Petasites japonicus

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae}} {{Redirect|Fuki|the Japanese singer|Fuki (musician)}} {{Speciesbox | name = Giant butterbur | image = FukiJI1.jpg | image_caption = Adult fuki | image2 = Petasites japonicus.jpg | image2_caption = Fuki shoot | genus = Petasites | species = japonicus | authority = (Siebold & Zucc.) Maxim. }} {{nutritional value | name=Butterbur (fuki), raw | kJ=59 | protein=0.39 g | fat=0.04 g | carbs=3.61 g | calcium_mg=103 | iron_mg=0.1 | magnesium_mg=13 | phosphorus_mg=12 | potassium_mg=655 | sodium_mg=7 | zinc_mg=0.16 | manganese_mg=0.274 | vitC_mg=31.5 | thiamin_mg=0.02 | riboflavin_mg=0.02 | niacin_mg=0.2 | pantothenic_mg=0.032 | vitB6_mg=0.096 | folate_ug=10 | source_usda=1 | note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170385/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry] }} [[File:Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol. 30, page 004 - 款冬 - Petasites japonicus, 1804.jpg|thumb|''Petasites japonicus'', illustration from the Japanese agricultural encyclopedia ''Seikei Zusetsu'' (1804)]] '''''Petasites japonicus''''', also known as '''butterbur''', '''giant butterbur''', '''great butterbur''', '''fuki''' and '''sweet-coltsfoot''', is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae.<ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN}}</ref> It is native to China, Japan, Korea and Sakhalin and introduced in Europe and North America. It was introduced to southern British Columbia in Canada by Japanese migrants.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pojar, Jim |author2=MacKinnon, Andy | title = Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast | publisher = Lone Pine Publishing | year = 1994 | page = 294 | isbn = 978-1-55105-040-9}}</ref><ref name="Fawcett-Atkinson-2021">{{cite web |last1=Fawcett-Atkinson |first1=Marc |title=Why a Japanese Delicacy Grows Near Old British Columbia Internment Camps |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fuki-japanese-canadian-internment |website=Atlas Obscura |date=18 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021}}</ref>

It is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. Occasionally, morphologically hermaphroditic (but functionally sterile) flowers exist.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1139/B07-121|title=On the function of hermaphrodite florets in female inflorescences of ''Petasites japonicus'' (Asteraceae) |year=2008|last1=Sakai|first1=Satoki|last2=Suzuki|first2=Yuka|last3=Itagaki|first3=Tomoyuki|last4=Tsujisawa|first4=Hisashi|last5=Makino|first5=Takashi T.|journal=Botany|volume=86|issue=2|pages=179–184}}</ref>

== Culinary usage == The traditional preparation method for this vegetable involves pre-treating with ash or baking soda and soaking in water to remove harshness (astringency), which is a technique known as {{Nihongo||灰汁抜き|aku-nuki|literally "harshness removal"}}. The shoot can be chopped and stir fried with miso to make ''fuki-miso'' which is eaten as a relish thinly spread over hot rice at meals. The bulb-like shoots are also picked fresh and fried as tempura. In Korea, it is steamed or boiled and then pressed to remove water. Sesame oil or perilla oil is added in order to make namul.

== Toxicity == Like other ''Petasites'' species, fuki contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) which have been associated with cumulative damage to the liver and tumor formation.<ref name="Fu-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Fu |first1=P.P. |last2=Yang |first2=Y.-C. |last3=Xia |first3=Q. |last4=Chou |first4=M.W. |last5=Cui |first5=Y.Y. |last6=Lin |first6=G. |title=Pyrrolizidine alkaloids – tumorigenic components in Chinese herbal medicines and dietary supplements |journal=Journal of Food and Drug Analysis |date=2020 |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=8 |doi=10.38212/2224-6614.2743 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265873732 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Maxim-1977">{{cite journal |author1=Maxim Hirono I. |author2=Mori H. |author3=Yamada K. | title = Carcinogenic activity of petasitenine, a new pyrrolizidine alkaloid isolated from ''Petasites japonicus'' | journal = Journal of the National Cancer Institute | year = 1977 | volume = 58 | issue = 4 | pages = 1155–1157|doi=10.1093/jnci/58.4.1155 |pmid=191625 }}</ref> It also contains the carcinogenic PA petasitenine.<ref name="Maxim-1977"/> The concentration of hepatotoxic PAs can be reduced to a concentration below detection limits with a proper extraction process.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kalin P. |author2=Buel E.S. | title = The common butterbur – ''Petasites hybridus''. Portrait of a medicinal herb: History, pharmacology, clinical applications | journal = Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Ganzheitsmedizin | volume = 14 | issue = 5 | pages = 267–274}}</ref> Since many alkaloids are bitter, traditional methods of preparation may have evolved to remove them.

== Animal studies == Certain extracts of ''Petasites japonicus'' have found to be anti-inflammatory in a study of asthma in mice.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lee J.-S. |author2=Yang E.J. |author3=Yun C.-Y. |author4=Kim D.-H. |author5=Kim I.S. | title = Suppressive effect of ''Petasites japonicus'' extract on ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation in an asthmatic mouse model | journal = Journal of Ethnopharmacology | year = 2011 | volume = 133 | issue = 2 | pages = 551–557 | doi = 10.1016/j.jep.2010.10.038|pmid=21029770 }}</ref> Based on additional studies in mice, the plant may contain blood plasma and hepatic lipid-lowering and antioxidant compounds.<ref name="Park-2010">{{cite journal |author1=Park C.H. |author2=Kim M.Y. |author3=Sok D.-E. |author4=Kim J.H. |author5=Lee J.H. |author6=Kim M.R. | title = Butterbur (''Petasites japonicus'' Max.) extract improves lipid profiles and antioxidant activities in monosodium L-glutamate-challenged mice | journal = Journal of Medicinal Food | year = 2010 | volume = 13 | issue = 5 | pages = 1216–1223 | doi = 10.1089/jmf.2009.1380 | pmid = 20828319}}</ref>

== Folklore == thumb|"Koroppokuru Beneath a Butterbur" by Matsuura Takeshiro (Hakodate City Museum) The Ainu people refer to the previous inhabitants of Ezo as the Korpokkur or "people who dwelt below ground"; the name can also be interpreted as "people beneath the fuki", and so they are popularly associated with fuki leaves in art and mythology. More fantastic depictions of the Korpokkur portray them as tiny, fairy-like creatures small enough to use the leaves as roofs or umbrellas.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/koropokguruorpi00batcgoog|title=The Koropok-Guru or pit-dwellers of north Japan, and, A critical examination of the nomenclature of Yezo, Volume 19|year=1904|author=John Batchelor|author-link=John Batchelor (missionary)|publisher=Japan Mail|location=YOKOHAMA|access-date=25 October 2020|page=https://archive.org/details/koropokguruorpi00batcgoog/page/n13/mode/1up}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Commons-inline}} * {{PFAF|Petasites japonicus}} * [http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/dailyjc/hints/aku/aku.html Traditional itazuri technique]

japonicus Category:Flora of Japan Category:Japanese vegetables Category:Perennial vegetables Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Category:Plants described in 1846 Category:Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold Category:Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini Category:Taxa named by Karl Maximovich