Asparagus officinalis
Dublin Core
Title
Asparagus officinalis
Subject
Taxonomy
Phylum : Tracheophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Order : Asparagales
Family : Asparagaceae
Genus : Asparagus
Species : Asparagus officinalis
Synonyms
Asparagus altilis (L.) Asch., Asparagus caspius Schult. & Schult.f., Asparagus caspius Hohen. [Illegitimate], Asparagus collinus Schur [Illegitimate], Asparagus esculentus Salisb., Asparagus fiori Sennen, Asparagus hedecarpus Andrews ex Baker, Asparagus hortensis Mill. ex Baker, Asparagus littoralis Steven, Asparagus oxycarpus Steven, Asparagus paragus Gueldenst. ex Ledeb., Asparagus polyphyllus Steven ex Ledeb., Asparagus sativus Mill., Asparagus setiformis Krylov, Asparagus tenuifolius Gilib. [Invalid], Asparagus vulgaris Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
Common name
Asparagus, common asparagus, common garden asparagus, edible asparagus, garden asparagus, sparrowgrass
Description
Characteristics
A herbaceous, dioecious, climbing or erect perennial which can grow up to 2 m tall, and with a robust woody rhizome comprising a number of bud clusters and many long (1.5-2 m) unbranched with fleshy storage roots.
A herbaceous, dioecious, climbing or erect perennial which can grow up to 2 m tall, and with a robust woody rhizome comprising a number of bud clusters and many long (1.5-2 m) unbranched with fleshy storage roots.
Morphology
True leaves
Reduced to minute bract-like triangular brownish scales. In the axils of the scales, there are 3-6 subterete, green, needle-like, thin branchlets (cladodes), measuring 1-2 cm long, which seem to represent the leaves.
Stem
The young stem is fleshy when still underground. The stem above ground is strongly branched and with fine and needle-like foliage.
Flowers
Solitary or in pairs in the leaf axils, unisexual, small, tubular-bell-shaped and pendulous. The tepals measure 6-8 mm long in male and 4-6 mm in female flowers.
Fruit
A spherical berry, red and 1-6-seeded. The seed is black.
Chemical compound
(+/-)-1-monopalmitin, 1-methoxy-4-[5-(4-methoxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl]-benzene, 4-[5-(4-methoxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl]phenol, 4-[5-(4-hydroxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl]phenol, 5,6-epoxide, 1-O-feruloyl-3-O-p-coumaroylglycerol, 1,2-O-diferuloylglycerol, 1,3-O-di-p-coumaroylglycerol, 1,3-O-diferuloylglycerol, 2-hydroxyasparenyn [3′,4′-trans-2-hydroxy-1-methoxy-4-[5-(4-methoxyphenoxy)-3-penten-1-ynyl]-benzene], (25S)-5β-spirostan-3β, 17α-diol, (25S)-5β-spirostan-3β-ol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-[β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1,4)]-β-d-glucopyranoside, (25S)-5β-spirostan-3beta-ol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-β-d-glucopyranoside, (25S)-5β-spirostan-3β-ol-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1,2)-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1,4)]-β-d-glucopyranoside, (25S)26-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-5β-furost-20(22)-ene-3β,26-diol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)-β-d-glucopyranoside, (25S)-spirostan-5-ene-3β-ol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1,2)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1,4)]-β-D-glucopyranoside, 3-[3”-(O-β-d-glucopyranosyl)-6”-(O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl)-O-β-d-glucopy ranoside], antheraxanthin, arginine, asparagin, asparagosides, asparagusic acid, asparagusic acid anti-S-oxide methyl ester, asparagusic acid syn-S-oxide methyl ester, asparenyn, asparenyol, beta-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, β-sitosterol, blumenol C, capsanthin, capsorubin, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, (+/-)-epipinoresinol, ferulic acid, inulin, kaempferol, linoleic acid, lutein, methyl protodioscin, mutatoxanthin epimers, neoxanthin, protodioscin, quercetrin, rutin, sarsasapogenin M, sarsasapogenin N, sarsasapogenin O, sitosterol-beta-d-glucoside, spargancin, tyrosine, violaxanthin, yamogenin, yamogenin II, zeaxanthin.
Plant part used
Plant, root and ripe fruits (seeds).
Traditional uses
- To the Indian community, A. officinalis is a diuretic, laxative, sedative, cardiotonic, galactagogue.
- The young shoots has diuretic, emmenagogue and aphrodisiac activities.
- Its diuretic effects renders it useful in the treatment of oedema caused by both renal and cardiac origin.
- It is used in irrigation therapy of urinary tract and has been advocated for use to prevent renal stones.
- To bring out the diuretic activity it was recommended that the root or the shoot be boiled and the decoction consumed.
- It is also prescribe in cases of cystitis and pyelitis.
Medicinal uses
- A. officinalis is very useful in the treatment arthritis including chronic gout, rheumatoid arthritis and simple rheumatism.
- It is a gentle aperitif and is recommended in relieving intestinal obstruction.
- Its diuretic property has been taken advantage of an recommended in cases of cardiac dropsy.
- It is also considered a galactagogue, an emmenagogue and aphrodisiac.
List of country
Europe, Caucasus, western Siberia, America, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Creator
Asparagus officinalis (Linnaeus,1753)
Source
Publisher
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Contributor
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Language
English
Collection
Citation
Asparagus officinalis (Linnaeus,1753), “Asparagus officinalis ,” BIDARA, accessed February 4, 2026, https://bidara.uthm.edu.my/items/show/446.