Abstract
The total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of the leaves and stems of curly leaf (Petroselinum crispum) and flat leaf (P. crispum var. neapolitanum) parsley cultivars were extracted from fresh tissue and measured using HPLC chromatography. There were no significant differences between the total and insoluble oxalate contents of the leaves between the flat leaf and curly leaf cultivars. There was a small difference (P < 0.05) between the soluble oxalate contents of the leaves of the two cultivars. The mean total, soluble and insoluble oxalates of the leaves of the two cultivars were 1137.0, 177.9 and 959.3 mg/100 g dry matter (DM), respectively. The mean total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of the stems were 1680.7, 386.2 and 1294.5 mg/100 g DM, respectively, and these were significantly higher than the mean values for the leaves of the two cultivars. Insoluble oxalate made up a mean of 77.0% of the curly leaf stems and leaves compared to a mean of 84.4% found in the flat-leaved cultivar. Unavailable calcium, that is, calcium bound to oxalate as insoluble oxalate, made up a mean of 26.9% of the total calcium in the leaves of both cultivars while the unavailable calcium made up 45.0% of the total calcium in the stems of the two cultivars. Overall, the oxalate contents of both parsley cultivars are relatively high, on a dry matter basis, but their overall contribution to dietary intake is likely to be quite small as parsley is an herb that is only used in small amounts to garnish foods.
Highlights
Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region and has since become naturalised in most areas worldwide
An early report on the oxalate content of a range of vegetables [1] indicated that moss curled parsley contained 166.0 mg/100 g fresh material, while a later report [2] indicated that parsley grown in the USA contained 170 mg total oxalates/100 g wet matter (WM)
There were no significant differences between the total and insoluble oxalate contents of the leaves between the flat leaf and curly leaf cultivars
Summary
Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region and has since become naturalised in most areas worldwide. In European cooking, curly leaf parsley is often sprinkled as a garnish on many fish, potato and chicken dishes. A review of a wide range of vegetables [3] reported that parsley contained between 140 - 200 mg of total oxalates/100 g WM and placed it in Group 3 (where the ratio of oxalate to calcium is
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