The winter pantry hides a treasure

(Photo: Pixabay)

Celery is a well-stored and versatile superfood. We can also think of celery as the queen of root vegetables, as it can be eaten raw in salads and cream soups, as a tasty vegetable side dish, or even spicy pureed and as a sauce. Celery fits perfectly into the modern, health-conscious diet. The great value of the celery tuber is its high sodium content, in the presence of which the absorption of calcium is more efficient, but it also contains phosphorus, iron, potassium, magnesium, it is also rich in folic acid and has a high vitamin C content: up to 30-50 per 100 grams milligrams can also be found. On the one hand, due to its high mineral content, it is an excellent component of a diet or winter diet, which is generally poorer in vitamins. In addition, celery has a very high fiber content, which speeds up digestion and metabolism. Thanks to its diuretic effect, it also helps flush out excess water trapped between cells from the body.

According to the overview of the National Chamber of Agriculture and the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Association (FruitVeB), domestic celery consumption shows an increasing trend

The demand is continuous and stable, so its cultivation is also an excellent perspective for farmers. In Hungary, based on the areas notified for area-based support, celery was grown on a total of 176 hectares in 2023, the two main growing areas are located in the county of Pest (88 ha) and the county of Csongrád-Csanád (66 ha). We are a net importer of celery: while we exported a total of 2,019 tons of celery in 2022, more than that, around 2,502 tons, arrived in our country from foreign markets. At the same time, the ratios have improved a lot in the past year, because previously we typically imported twice the amount we exported. Celery tubers are harvested in late autumn, in October-November, after which they are stored in bulk in wooden crates at 0.5C and 98% humidity. Of course, it is also sold as a fresh product immediately after harvesting. Celery is basically sold in two ways: by the piece, as leafy celery with leaves, and as celery by the kilo without leaves.

In the case of celery, more and more hybrid celery varieties are marketed for commercial cultivation

These perform significantly better than constant varieties in terms of form, yield, uniformity and foliage structure. Accordingly, hybrid types of celery are becoming more and more common, they are used almost exclusively in Western Europe. At the same time, these hybrid varieties are less tolerant of technological shortcomings, optimized cultivation technology plays a decisive role in order to achieve the best results. The producers were recently able to participate in a celery variety demonstration and a professional day in Bugyin jointly organized by Novisem BV and Csizmadi horticulture. The event was held with extremely high interest and many participants. In addition to domestic production experiences, Macedonian, Slovak and Serbian producers also reported on their results.

NAK/FruitVeB