Evaluation of Nutritional and Antioxidant Status of Lepidium latifolium Linn.: A Novel Phytofood from Ladakh (2013) Tarandeep Kaur, Khadim Hussain, Sushma Koul, Ram Vishwakarma, Dhiraj Vyas, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR), Canal Road, Jammu, India See: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069112 For information about 'Plos', see: https://www.plos.org/ I cannot but have reservations about such publications. I do not know precisely what they mean by 'a novel Phytofood from Ladakh'? It is certainly not novel and has been eaten in Ladakh and Europe for centuries! The situation is complicated by the recently recorded Lepidium obtusum Basiner - clearly the authors were not aware of this different species. Presumably the nutritive and antioxidant activity may be different? An unsatisfactory article all-round, with a misleading title. Presumably, a lot analyses undertaken is already known. Stewart recognised how much different the more xerophytic specimens in the inner, dryer valleys were cf. those in the Kashmir Valley. Lepidium latifolium has a wide distribution: N.Africa, Europe, W.Asia, Caucasus, Russia (Siberia), Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekhistan, Krygystan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, N.Pakistan, N.india, China, Mongolia; naturalized elsewhere. Stewart recorded it from N.Pakistan, Kashmir & Ladakh @ 1500-3900m. Back in the UK, it is known as 'Dittander' or 'Broad-leaved Pepperwort' - a native of salt-marshes and wet sand. Formerly cultivated as a condiment. It is rare in Buckinghamshire, where I live. A halophyte (salt-loving plant). Many plants in Ladakh are halophytes. In Ladakh, this plant was found, during the University of Southampton Botanical Expedition to Zangskar, to be occasional around legume fields in the valley @ 3200m; taste of hot peppery cabbage! Klimes found this in southern Ladakh in deep dry screes, dumps, along road banks. |