Celery

Abstract

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a salad crop grown for its long fleshy leaf stalk. It resembles leafy onion. The seed is both a spice and a condiment. It ranks second in importance among salad crops. In the USA, France and in other European countries, it is grown commercially and is available in the market throughout the year, but it is not a commercially popular vegetable in India. There are three commonly used types of celery. The leafy types are referred to as var. seculinum, blanched celery as var. dulce and celeriac (with swollen edible roots) as var. rapaceum (Smith, 1976). The celeriac is also known as the turnip-rooted celery (Pruthi, 1976). Intergeneric hybridization of celery and parsley (Petroselinum crispum) has been reported (Smith, 1976).