Veldkers kleine / Cardamine hirsuta

• English: Hairy Bitter-cress

• Français: Cardamine hérissée

• Deutsch: Behaartes Schaumkraut

• Wetenschappelijk: Cardamine hirsuta

• Familie: Kruisbloemenfamilie, Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)

Mijn ideale wilde plant om op te eten. Pittig, zacht: door de sla, in de aardappelpuree, in een omelet, op de boterham .....

Recept: Een soort pesto veldkers met :

• - Maak een busseltje kleine veldkers fijn.

• - Plet een teentje knoflook (of een bolletje en pijpjes kraailook)

• - Doe veldkers en look samen met geroosterde pijnboompitten, een snufje zout, een beetje olijfolie en vers geraspte Parmezaanse kaas in een vijzel en wrijf goed fijn.

Doseringen?  een beetje meer olie als het geheel te droog blijft, wat meer kaas als het te vloeibaar is. Gewoon beginnen met een klein beetje olie en een beetje kaas, en beetje bij beetje olie toevoegen tot je een goeie consistentie hebt. 

Voedingswaarde                                                          

vit C (mg/100g) Vit A(mg/100g)  

• Amaranthus blitum Amaranthaceae      44.47                   152.98 

• Cardamine hirsute Brassicaceae      30.15                    250.81 

• Cestrum nocturnum Solanaceae         39.25                     474.20 

• Solanum nigrum Solanaceae                70.22                     389.70 

• Sonchus arvensis Asteraceae              22.42                     411.68 

• Brassica chinensis Brassicaceae           33.12                     411.68

http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Cardamine+hirsuta

Leaves and flowers - raw or cooked. A hot cress-like flavour, they are mainly used as a garnish or flavouring in salads etc but are also sometimes used as a potherb. The plant germinates most freely in the autumn and so leaves are usually available all winter.

Glucosinolates in wild Brassicacea Cardamine hirsuta and Brassica juncea

Certain sulfur-containing chemicals with pungent bitter taste are produced within the plants themselves, which are known as glucosinolates. The family specific chemicals are the part of mustard-oil glycosides (glucosinolates) which defend the plants against herbivores and microorganisms [2]. Glucosinolates and their metabolites also act as anti-tumor agents. The glucosinolate-myrosinase system is considered as one of the best studied plant chemical defenses. Beside this, the glucosinolates are non-toxic. It may be a wise approach to incorporate these edible and medicinal associates into our diets. Studies have shown that increased intakes of cruciferous vegetables are linked with a reduced threat of prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer [3] [4]. Research studies routinely show that wild varieties generally include higher levels of nutritional and medicinal compounds than their cultivated counter parts. 

• [3] Del Carmen Martínez-Ballesta M, Moreno DA, Carvajal M. The Physiological Importance of Glucosinolates on Plant Response to Abiotic Stress in Brassica. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2013; 14(6):11607-11625. doi:10.3390/ijms140611607. 

• [4] Fahey JW, Zhang Y, Talalay P. Broccoli sprouts: An exceptionally rich source of inducers of enzymes that protect against chemical carcinogens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1997; 94(19):10367-10372.

• Distribution of secondary metabolities contents in leaves of B. juncea and Cardamine hirsuta. Results clearly indicated the presence of various phytochemicals like tannin, flavonoid, alkaloid, anthocyanidin and phenols. This project focused on glucosinolates derived from Brassica juncea L and Cardamine hirsuta L. leaves and seeds. The study revealed that raw Cardamine hirsuta seeds showed the highest levels of glucosinolates compared to the Brassica juncea seeds. The results of this study showed that Cardamine hirsuta is a rich source of glucosinolates. The compound was detected at 230nm using the UV Spectrophotometer [13, 14].

•  Though further work to characterize the other chemical constituents and perform quantitative estimation with marker compounds is also necessary these data can also be considered along with the other values for fixing standards to this plant. Organic extracts of plants of Brassica juncea and Cardamine hirsutaleaves was separated for comparing its Glucosinolate content. Thus it can be concluded that Cardamine hirsuta contains 50.69% Glucosinolate comparatively more than Brassica juncea extract which is 18.88%. The study revealed that raw Cardamine seeds and leaves showed the highest level of glucosinolates compared to the raw mustard seeds and leaves samples when analyzed by U.V. spectrophotometer and by HPTLC methods [10, 11,12]. 

• Discussion: This study deals with the morphological study of Cardamine hirsuta plant which is the basis to know the life cycle to grow the plant with appropriate necessities and fruitful yield and for systematic study. Cardamine hirsuta was used in comparison of the commercial Brassica juncea plant to compare the secondary metabolite contents. Phytochemical screening of both the plants was carried out qualitatively. It is reported that Mustard has antibacterial, antifungal and anticancerous activity [13]. These activities may be attributed to various phytochemicals present in the extract. Tannin is reported to have antimicrobial activity and antibacterial activity.

• Further a specific secondary metabolite; Glucosinolate of great importance was then chosen and quantified. Comparative study of glucosinolate levels in commercial Brassica juncea and wild weed Cardamine hirsuta was carried out. The dietary intakes of glucosinolates showed various benefits to health. The Levels of leaf glucosinolates are known to regulate during plant development. Mechanical damage or insect feeding. A three step process to obtain main glucosinolate from Brassica junecea and Cardamine hirsuta was carried out. The steps involved extraction with methanol, separation and purification by chromatographic column. HPTLC was performed to separate key component of Cardamine hirsuta and Brassica juncea extract i.e. glucosinolates, which are reported to have anticancerous activity. This can be indicated from the known Rf values of the compounds. We have found the presence of glucosinolate at 0.24 rf values which correspond to standard Rf values of 3-methylsulfinylpropyl GS (0.27). Also it has been noted that Hexane: ethyl acetate gave good results. Methanolic organic extract was used to detect the presence of glucosinolates in different extracts of Card amine hirsuta and Brassica juncea. This study further validates Cardamine hirsuta as an anticancer therapeutic plant. This weed can be included in diet for its therapeutic benefit. Future work with respect to the toxicity studies and invivo, invitro anticancer activity of Cardamine hirsuta for cancer is envisaged. 

• [10] Arora, Rohit, Adarsh P. Vig, and Saroj Arora. "Glucosinolates: transposing trends of identification methods from paper chromatography to microchip analysis." Int J Life Sci Biotech & Pharma Res 3 (2014): 42-61. [11] Devi, J. Renuka, and E. Berla Thangam. "Extraction and separation of glucosinolates from Brassica Oleraceae var Rubra." Advances in Biological Research 4.6 (2010): 309-313. [12] Ayoola, G. A., et al. "Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activities of some selected medicinal plants used for malaria therapy in Southwestern Nigeria." Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 7.3 (2008): 1019-1024. 47 [13] Bellostas, Natalia, Jens Christian Sørensen, and Hilmer Sørensen. "Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of glucosinolates in cruciferous plants during their life cycles." Agroindustria 3.3 (2004): 5-10. 48 [14] Marton, Melinda-Rita, and Vasile Lavric. "A simple method for the quantification of isothiocyanates from mustard." Scientific Bulletin, Series B, University Politehnica of Bucharest 75.1 (2013): 63-72. 49