Crop of the week: Red leaf lettuce

-Good-quality red leaf lettuce will have fairly large, loose heads and thick, "crumpled" leaves. The leaves will be medium to dark-red at the ends. The rest of the leaves will be medium- to dark-green blending to nearly white ribs or veins. Scratch the stalk and smell. A sweet or bitter smell means sweet or bitter flavor.

-Red lettuce is becoming more popular since its leaves have a more delicate texture and a better flavor than the green-leaf varieties. The red color is as a result of anthocyanin, a water-soluble pigment occurring as a metabolic product.

-The red pigment in red leaf lettuce contains small amounts of antioxidants. Eating red leaf lettuce is a delicious way to get lots of vitamins A and K, plus the antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein. Dark-leaf lettuce provides more phytonutrients than iceberg lettuce.

-The scientific name of lettuce is Lactuca sativa. Lactuca means "milk forming"; sativa means "common." It is related to more than 100 wild species of Lactuca and also to sunflower, artichoke, aster and chrysanthemum.

-The lettuce that we see today actually started out as a weed around the Mediterranean basin. Served in dishes for more than 4,500 years, lettuce has certainly made its mark in history with tomb painting in Egypt and identification of different types of lettuces by various Greek scholars.

The ancient Greeks served lettuce at the end of a meal because they believed it made people sleepy. Christopher Columbus introduced lettuce to the new world. Thomas Jefferson grew 19 varieties of lettuce in his garden at Monticello.

-The construction of a home-cooked meal has become a casualty of the modern fast-paced lifestyle. People either eat out more frequently or rely on food packages that are partially

processed and therefore can be prepared quickly.

As salads are included in this drive for efficiency and speed, modern supermarkets have dedicated extensive shelf space to packaged salads containing what appears to be an infinite number of combinations of leaves (lettuce, cabbage, radicchio, spinach), cut vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), dressings, bacon bits, shredded cheeses, croutons, cut fruits and more.

-The oil pressed from large seeds of certain primitive types of lettuce contributes to a minor food use. The oil is used for cooking and is similar to other oils used for the same purpose. This practice is believed to be hundreds, perhaps thousands of years old.

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Source: Kurt Nolte is an agriculture agent with the Yuma County Cooperative Extension. He can be reached at knolte@cals.arizona.edu or 726-3904.