia Minor.

The European type of turnip was grown in France for both food and stock feed at least as early as the first century after Christ.

In the England of Henry VIII, turnip roots were boiled or baked, the tops were cooked as "greens," and the young shoots were used as a salad. (In parts of our South today turnip leaves for greens are called "turnip salad.")

The turnip was brought to America by Jacques Cartier, who planted it in Canada in 1541. It was also planted in Virginia by the colonists in 1609 and in Massachusetts in the 1620's. The Indians adopted its culture from the colonists and soon grew it generally.

Since colonial times the turnip has been one of the commonest garden vegetables in America. It is primarily a cool-weather crop, suitable for summer culture only in the northernmost States or at high altitudes.

European varieties of turnips are biennial. One Oriental variety commonly grown here, however, called Shogoin, will go to seed in its first season if planted in the spring.

A few varieties of leaf turnips (no enlarged root) such as Seven Top are grown only for greens. The leaves of the turnip are usually rich in the minerals and vitamins that are essential to health, but the roots have a relatively low food value. In this country the roots are usually eaten boiled, either fresh or from pit or cellar storage. In Europe kraut is commonly made from the sliced roots.

Rutabaga Also Called "Swede"

Rutabaga (Brassica napobrassica) gets its name from Swedish rotabagge. In England and Canada it is commonly called "Swede," or "Swede turnip." The French called it navet de Suede (Swede turnip), chou de Suede (Swede cabbage), and chou navet jaune (yellow cabbage turnip). It was known in the United States about 1800 as "turnip-rooted cabbage." Although common names suggest a Scandinavian origin, this is not certain.

Rutabaga was apparently known on the Continent many years before it was grown in England. It was little known in England in 1664 when it was grown in the royal gardens. It was used for food in France and southern Europe in the 17th century. Both white and yellow-fleshed varieties have been known in Europe for more than 300 years.

The rutabaga requires a longer growing season than our turnips, but, like the turnip, it is sensitive to hot weather. Its culture is therefore confined largely to the northernmost States and Canada and to northern Europe and Asia. It is a staple crop in northern Europe, but a minor crop in America and in the Orient. It is more nutritious than the turnip, chiefly because it contains more solid matter.



*Additional Reading:*


http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/turnip1.html
http://boards.epicurious.com/forum.jspa?forumID=10
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/vegetables/turnip.html


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## MyK (Apr 2, 2006)




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## Trouble (Apr 2, 2006)

Never did anwer the question fior all your handwaving on plant cladistics.

Regardless of its genetics, its carb.  Its not a fat, and its not a protein.


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## BigDyl (Apr 2, 2006)

Trouble said:
			
		

> Never did anwer the question fior all your handwaving on plant cladistics.
> 
> Regardless of its genetics, its carb.  Its not a fat, and its not a protein.




Sorry, I guess my sarcasm wasn't that obvious.


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## Trouble (Apr 2, 2006)

Saracasm is fine, boyo.  I opened my post with a dab of it.

Forgetting to address the central question is sloppy logic.

I would have posted the Wikipedia page were I trying to be helpful, as it would laid out for readers a very good working description of this diverse and agriculturally imporant  and very robust plant family of 350 genera and about 3000 species:

"The flowering plant family Brassicaceae, also called Cruciferae, is known as the mustard family or cabbage family. Agricultural plants in the mustard family are also known as cole crops; cole comes from the Latin word caulis (stem), as does the German Kohl."

The family contains species of great economic importance, providing much of the world's winter vegetables. These include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards, and kale (all cultivars of one species, Brassica oleracea), Chinese kale, rutabaga (also known as Swedish turnips or swedes), seakale, turnips, radish and kohl rabi. "

"Other well known members of the Brassicaceae include rapeseed (canola and others), mustard seed, horseradish, wasabi and watercress. The most intensely studied member of the Brassicaceae is the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana."

So we have carby root vegetables, dense and fiberous stem vegetables (rich in estrogen controlling phytosterols) and we have crops with seed heads used for spice and oils.  

The first and second stores complex moderately fiberous starches as energy in stems and roots, and the latter stores oils in seed heads and also produces sharply flavored flowers and leaves.

Your post was helpful for discourse on less commonly used vegetables that many readers will avoid because they are unfamiliar with the names, nutrient value, and methods of preparation.  

A parting shot:  Arabidopsis thaliana is the Drosophiila melanogaster (fruit fly) speies of the plant world.  It is the most studied plant genome in existance.  That afforded the "botanical detective" study.  The genes characteristic of the Brassica family have been cloned from representative species genome and mapped by RLFP and rapid hybridization methods for many Brassica species, providing hypothetical tree structures (genus evolutionary relationshio) to be postulated in recent years.


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## P-funk (Apr 4, 2006)

Bigdyl, why don't use source the page that you plagiarized you fucking cock.


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## MyK (Apr 4, 2006)

P-funk said:
			
		

> Bigdyl, why don't use source the page that you plagiarized you fucking cock.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/turnip.html


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## P-funk (Apr 4, 2006)

MyK said:
			
		

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip
> 
> http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/turnip.html




thanks MyK.

Bigdildo....please stay in open chat.  you are stupid and you contribute nothing to this board.


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## MyK (Apr 4, 2006)

P-funk said:
			
		

> thanks MyK.
> 
> Bigdildo....please stay in open chat.  you are stupid and you contribute nothing to this board.


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## BigDyl (Apr 4, 2006)




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