Chenopodium album - Fat-hen

Another edible weed - it's not around at present but no doubt will be back
with warmer weather.

binomial name : Chenopodium album
common name : Fat-hen, Lamb's quarters, Goosefoot (America - pigweed)

Chenopodium - greek for goose foot -some leaves are shaped like a goose foot
album - latin for white - the underneath of the leaves can be white


This is another weed whose common name intrigued me - did it mean that
chickens who ate this weed became fat? The name pigweed illustrates why it is better to use the binomial naming system. In Australia pigweed = Portulaca oleracea whereas in America it is Chenopodium.



Identification :

It is quite distinctive in terms of the foliage color which is is a silvery green -sometimes the underneath of the leaves is almost white as well.

This whitish film is also evident at the growing points and consists of tiny wax like crystals that help the plant repel water off the leaves. The leaf shape is jagged and indeed (with a bit of imagination) does look like the foot of a goose/waterfowl. The stems terminate in flowering spikes which hold multiple small seeds.

The plant is about 1m high and has occured mainly in my vegetable garden - I think the seeds came in with a load of horse manure. It is somewhat bushy and develops lots of seeds fairly quickly - one report indicated that one plant can produce up to 500,000 seeds that remain viable for many years.




History :

Another plant that has been eaten by humans since prehistory and has been recorded as being eaten in lots of countries. Seeds of this were found in the stomachs of the bog bodies in Denmark (late iron age). Before the arrival of spinach, it was used extensively in Europe as a green leafy vegetable and is still grown as a crop in some parts of the world.

Nutritional:

This plant is another example of how some edible weeds are " better" than our more traditionally eaten greens.

These figures are for 100gm of boiled leaves:

beta carotene: 5820 mcg
Retinal A equivalent: 485mcg
Vit C :37mg   (an orange is about 80mg)
Ca 349mg, Fe 1.15mg + a few other minerals.
Omega 3 fatty acids : 32mg.
These levels of nutrients are very similar to those found in spinach (ref 1)

It does have levels of oxalate similar to spinach and also is a nitrate accumulator.

Pubmed search:  (search term  Chenopodium album)


lots of abstracts on this plant but only a few medically oriented


abstract 5 : An extract of CA had anti-proliferative effect on some human breast cancer cell lines- further work is being done to elucidate this further as a potential new treatment for breast cancer

abstract 13: CA had an anti-fungal effect on a soil fungal pathogen


abstract 48 : In Pakistan CA has been used traditionally for worming animals and this abstract did find that an extract did show anti-helminthic activity against some sheep worms.



Conclusion :

Consider this to be a spinach substitute - maybe blanch to remove some of the oxalic acid. As it is also a nitrate accumulator so only eat in modest quantities. Otherwise a useful and nutritious edible weed.


Tom 


ref 1 : Kallas J, Edible Wild Plants, 2010,  Gibbs Smith