Rhubarb (2024)

FAQs

Is A rhubarb A vegetable or a fruit? ›

Rhubarb is a vegetable despite its prescient use in fruit pies, jams, and coulis. Fruit is something a plant produces to nourish its the seeds..

Rhubarb has an extremely tart flavor that many find unpleasant. It's crunchy like celery when raw, but it becomes soft and after it's cooked. The sour flavor does mellow a little when cooked, but rhubarb is almost always mixed with sugar to counteract the lip-puckering taste.

Rhubarb is an excellent source of vitamin K, which is an essential vitamin for bone health and blood clotting. The vitamin A in rhubarb may also help to fight free radicals that cause skin damage and premature aging, keeping your skin looking healthy and youthful.

Its stalks are deeper red and tinged with green, while its leaves are bright green. It has a more intense flavour and robust texture than the forced variety. Although it can be eaten raw, rhubarb tends to be too tart this way, and it's usually best when cooked with plenty of sugar.

Rhubarb is a type of laxative called a stimulant laxative. Stimulant laxatives can cause diarrhea and decrease potassium levels. Some medications for inflammation, called corticosteroids, can also decrease potassium levels. Taking these products together might cause potassium levels to drop too low.

When do you have to worry about rhubarb? Rhubarb in your garden that has frozen to the point where the stalks become damaged or mushy should be discarded. Check the leaves, too. If the stalks are firm and upright and the leaves have little damage, the rhubarb is OK.

Depending on your location, rhubarb is typically available from early spring (the end of March or early April) to late spring or early summer (around May or June).

With strawberry and rhubarb, the two foods meld together so well that the result is greater than the parts. That's because strawberries are sweet and rhubarb is tangy, so you get that classic sweet-sour combination that makes coleslaw so wonderful, or mignonette so perfect for bathing your raw oyster.

Wash rhubarb with cool tap water, but do not soak.

It is POSSIBLY SAFE for most adults when taken by mouth in medicinal amounts for up to 3 months. Rhubarb can cause some side effects such as stomach and intestinal pain, watery diarrhea, and uterine contractions. Long-term use can result in muscular weakness, bone loss, potassium loss, and irregular heart rhythm.

Is rhubarb good or bad for arthritis? ›

Thus, the formulation may be a potential preventive or therapeutic candidate for the treatment of chronic inflammation and arthritis. From these data it can be concluded that in contrast to Rheum species used in medicine, no risk is associated with the use of rhubarb as a food.

Fights Inflammation

Rhubarb stalks contain anthocyanins, the compound that gives them their deep, red color. A study in the Annual Review of Food Science and Technology found that eating foods rich in anthocyanins was associated with less inflammation and more protection against chronic diseases like diabetes.

Rhubarb stems are safe for dogs to eat, but rhubarb leaves can be poisonous. A dog would need to eat quite a few rhubarb leaves before becoming sick. Nevertheless, be watchful if you grow rhubarb in your own backyard, or if your dog gets into a rhubarb patch on your morning walk.

Certain plants, such as rhubarb, are toxic to deer. Deer usually also avoid root vegetables (which require digging) and prickly vegetables such as cucumbers and squashes with hairy leaves. Cultivars with strong odors such as onions, garlic and fennel are not palatable to deer.

Preparation of fresh rhubarb

If you buy it during the peak season (April to June), peeling isn't necessary. But after peak season, the stalks can be tough, and peeling with a small and sharp knife might be necessary to help make it more palatable (via BBC Good Food).