Veel inheemse wilde soorten. Rapunzelklokje of repelsteeltje (Campanula rapunculus) is een plant uit de klokjesfamilie (Campanulaceae). De plant groeit op kalkhoudende zandgrond, vooral langs grote rivieren. Deze plant staat in Nederland op de rode lijst. In Nederland is de plant vanaf 1 januari 2017 niet meer wettelijk beschermd.
De 30-50 cm hoge plant heeft een kantige en licht behaarde stengel. De wortel is vlezig. De rozetbladeren zijn kort eirond en getand. De duidelijk klokjesvormige bloemen zijn 2-3 cm lang en gesteeld. De kelkslippen zijn lijn tot priemvormig. De bloemkleur is lichtpaars of een enkele maal wit. Aan de voet van de bloemsteel lijken twee schutblaadjes te groeien.
Akkerklokje. De wetenschappelijke naam van het akkerklokje (Campanula rapunculoides) geeft aan dat deze zou lijken op het rapuzelklokje. Het akkerklokje heeft echter bredere bladeren, bredere kelkslippen, en de bloemen zijn aan de stengel naar één kant gekeerd.
Het rapunzelklokje is al in de middeleeuwen bekend als rauwkostgroente. Wortel en blad zijn te eten als salade. De smaak van de wortel lijkt op radijs, maar dan zoet en opvallend zacht. Het blad is neutraal van smaak. In de middeleeuwen werd de plant in het veld verzameld. Als groente werd ze ook medicinaal voorgeschreven.
The Rapunzel in itself has little medicinal worthwhile to be taken into account. In some cases the seeds have been used, but without any remarkable activity. It is considered a plant with astringent and vulnerary addition to whet the appetite. In practice, the best use we can give is in salads, useful for diabetics. The reason is that the root contains no starch, but a polymer fructofuranose, yielding fructose under hydrolysis, this polymer is called inulin, and is perfectly compatible with the diets for diabetics. This way you can prepare delicious salad Rapunzel root base. In spring it is not difficult to find this root, previously cleaned up in all the squares of the people of Catalonia. Insulin is properly purified, is also used to determine kidney function. This test is performed at the laboratory and, logically, the inulin used in pure form, not the root of Rapunzel or any other plant. The family of campanuláceas not characterized by large species with medicinal properties, as mentioned earlier, but in the field of nutrition in people with diabetes, is gaining ever more acceptance of using different carbohydrate polymers to glucose. The group of diabetics in the world and specifically in Spain, is broad enough to devote a good deal of time researching new food sources
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair
Campanula is a large genus that includes a plant with which -- while it's no household name -- you may be indirectly familiar thanks to one of the better-known Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Anyone read to as a child out of this volume remembers the famous injunction, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Others may have heard of Rapunzel and her storied locks via a "Fractured Fairy Tales" segment on the old Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. You may not recall much about the plant featured in the story, though, so let's review.
The tale begins with a woman fixated upon her neighbor's garden, specifically, "a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion (rapunzel)." She craved it so much that she had her husband execute multiple thefts upon the rampion patch. The rampion, however, did not belong to any ordinary neighbor. No, this neighbor was a witch. And when the witch discovered the thefts, she imposed a steep penalty upon the couple: they would have to hand over their first-born child as payment.
That child turned out to be -- you guessed it -- Rapunzel, she of the proverbially long hair.
The rampion of this fairy tale was a plant related to Dalmation bellflower: namely, Campanula rapunculus. According to Botanical.com, "The name Rampion is derived from its Latin specific name, Rapunculus, a diminutive of rapa (a turnip)." The name of the unfortunate child, Rapunzel, derives from the same term. The root of rampion was cooked and eaten as one would a turnip or radish; the above-ground vegetation was eaten in salads.
Chem Biodivers. 2013 Jun;10(6):1072-80. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.201200094. Campanula portenschlagiana ROEM. et SCHULT.: chemical and antimicrobial activities. Politeo O1, Skocibusic M, Burcul F, Maravic A, Carev I, Ruscic M, Milos M.
The phytochemical profile and the antimicrobial effects of the volatile oil and the aqueous extract of Campanula portenschlagiana, a wild growing plant endemic to Croatia, were described. In the volatile oil, 53 compounds were identified by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. Diterpene alcohols constituted the major compound class with labda-13(16),14-dien-8-ol as the main compound. The aqueous extract was characterized by the total phenolic content. The antimicrobial potential of the volatile oil and the aqueous extract was evaluated against a diverse range of microorganisms comprising food-spoilage and food-borne pathogens. The volatile oil exhibited interesting and promising antimicrobial effects against the tested species, which were generally more pronounced against Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, the inhibitory effect of this volatile oil was also evaluated against eleven extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing isolates. The results suggest that the C. portenschlagiana volatile oil might be used as antimicrobial agent against ESBL-producing isolates and Gram-negative bacteria.
J Exp Bot. 2000 Jul;51(348):1261-6. The role of fructan in flowering of Campanula rapunculoides.
Vergauwen R1, Van den Ende W, Van Laere A.
Inulin type fructan was detected in all vegetative organs of Campanula rapunculoides L. plants. All flower parts contained fructan at some developmental stage. A steady decrease was found in sepals during development. Petals, however, stored fructan in the bud stage. A rapid breakdown during opening of the flower resulted in high concentrations of glucose and especially fructose that may contribute to the osmotic driving force involved in petal expansion. Before complete shrivelling, the hexoses were apparently exported from flower parts. Fructans were hydrolysed and exported from the stamen and style tissue upon flower opening. Similarly, the major fructan reserves in the ovary were broken down almost simultaneously with those in other flower parts. Hexoses did not reach high levels in the ovary, probably because they were rapidly metabolized and/or incorporated by developing seeds.