Concentrated in beetroot and leafy greens. Oral bacteria reduce it to nitrite, which the body can convert to nitric oxide — which is why antibacterial mouthwash blunts the effect.
6 foods, grouped by presence band. Bands are used instead of amounts because compound content swings widely with cultivar, soil, storage and preparation — a single number per food would look more precise than the measurements justify.
One of the compounds this food is characterised by in the literature.
Eruca vesicaria
A peppery salad leaf in the mustard family, eaten raw or briefly wilted. Its sharpness comes from isothiocyanates released when…
Beta vulgaris
The swollen taproot of a cultivated Beta vulgaris, deep red from betalain pigments. It is among the richest dietary sources of…
Consistently reported in this food in amounts researchers treat as meaningful.
Spinacia oleracea
A fast-growing leafy annual in the amaranth family, eaten raw as young leaves or cooked as mature ones. It wilts to a fraction of…
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
A leafy form of the same species as beetroot, grown for its leaves and thick stalks rather than its root. The coloured stems owe…
Recorded in this food without a dependable quantity attached to it.
Asparagus officinalis
The young shoots of a perennial lily relative, harvested in spring. White asparagus is the same plant grown covered so the spears…
Apium graveolens
The fibrous leaf stalks of a cultivated umbellifer, eaten raw or used as an aromatic base in cooking. It is mostly water by…