H OH metabolites OH Review Green and White Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis): A Source of Developmental, Chemical and Urinary Intrigue Eirini Pegiou 1 , Roland Mumm 2, Parag Acharya 3, Ric C. H. de Vos 2 and Robert D. Hall 1,2,4,* 1 Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 2 Business Unit Bioscience, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 16, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;
[email protected] (R.M.);
[email protected] (R.C.H.d.V.) 3 Unilever Foods Innovation Centre, Bronland 14, 6708WH Wageningen, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 4 Netherlands Metabolomics Centre, Einsteinweg 55, 2333CC Leiden, The Netherlands * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 2 December 2019; Accepted: 18 December 2019; Published: 25 December 2019 Abstract: Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is one of the world’s top 20 vegetable crops. Both green and white shoots (spears) are produced; the latter being harvested before becoming exposed to light. The crop is grown in nearly all areas of the world, with the largest production regions being China, Western Europe, North America and Peru. Successful production demands high farmer input and specific environmental conditions and cultivation practices. Asparagus materials have also been used for centuries as herbal medicine. Despite this widespread cultivation and consumption, we still know relatively little about the biochemistry of this crop and how this relates to the nutritional, flavour, and neutra-pharmaceutical properties of the materials used. To date, no-one has directly compared the contrasting compositions of the green and white crops.