The plant may reach 40 centimetres (16 inches) in height. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems, and theleaves, which may bealternate oropposite, are clustered at stem joints and ends.[4] The yellowflowers have five regular parts and are up to 6 millimetres (1⁄4 inch) wide. Depending upon rainfall, the flowers appear at any time during the year. The flowers open singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. The tiny seeds[5] are formed in a pod that opens when the seeds mature. Purslane has ataproot with fibrous secondary roots and can tolerate poor soil and drought.[6]
The fruits are many-seeded capsules. The seed set is considerable; one plant can develop up to 193,000 seeds.[citation needed] The seeds germinate optimally at a temperature above 25 °C; they are light germinators, with even a soil cover of 5 mm having a negative effect ongermination.[citation needed]
P. oleracea is one of the very few plants able to utilize bothC4 andcrassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)photosynthesis pathways, long believed to be incompatible with each other despite biochemical similarities.P. oleracea will switch from C4 to CAM pathways during drought, and there istranscription regulation and physiological evidence for C4-CAM hybrid photosynthesis during mild drought.[7]
P. oleracea was recorded in 1753 byCarl Linnaeus inSpecies Plantarum.[8] Due to the great variability, a large number ofsubspecies andvarieties have been described as species of their own, but according to other publications, they all fall within the range of variation ofP. oleracea. The synonymsP. oleracea subsp.sativa,P. sativa, andP. oleracea var.sativa, which are more common in the literature, refer to a somewhat more robust form in cultivation with larger seeds that cannot be separated from the species. Approximately 40cultivars ofP. oleracea are currently grown.[9]
The flowering plant more commonly known as winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliata) is a member of theMontiaceae family and is not closely related.
Thespecific epithetoleracea means "vegetable/herbal" in Latin and is a form ofholeraceus (oleraceus), fromholus 'vegetable'.[10][11] The genus nameportulāca is simply the plant's name in Latin.[12]
Purslane has an extensive distribution, assumed to be mostlyanthropogenic (orhemerochoric),[13] extending fromNorth Africa and Southern Europe through theMiddle East and theIndian subcontinent toMalesia andAustralasia. The species status in the Americas is uncertain. In general, it is often considered an exotic weed, but there is evidence that the species was inCrawford Lake deposits (Ontario) in 1350–1539, suggesting that it reached North America in thepre-Columbian era. Scientists suggested that the plant was already eaten byNative Americans, who spread its seeds. How it reached the Americas is currently unknown.[14]
Schizocerella pilicornis andHypurus bertrandi are known to feed onPortulaca oleracea. In some instances, they may help control the competitiveness ofP. oleracea to prevent weed infestation in fields whereP. oleracea is not wanted, however, they do not stop it from growing completely.[20]
All parts of purslane are edible raw or cooked. The seeds can be eaten raw or used to make flour.[24]
The plant may be eaten as aleaf vegetable.[25]William Cobbett noted that it was "eaten by Frenchmen and pigs when they can get nothing else. Both use it in salad, that is to say, raw".[26] It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Mexico.[9][27] The stems, leaves, and flower buds are all edible raw or cooked.[28] Purslane may be used fresh as asalad,[29]stir-fried, or cooked asspinach is, and because of itsmucilaginous quality it also is suitable forsoups andstews. The sour taste is due tooxalic andmalic acid, the latter of which is produced through the CAM pathway that is seen in manyxerophytes (plants living in dry conditions) and is at its highest when the plant is harvested in the early morning.[30]
Aboriginal Australians use the seeds of purslane to makeseedcakes. Greeks, who call itandrákla (αντράκλα) orglistrída (γλιστρίδα), use the leaves and the stems withfeta cheese,tomato,onion,garlic,oregano, andolive oil. They add it to salads, boil it, or add it to casseroled chicken. InTurkey, besides being used in salads and baked pastries, it is cooked as a vegetable similar to spinach or is mixed withyogurt to form atzatziki variant.[31] InEgypt, the vegetable is known asregla (رجلة) it is also cooked as a vegetable stew, similar to how spinach andmalva (خبيزة) are cooked, but not fresh in salads.[citation needed]In Kurdistan, people commonly make a kind of soup from it called palpina soup (شۆربای پەڵپینە). In theAlentejo region ofPortugal, purslane is used for cooking a traditional soup (sopa de beldroegas) which is topped with soaked bread, poached eggs, and/or goats' cheese.[32] In Mexico and the American Southwest, the plant is consumed as "verdolagas."
Salination of agricultural soils decreases the yields of many crops, and salt-sensitive species can no longer be cultivated on such soils. Purslane has a high tolerance for salt, making it suitable for cropping in areas where irrigation is carried out with water with high chloride-based salinity.[33]
Purslane can remove salt from the cultivation medium under saline conditions. As an intercrop or during one growing season, it can remove 210 kg/ha of chloride and 65 kg/ha of sodium when cultivated at 6.5 dS *m−1, allowing growth of salt-sensitive plants on saline soils.[34] In salty conditions, purslane has a positive effect oncompanion plants such as tomatoes.[35]
Archaeobotanical finds are common at many Mediterraneanprehistoric sites. Inhistoric contexts, seeds have been retrieved from aprotogeometric layer inKastanas, as well as from theSamian Heraion dating to the 7th century BC. In the 4th century BC,Theophrastus names purslane,andrákhne (ἀνδράχνη), as one of the several summer pot herbs that must be sown in April (Enquiry into Plants 7.1.2).[36] AsPortulaca it figures in the long list of comestibles enjoyed by the Milanese given byBonvesin de la Riva in his "Marvels of Milan" (1288).[37]
In antiquity, its healing properties were thought so reliable thatPliny the Elder advised wearing the plant as an amulet to expel all evil (Natural History 20.210).[36]
The plant is mentioned inRabbinic literature variably asrgila (Hebrew:רְגִילָה),[38]ḥalaglogit (Hebrew:חֲלַגְלוֹגִית),[39] andparpaḥonya (Jewish Palestinian Aramaic:פַּרְפָּחוֹנַיָּא).[40] TheBabylonian Talmud recounts thatsages were initially unfamiliar with the termḥaloglogot. However, they realised it was the same asparpaḥonya after witnessing RabbiJudah ha-Nasi's maidservant reprimand a man who was scattering the plant while using this term.[41] The plant is also mentioned in apiyyut byEleazar ben Kalir, byMaimonides, and byTanhum of Jerusalem. Tanhum states that the plant is known to medics as "the fast vegetable" due to its quick spreading and branching.[42]
^A P Simopoulos (2013). "Common purslane: a source of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants".Journal of the American College of Nutrition.11 (4):374–382.doi:10.1080/07315724.1992.10718240.PMID1354675.
^Wright, Clifford A. (2012). "Purslane".Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's Compendium of All the Vegetables from the World's Healthiest Cuisine, with More Than 200 Recipes. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Common Press. pp. 276–277.ISBN978-1-55832-775-7.
^abMegaloudi Fragiska (2005). "Wild and Cultivated Vegetables, Herbs and Spices in Greek Antiquity".Environmental Archaeology.10 (1):73–82.doi:10.1179/146141005790083858.
^Noted by John Dickie,Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and Their Food (New York, 2008), p. 37.
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