Chinese Violet |C
🌿 Product Name: Chinese Violet (Rau Ngót Nhật) 300g +/-30g
Scientific Name: Asystasia gangetica
🩺 Medicinal value: In traditional folk medicine, this leafy green has been regarded as cooling and detoxifying. In Vietnam it is used to "clear heat" and as a mild diuretic. In Africa, traditional healers have used it for asthma, rheumatism, and swelling. Research points to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, but the traditional uses have not been clinically confirmed.
👉 Harvest Date: A fast-growing, vigorous herb that produces leaves nearly year-round. Flowering can begin about 40 days after germination. Young shoots and leaves are best cut at roughly 40–50 days, before the plant matures and the leaves toughen. Cut about 5 cm above the ground and re-harvest about every 45 days as it regrows.
💚 Natural flavors: Tender, mild, slightly sweet leaves, similar to water spinach (rau muống), with a soft, silky texture when cooked. Commonly simmered in light pork soups (canh), which it sweetens naturally without extra seasoning, or stir-fried with garlic.
🍳 Recipe Suggestions:
- Cookpad: https://cookpad.com/vn/tim-kiem/rau%20ng%C3%B3t%20nh%E1%BA%ADt
- Run Away Rice: https://runawayrice.com/?s=asystasia%20gangetica
👩🍳 Nutrition Value (per 100g, raw leaves):
- USDA: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-search?query=asystasia%20gangetica
- Nutritionix: https://www.nutritionix.com/search?query=asystasia%20gangetica
Note: Neither USDA nor Nutritionix has a dedicated entry for this plant, so the links lead to search pages. For reference, composition data (PROTA) per 100g of leaves is roughly 56 kcal, 3.7g protein, 226mg calcium, 4.7mg iron, 42mg vitamin C, and 6,250µg carotene. Values vary with growing conditions and harvest age.
Sources:
Asystasia gangetica - Wikipedia
A Comprehensive Review on Genus Asystasia: Folk Medicinal Uses - PubMed
Biến hoa sông Hằng - Wikipedia tiếng Việt
Evaluation of Asystasia gangetica as a potential forage - Tropical Grasslands
