In our day-to-day life, we consume lots of vegetables as it is very essential to our health. They provide us with sufficient nutrients and vitamins which support the functioning of our body.
The two well-known vegetables, turnip and radish, share similar looks and tastes, but they vary in many parameters.
Key Takeaways
- Turnips have a mild, sweet taste, while radishes have a peppery, slightly spicy taste.
- Turnips have a larger, rounder shape and a light purple or white color, whereas radishes are smaller and can be red, pink, or white.
- Turnips are cooked and consumed in dishes, while radishes are commonly eaten raw in salads or as a garnish.
Turnip vs Radish
Turnip is a round or oval-shaped vegetable with a white or cream-colored flesh and a purple or greenish skin. Radish is a small, round or oblong-shaped vegetable with a white or red skin and a crisp, juicy flesh, having a slightly spicy and peppery flavor, and is commonly eaten raw in salads.
The turnip is also known as a white turnip. It is a root vegetable belonging to the Brassica genus and is mostly grown in the temperate climate, which is the temperature occurring in the middle of the earth’s latitudes.
The word turnip is a Latin word derived from the word “Napus”, signifying plant, and “turn,” which means round plant.
Radish is a root plant belonging to the category of the Raphanus genus, and it is mostly grown in the winter season and consumed all over the world.
Radish is commonly eaten as a salad. It is a crop that is easy to sow and harvest and hence can be grown in gardens with adequate sunlight, nutrients, water, etc.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Turnip | Radish |
|---|---|---|
| Genus | Turnip is belonging to the Brassica genus. | They are rich in calcium and vitamins and help our digestion, etc. |
| Season | Mostly grown in the temperate climate. | It is grown in the winter climate. |
| Nutrients | They are rich in calcium and vitamins, and help our digestion, etc. | They provide us with calcium and fiber and are known as immunity boosters. |
| Species | It is a root vegetable. | It is a root plant. |
| Gestation period | The gestation period is around 60 days. | Radish takes around 20-25 days to be grown. |
What is Turnip?
A turnip is a root vegetable belonging to the Brassica genus. They are mostly grown in temperate climates. The gestation period for the turnip is around 60 days and requires soil rich in potassium and phosphorus and sufficient water. Turnip is not suitable for soil rich in nitrogen.
Turnip is derived from the Latin word “Napus”, which means plant, and the word “turn”. Together, turnip means round plant. Even though its name signifies it is a plant, scientists after conducting many kinds of research had found that turnip is belonging to the vegetable species.
Turnip is rich in calcium and many vitamins, which are helpful in faster digestion. They are nutritional boosters, provide protection against harmful bacteria, and are used as anticancer medicines.
The greens present in the turnip are very helpful to our skins. They help us to maintain healthy and smooth skin and are also vital for healthy hair growth.
Mostly, people consume turnip after cooking them, but it is highly advised to eat raw turnip in salads because when turnip is cooked, the green leaves of turnip are either cut or they lose their nutrients while cooking. Hence, turnips are very essential to our overall body health.
What is Radish?
A radish is a root plant belonging to the Raphanus genus. They are mostly grown in winter climates. The gestation period for the radish is around 22-25 days and requires sandy loam soil rich in high organic matter contents and sufficient water.
One of the advantages of growing radish is it does not require much water and grows in the cool season. Seeds of the radish germinate in 2-3 days, and the radish will be available for harvesting within the next 20 days. Thus the gestation period for growing radish is very less.
Radish is rich in calcium, minerals, and potassium and hence they are used as an anti-oxidants. Radish is rich in vitamin C and is helpful in strengthening our bones.
There are many nutrients present in radishes, and these nutrients help to decrease the chances of heart disease and result in improved blood flow.
It is also advised that consuming a moderate amount of radishes is good for health as consuming a lot of radishes creates problems in our digestive system.
Hence, radish is good for health when it is consumed in moderate amount, and they improve the overall health of our body as they are rich in fibre, phosphorous, calcium, etc.
Main Differences Between Turnip and Radish
- Turnip is a root vegetable, while radish is a root plant.
- Turnip belongs to the Brassica genus while radish belongs to the Raphanus genus.
- Turnip grows in a moderate climate in the middle of the latitude. It has a gestation period of about 60 days, while radish grows in cool seasons and has a gestation period of about 22-25 days. Hence, it is easy to grow a radish than a turnip.
- Turnip is rich in calcium and vitamins and is helpful in proper digestion of the body, while radish is rich in calcium, phosphorous and fibre, and they are used as anti-oxidants.
- Radish has a crunchy structure and sweet taste while turnip is milder in flavour. Radish is bitter at first and gets sweeter as it gets older while turnip is sweeter at first and gets bitter as it grows older.
References
- https://aocs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1007/BF02532563
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-34536-7_3
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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