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==History==

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Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and [[diuretic]] properties. There is a [[recipe]] for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, [[Apicius]]’s third century AD ''[[De re coquinaria]],'' Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter.~~{{Verify source|date=July 2007}}~~ It lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favour in the seventeenth century.<ref name="OBFP">{{cite book | last =Vaughan | first =J.G. | authorlink = | coauthors = Geissler, C.A. | title =The New Oxford Book of Food Plants | publisher = Oxford University Press | year= 1997}}</ref>

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Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and [[diuretic]] properties. There is a [[recipe]] for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, [[Apicius]]’s third century AD ''[[De re coquinaria]],'' Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter. It lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favour in the seventeenth century.<ref name="OBFP">{{cite book | last =Vaughan | first =J.G. | authorlink = | coauthors = Geissler, C.A. | title =The New Oxford Book of Food Plants | publisher = Oxford University Press | year= 1997}}</ref>

==Uses==

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White asparagus, known as [[spargel]], is cultivated by denying the plants light and increasing the amount of ultraviolet light the plants are exposed to while they are being grown. Less bitter than the green variety, it is very popular in the [[Netherlands]], [[France]], [[Belgium]] and [[Germany]] where 57,000 tonnes (61% of consumer demands) are produced annually.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/documents/WhiteAsparagusPressRelease.doc | publisher=German Agricultural Marketing Board | title=Asparagus: The King of Vegetables | author=Molly Spence | accessdate=2007-02-26|format=DOC}}</ref>

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Purple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts, having high sugar and low [[fibre]] levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in [[Italy]] and commercialised under the variety name ''Violetto d'Albenga''. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries such as the United States and New Zealand.~~{{Verify source|date=July 2007}}~~

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Purple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts, having high sugar and low [[fibre]] levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in [[Italy]] and commercialised under the variety name ''Violetto d'Albenga''. Since then, breeding work has continued in countries such as the United States and New Zealand.

In northwestern Europe, the season for asparagus production is short, traditionally beginning on April 23 and ending on [[Midsummer|Midsummer Day]].<ref>[http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/4329516.Time_to_glory_in_asparagus_again/ ''Oxford Times'': "Time to glory in asparagus again".]</ref>

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The English word "asparagus" derives from classical [[Latin language|Latin]], but the plant was once known in English as ''sperage'', from the [[Medieval Latin]] ''sparagus''. This term itself derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''aspharagos'' or ''asparagos'', and the Greek term originates from the [[Persian language|Persian]] ''asparag'', meaning "sprout" or "shoot".

[[Image:SkFernlikePlant.jpg|thumb|left|Mature native Asparagus with seed pods in [[Saskatchewan]], [[Canada]] ]]

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Asparagus was also corrupted in some places to "sparrow grass"; indeed, the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] quotes [[John Walker (naturalist)|John Walker]] as having written in 1791 that "''Sparrow-grass'' is so general that ''asparagus'' has an air of stiffness and pedantry". In [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Worcestershire]] it is also known simply as "grass". Another known [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] variation of the term, most common in parts of Texas, is "aspar grass" or "asper grass". In the Midwest United States and [[Appalachia]], "spar grass" is a common [[colloquialism]]. Asparagus is commonly known in fruit retail circles as "Sparrows Guts", etymologically distinct from the old term "sparrow grass", thus showing convergent language evolution.~~{{Fact|date=February 2008}}~~

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Asparagus was also corrupted in some places to "sparrow grass"; indeed, the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] quotes [[John Walker (naturalist)|John Walker]] as having written in 1791 that "''Sparrow-grass'' is so general that ''asparagus'' has an air of stiffness and pedantry". In [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Worcestershire]] it is also known simply as "grass". Another known [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] variation of the term, most common in parts of Texas, is "aspar grass" or "asper grass". In the Midwest United States and [[Appalachia]], "spar grass" is a common [[colloquialism]]. Asparagus is commonly known in fruit retail circles as "Sparrows Guts", etymologically distinct from the old term "sparrow grass", thus showing convergent language evolution.

It is known in [[French language|French]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] as ''asperge'', in [[Italian language|Italian]] as ''asparago'' (old Italian ''asparagio''), in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] as ''espargo hortense'', in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] as ''espárrago'', in [[German language|German]] as ''[[Spargel]]'', in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] as ''spárga''.

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=== Metabolism ===

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The biological mechanism for the production of these compounds is less clear.~~{{Fact|date=November 2008}}~~

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The biological mechanism for the production of these compounds is less clear.

The speed of onset of urine smell has been estimated to occur within 15–30 minutes of ingestion.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089 | publisher=WebMD | title=Eau D'Asparagus | author=Somer, E. | date=[[August 14]] [[2000]] | accessdate=2006-08-31}}</ref>

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=== Prevalence of production and identification ===

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Observational evidence from the 1950s showed that many people did not know about the phenomenon of asparagus urine. There is debate about whether all (or only some) people produce the smell, and whether all (or only some) people identify the smell.~~{{Fact|date=November 2008}}~~

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Observational evidence from the 1950s showed that many people did not know about the phenomenon of asparagus urine. There is debate about whether all (or only some) people produce the smell, and whether all (or only some) people identify the smell.

It was originally thought this was because some of the population digested asparagus differently than others, so that some people excreted odorous urine after eating asparagus, and others did not. However, in the 1980s three studies from France,<ref> {{cite web | url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1379934&blobtype=pdf | journal=Br J. Clin. Pharmac | title=Odorous urine in man after asparagus | author=C. RICHER1, N. DECKER2, J. BELIN3, J. L. IMBS2, J. L. MONTASTRUC3 & J. F. GIUDICELLI |date=May 1989}}</ref> China and Israel published results showing that producing odorous urine from asparagus was a universal human characteristic. The Israeli study found that from their 307 subjects all of those who could smell 'asparagus urine' could detect it in the urine of anyone who had eaten asparagus, even if the person who produced it could not detect it himself.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1379935&blobtype=pdf | journal=Br J. Clin. Pharmac | title=Asparagus and malodorous urine | author=S. C. MITCHELL |date=May 1989}}</ref> Thus, it is now believed that most people produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but only about 22% of the population have the [[autosomal]] genes required to smell them.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1576765,00.html | publisher=The Guardian | title=The scientific chef: asparagus pee| date=[[September 23]] [[2005]] | accessdate=2007-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html | title=Why Asparagus Makes Your Pee Stink | author=Hannah Holmes | publisher=Discover.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | journal=Br Med J | volume=281 | pages=1676 | year= 1980 | author=Lison M, Blondheim SH, Melmed RN. | title=A polymorphism of the ability to smell urinary metabolites of asparagus | url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=7448566 | pmid=7448566 | doi =10.1136/bmj.281.6256.1676 }}</ref>

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