Glossary description
Aeration To expose to, or treat with air or gas.
Annual A plant that completes its life cycle every year.
Astringent Severe, sharp taste causing tightening and drying to the mouth.
Biennial A plant that completes its life cycle every 2 years.
Blanched A culinary term which means to quickly plunge in boiling water and then in cool water.
Bract Specialised leaf or leaf like part usually found at the base of a flower.
Calyx The outermost part or husk of the flower that sometimes remains after fruiting. Husk or woody petals at the stem end of the fruit eg. The green top on a strawberry.
Calyx The outermost part or husk of the flower, which sometimes remains after fruiting. A husk or woody petals at the stem end of the fruit.
Carpels The seed bearing organs of a flower.
Chlorophyll The green pigment in plants that traps the energy of sunlight. It is a necessary component for the production of carbohydrates by photosynthesis.
Compote A dish of fruit cooked in sugar and water.
Corm Starchy mass at the base of the stem.
Crimson Deep purple/red colour.
Crudite Raw vegetables whether cut in slices or sticks to nibble plain or with a dip.
Cultivar A variety produced by cultivation.
Cumin A spice used in Indian cooking.
Deciduous A plant that loses its leaves every year i.e. a plant that has a seasonal loss of leaves (the opposite of evergreen).
Ethylene A gas with a simple hydrocarbon structure that plays an important role in ripening. It is associated with natural ripening i.e. it is naturally produced and emitted by ripening fruit, and is also used commercially to assist in the ripening of fruit, including bananas and tomatoes.
Evergreen A plant that retains living leaves all year round (opposite to deciduous).
Florets Part of the flower, a small flower eg. Broken up broccoli.
Folic acid (Folacin) One of the B group vitamins that is required for the process of forming new cells. Folic acid also helps to prevent anaemia.
Gelatinous Jelly like.
Gourds Bottle shaped fruit. In earlier times fruit was hollowed out, then shell dried and used for bottles and bowls. A gourd is a small necked bottle.
Grafted A shoot or part of a plant is attached to a groove or slit in another plant. The host plant feeds the shoot of the foreign plant. Eventually the two plants merge and grow together.
Husk The dry external covering or skin on fruit or seeds.
Inflorescence Flower clusters.
Julienne A culinary term that means to cut into long, thin strips.
Legume Crop Plants that have pods as fruit eg. Peas and beans.
Mealy Powdery texture.
Monounsaturated Fats One of the three types of fats found in food. Believed not to raise the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Niacin One of the B group vitamins. Vitamin B3.
Node A joint in a stem.
Palmate Shaped like an open palm or like a hand with the fingers stretched out.
Panicle A loose, branching flower cluster.
Parfait A dessert served in a tall glass made from layers of ice cream, fruit, jelly, syrup and nuts.
Pendulous Hanging freely.
Perennial A plant that has a life cycle of more than 2 years.
Piquant Pleasantly sharp in taste, pungent, biting and tart.
Polyunsaturated Fats One of the three types of fats found in foods. These exist in large quantities in vegetable oils eg. Safflower, sunflower, corn and soybean. Polyunsaturated fats lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Propagation To breed and grow plants.
Pungent A sharp, penetrating taste or smell.
Receptacle A vessel that contains something.
Rhizome A root like underground stem, which is horizontal and produces roots below and sends up shoots along the upper surface.
Riboflavin One of the B group vitamins. Vitamin B2.
Rosette A rose shaped arrangement.
Saturated Fats One of the three types of fats found in foods. Exist in large quantities in animal products, coconut and palm oils. They raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. As high cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease, saturated fat consumption is recommended to be less than 15% of the total kJ provided by the daily diet.
Tendrils A threadlike leafless organ of climbing plants. Tendrils often spiral to support the plant by attaching itself around some other body.
Thiamine One of the B group vitamins. Vitamin B1.
Tuber A long or round outgrowth of an underground stem from which new plants may grow, it is usually fleshy or starchy.
Vigorous Tree Fast growing, forceful healthy growth.

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