A is for Artichoke

Back in the Fifties, I read a story called "The Heart of the Artichoke." As a lugubrious teenager, the artichoke seemed like an appropriate metaphor for life: the bitter leaves and "choke" had to be discarded before one could reach and savor the delicious core. The trouble was that, at fifteen, I had no idea what an artichoke was, had never seen or tasted one. Boiled peas were my mother's idea of an exotic vegetable. Years later, I ate my first artichoke and I was hooked. I put artichokes, fresh, canned, or best of all, marinated onto and into everything.

Pictured Above: Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.)

The artichoke is technically Cynara scolymus L., a perennial plant in the thistle group of the sunflower family. In its full growth, it covers an area six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet. The "vegetable" that we eat is actually the unopened bud of a spectacular seven-inch violet-blue flower. -- * See illustration of Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) pictured above, right.

Artichokes originally hail from North Africa (the name is derived from the Arabic 'Al-kharshuf'). From North Africa it jumped to the tables of ancient Greece and Rome. Artichokes remain popular in Italy, where they even make an artichoke aperitif, Cynar which incidentally is where I draw the line in my artichoke mania.

Artichokes favors a cool and moist climate. This makes them perfect for the Central Coast of California. A sign girdling the main street in Castroville proclaims it "The Artichoke Center of the World." Every May, Castroville holds an Artichoke Festival. In 1947, a young woman named Norma Jean Baker became the country's first Artichoke Queen. It is said that her success as Artichoke Queen gave her the confidence to take on Hollywood as the blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.

I would eat artichokes even if they had the nutritional value of Mallomars. But, as it turns out, they are very healthful and even show promise as a way of preventing cancer. Artichokes contain silymarin, a flavonoid that has powerful antioxidant activity. Silymarin is widely used in Europe as nutritional support for the liver. Just last month, Japanese scientists found that adding just one part per thousand of silymarin to the diet of mice significantly decreased their incidence of bladder cancers and prevented precancerous growths as well.

For years, Dr. Rajesh Agarwal of the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy has also investigated the anticancer properties of artichokes. He has shown that silymarin provides almost complete inhibition of carcinogens on the skin. "Silymarin could be a useful anti-tumor promoting agent a wide range of tumor promoters," he wrote.

Last September, Mayo Clinic scientists also showed that two substances found in artichokes inhibited the growth of prostate cancer . They didn't kill cells outright, but arrested their ability to divide and grow.

You may be wondering why an entrepreneur doesn't develop an artichoke extract as a potential cancer treatment. The answer is mainly economic. The total gross value of the American artichoke harvest is $46 million. Yet, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development in Boston, "the average cost to develop a new prescription drug is $802 million." The entire artichoke industry in twenty years couldn't afford to develop silymarin as an FDA-approved drug.

It seems obvious to me that people should incorporate artichokes into their diet. Admittedly, they are not for everyone. Seeing me repeatedly buy out their supply, the cashier at a local store finally wondered aloud what I possibly could do with all those weird jars. I explained that I ate artichokes hot or cold, in salads, pasta or pizza. I have even been known to eat them straight from the jar at two in the morning. She studied me for clues to my food deviance. Finally, she said, "Not for me. I eat with my eyes." For her, the artichoke's lack of appeal was too obvious to require commentary. As for me, I was salivating already.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.