“vegetables” are described elsewhere in this booklet as, for example, “Root Crops”
Vegetables generally provide very little in the way of energy, but are useful in
making high energy food such as cereals and root crops more interesting and
palatable to eat. They are also very often valuable sources of fibre (both soluble and
insoluble), vitamins, especially A and C, and certain trace elements.
The most important plant families that provide vegetables are listed below:
Alliaceae (Liliaceae). The onion family; leeks, garlic and chives.
Asteraceae (Compositae). The daisy sunflower family; both the Jerusalem and
Globe artichoke, chicory, endive, lettuce, salsify (oyster plant) and sunflower.
Chenopodiaceae. The beet family; spinach, leaf beet, sugar beet, beetroot, Good
King Henry, kaniwa, Lambs Quarters, orach, quinoa and Swiss chard and orach.
Cruciferae(sometimes called Brassicaceae). The cabbage (or mustard) family. The
vegetables in this family are mainly in the Brassica Genus, such as cauliflower,
cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collard/kale, rape, turnip and
kohlrabi. These are sometimes called “cole crops”, a term reflecting the fact that
these crops are primarily stem crops. Cruciferae which are not also Brassicas include
garden cress, watercress and radish.
Cucurbitaceae. The gourd family; marrows, courgettes, cucumbers, melon and
watermelon, pumpkin, squash and chayote.
Labiatae. This is mainly a family of herbs used for flavouring, such as mint, sage,
thyme and oregano, and so are not true vegetables. The few vegetables present in
this family have edible tuberous roots, found in some species of Woundwort
(Stachys affinis), the Chinese artichoke, and in the African genus Plectranthus.
Leguminosae. The legume, or pulse, family; mainly the beans and peas, both of
which have varieties grown as field crops as well as vegetables—French beans,
mange tout peas and snowpeas have edible pods, and a few species such as Apios
tuberosa also produce edible root tubers.
Liliaceae (Alliaceae). The onion family; leeks, garlic and chives.
Poaceae(Graminae). The grass family produces most of the world’s food, in the
form of wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, millet and so on. However only a few of them
are eaten as vegetables; these include sweetcorn, lemon grass and wild rice (Zizania
aquatica).
Solanaceae. The nightshade family; Irish potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and aubergine.
Umbelliferae(Apiaceae). The carrot family;carrot, caraway, celeriac, celery,
coriander, fennel, anise, dill, coriander, caraway, cumin, ginseng, hemlock, parsley
& parsnip.
Three other less important families, Araceae, Convulvulaceae and Dioscoriaceae
produce the Taro, Sweet Potato and Yams respectively. Plants from at least another
15 plant families are also grown to be eaten as vegetables. The common and
botanical names of many of these are listed in Section 3A, pages 288–309.
The word “vegetable” is an imprecise term—many crops that are often described as
(Irish potato) or “Legumes” (peas, beans, etc). For the purposes of this publication,
vegetables are defined as being plants eaten whole or in part, either cooked or
raw, and which do not usually constitute the main part of the meal or diet.