Food in Season: April

April is known as a bit of an in-between month for fresh produce in the UK, the harsh winter season is over, and crops are starting to emerge but not yet ready to harvest, fruit is particularly limited with just rhubarb in season. Rhubarb is high in fibre, vitamin C and calcium making it a good choice to support gut health and maintain bone health, it can be used in both sweet dishes within a fruit compote or crumble or as a savoury accompaniment to pork or duck.

Vegetables are more varied, root vegetables such as carrots, beetroot and potatoes are still available as well as a great variety of leafy greens such as rocket, kale, spinach and young cabbage, also known as spring greens. Leafy greens are one of the best options for adding a real nutritional boost to your diet as they combine unusually high levels of a variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants as well as being very low in calories (Nemzer et al, 2021).

Asparagus is also in season at the moment, there are a number of different varieties available which suit different types of preparation for example asparagus tips are finer and cook more quickly so can be used in stir-fry’s, jubilee asparagus is a bit thicker and perfect for steaming, jumbo asparagus are great for the BBQ.

Asparagus is particularly rich in vitamin K which plays a key role in blood clotting and bone metabolism and folate which is an essential nutrient to support pregnancy as it is involved in DNA synthesis and cell division. Asparagus is also known as a powerful prebiotic (food for gut microbes) due to it’s high fibre content and the presence of inulin, a soluble fibre that stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut as well as slowing down digestive transit time leading to increased satiety and improved blood sugar control (Qin et al, 2023)…perfect antidote for your Easter chocolate consumption!

References

Nemzer B, Al-Taher F, Abshiru N. Extraction and Natural Bioactive Molecules Characterization in Spinach, Kale and Purslane: A Comparative Study. Molecules. 2021 Apr 26;26(9):2515. doi: 10.3390/molecules26092515. PMID: 33925848; PMCID: PMC8123472.

Qin YQ, Wang LY, Yang XY, Xu YJ, Fan G, Fan YG, Ren JN, An Q, Li X. Inulin: properties and health benefits. Food Funct. 2023 Apr 3;14(7):2948-2968. doi: 10.1039/d2fo01096h. PMID: 36876591.