It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows up to 30 cm tall. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size from about 2–30 cm long and 1–15 cm broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, 3–4 mm in diameter, maturing into a small, hard, dry, lumpy fruit cluster 5–10 mm across containing several seeds.
Common spinach, S. oleracea, was long considered to be in the family Chenopodiaceae, but in 2003, that family was merged into the family Amaranthaceae in the order Caryophyllales. Within the family Amaranthaceae sensu lato, Spinach belongs to subfamily Chenopodioideae.
Ch. = Choline; Ca = Calcium; Fe = Iron; Mg = Magnesium; P = Phosphorus; K = Potassium; Na = Sodium; Zn = Zinc; Cu = Copper; Mn = Manganese; Se = Selenium; %DV = % daily value i.e. % of DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) Note: All nutrient values including protein are in %DV per 100 grams of the food item. Significant values are highlighted in light Gray color and bold letters. Cooking reduction = % Maximum typical reduction in nutrients due to boiling without draining for ovo-lacto-vegetables group Q = Quality of Protein in terms of completeness without adjusting for digestability.
In a 100-g serving providing only 23 calories, spinach has a high nutritional value, especially when fresh, frozen, steamed, or quickly boiled. It is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, iron and folate (table). Spinach is a good source (10-19% of DV) of the B vitamins riboflavin and vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and dietary fiber.
The comics and cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man has been portrayed since 1931 as having a strong affinity for spinach, becoming physically stronger after consuming it. The commonly accepted version of events states this portrayal was based on faulty calculations of the iron content.In this version, German scientist Emil von Wolff misplaced a decimal point in an 1870 measurement of spinach's iron content, leading to an iron value ten times higher than it should have been, and this faulty measurement was not noticed until the 1930s. This caused the popular misconception that spinach is exceedingly high in iron that makes the body stronger.
Criminologist Mike Sutton wrote an article in the Internet Journal of Criminology, claiming the Popeye and iron link is just another long-standing myth, and spinach was chosen and promoted in Popeye for its vitamin A content alone. In the cited article, he also disputes the above — what he calls the 'Spinach Popeye Iron Decimal Error Story (SPIDES)' — due to lack of verifiable sources, although he found a different reference from 1934 reporting 20 times the actual iron content. In another article, Sutton distinguishes between the myth of spinach's iron content, which he blames on "bad science", and the myth that the error was caused by a misplaced decimal point.
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