Iceberg Lettuce: Give it a Nutritional Boost

Tag : lettuce


You'd never know it by taking a head count at the supermarket, buticeberg lettuce is losing favour with consumers looking for moreflavour and nutrition from their salad greens.
Iceberg has been contemptuously called the "polyester of allthe lettuce types," and critics claim it has about as muchdietary value as sticking a blade of grass between your teeth.
"Iceberg is 95 to 96 percent water, although it brings alittle fiber and folic acid to the table," said David Still, aplant science professor at California State Polytechnic Universityat Pomona. "Compared to others, though, its nutrient contentis unbelievably low - about one-twentieth the amount of vitamins asthe darker leafy greens."
For the past half-dozen years, Still has been trying to develop aniceberg variety that is easier to grow, has a longer shelf lifeafter harvest and packs more nutritional value.
So far he has managed to cross iceberg lettuce with some butterlettuces, boosting its levels of antioxidants and vitamins A, C, Eand K.
"We don't think it (hybridization) will change the iceberg'staste that much but it is one of the things we're watching,"Still said. "We're aware that iceberg's mild taste has beenpopular."
It will be at least a couple of years before a more wholesomeiceberg variety is ready to market, he said.
There was a time when iceberg was the most celebrated of lettuces,said George Ball, chairman and chief executive officer of W. AtleeBurpee & Co., the Pennsylvania seed house where the variety wasdeveloped in the late 19th Century.
"The whole thing about iceberg is the crunch," Ball said."Americans love that crunch in a sandwich. But in the '60s and'70s, the trend started moving toward leaf lettuces. Romaine inCaesar salads, for instance. It was getting harder to find aniceberg being served in restaurants."
The fragility of leaf lettuces - that they don't take well tofreezing, drying or canning, and wilt quickly after being cut fromthe garden - made them something of a localized market item beforethe iceberg came along, Ball said. The convergence of iceberglettuce and boxcar icing - heaping green heads resembling icebergsupon arrival - meant salads could be served fresh anywhere in thenation at any time of year.
"It shipped easily," Ball said. "You can't hurtit."
Then came the fall from favour, or flavour.
In 2006, the nation's growers harvested 175,600 acres of iceberglettuce, mostly in California and Texas. That was down from 198,500acres in 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
The romaine lettuce crop during that same period grew from 36,450acres to some 61,000 acres. Leaf lettuces rose from 46,220 acres to71,100 acres.
Yet Americans continue eating more iceberg lettuce than any othervariety, about 22 pounds per person per year in 2005, the USDAsaid. Romaine ran a distant second, about 8 pounds per capita.
Iceberg also is popular with weight watchers since it's virtuallyfat and cholesterol free. A medium-size head contains only about 70calories.
So until the healthier varieties come along, here are some simpleways to give iceberg lettuce a nutritious lift:
Mix it with greener greens that contain heavier concentrations ofcalcium, vitamins and proteins. Try spinach, arugula, chicory andendive.
Wrap the outer leaves around slices of meat and cheese, making acarbohydrate-neutral substitute for sliced breads.
Sweeten salads with fruits. Fresh strawberries and pineapple chunksare flavourful candidates in the summer.
If nothing else, remember that variety is as important as quantityin the human diet.
"No single fruit or vegetable provides all the nutrients youneed to be healthy," a Harvard School of Public Health factsheet says. "The key lies in the variety of differentvegetables and fruits that you eat."