16:27 | Lima, Sep. 26 (ANDINA).
The United States and Spain are the main destinations for Peruvian artichokes, followed by France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland among others, the Viru Agricultural Society said on Monday.
The agricultural society announced that artichoke shipments to Asia have already started with Japan being the first destination.
During the last ten years (2001-2011), the rates of artichokes sales have placed Peru among the top two artichoke exporting countries in the world with 150 million dollars per year.
Moreover, the agricultural society noted that 35 percent of the Peruvian artichoke export market is produced in the fields owned by Viru Agricultural Society, which totals 6000 hectares dedicated to the cultivation of exportable agricultural products.
The artichoke is a giant thistle flower bud. It is sometimes called the globe artichoke, or French artichoke to avoid confusion with the sunchoke, which is an entirely different plant that sometimes goes by the confusing name "Jerusalem artichoke".
Unlike most vegetables, only a very small part of the artichoke is actually edible — the very bases of the "leaves" and the interior heart. The heart of the flower is topped with spiky bristles or hairs that would be unpleasant to consume, and the leaves are extremely tough and fibrous.
Artichoke hearts are often sold in a pickled or preserved form, and served as part of an antipasto dish at the beginning of a meal.
(END) JPC/JPC/LGV
Publicado: 26/9/2011