Vegetables and salicylate: 61 foods rated

Beetroot is high in salicylates, and the concentrated forms — juice and powdered supplements taken for sport — deliver several roots' worth in one go.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Gherkins carry more salicylate than the cucumber they are made from: 6 mg per 100 g, the top of a vegetable range that ran from 0 to 6 across a survey of 333 foods. The brine is part of what gets eaten, and the dill, peppercorns and mustard seed in it each carry salicylate of their own, so a jarred gherkin is not the raw cucumber it started as.

• Swain A.R., Dutton S.P. & Truswell A.S., Journal of the American Dietetic Association 85 (1985) 950–960, salicylic acid in 333 foods by HPLC at 235 nm — the authors note their extraction was more complete than earlier methods, so their figures run higher than other surveys'

Kimchi is high in salicylates because of what goes into it — chilli powder, garlic, ginger and spring onion — not because of the fermentation. The spice paste is the source.

Pak choi is high in salicylates, with more in the green leaf than the white stem. Using mostly the stems brings the load down without dropping the vegetable.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Rocket is high in salicylates, and it is eaten raw in quantity as a salad base rather than as a garnish — that volume is what makes it count.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Artichoke: salicylate concentrates in the outer leaves and the tips, so trimming hard and eating mostly the heart brings the level down noticeably.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

The heart is the trimmed centre of the artichoke, and jarred hearts are usually packed in vinegar and herbs, which adds back some of the salicylate the trimming removed.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Chicory: the bitterness and the salicylate travel together here: the green outer leaves and the tip hold more than the pale heart, so trimming helps.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Milder than a red radish in taste but not correspondingly lower in salicylate. It is peeled as a matter of course, which already removes the richest part.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

The fennel bulb is the mild part for salicylate, and the fronds and seeds are far more concentrated.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Kohlrabi: the thick skin is the salicylate-rich part and it is always peeled off before eating, which is why the edible bulb sits only at moderate.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

The peppery bite and the salicylate both sit in the skin, so scraping or peeling a radish lowers it — at the cost of most of what makes it a radish.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

The dark outer leaves hold more than the pale inner heart, so a romaine heart is a lower-salicylate choice than the full head.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Shallot runs higher in salicylate than onion, and it is used raw in dressings more often than onion is — raw is where the load is highest.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Sweet potato: nearly all of its salicylate is in the skin, so peeling makes a real difference — the opposite of the usual nutrition advice to keep the skin on.

• Scotter M.J. et al., Food Chemistry 105 (2007), free and acetyl salicylic acid in foods by GC-MS, and Venema D. et al., J Agric Food Chem 44 (1996), acetylsalicylic and salicylic acid in foods by HPLC

Broccoli: low in salicylate, and cooking does not change it. The florets and stalk are equivalent here, so there is no trimming decision to make.

Brussels sprouts: low in salicylate, with the outer leaves slightly higher than the tight inner ones — trimming the loose outer layer is a small, free improvement.

Common cabbage measures 2.6 mg of salicylate per kilogram, and a 94 g serve carries 0.24 mg - a large portion of a mild vegetable, which is how cabbage is usually eaten. Fermenting it into sauerkraut does not change this axis, but it changes two others.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Low as the peeled root. Cassava must be peeled and cooked for unrelated safety reasons, so the salicylate-lowering step is already mandatory.

Cauliflower measures 5.9 mg of salicylic acid per kilogram, which is the cucumber's value to one decimal. A 66 g serve carries 0.39 mg.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Celery measures 2.6 mg of salicylic acid per kilogram, a little above spinach. The serve measured was a stick - 19 g, 0.05 mg - which is the form celery usually takes. Celery salt and celery seed are a different question: they are the plant concentrated.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Dulse is low in salicylate, like other seaweeds. Dried dulse flakes are used as a seasoning, so the portion stays small by nature.

Endive measures 3.8 mg of salicylate per kilogram, and the survey lists it among the foods whose content it documented for the first time. The amount is small: 0.15 mg in a 40 g serve.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Iceberg measures 2.6 mg of salicylate per kilogram, and the survey measured the other lettuces alongside it: butter at 8.9 and cos at 15.7. Iceberg is the mildest of the three by a wide margin, which is the useful fact here: low is not nothing, and it is still the one to choose.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Leek measures 4.1 mg of salicylic acid per kilogram, just above the parsnip. The serve is generous by comparison - 83 g - so it carries 0.34 mg, more per portion than several vegetables rated higher.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Lettuce is low in salicylate, with the pale heart lower than the dark outer leaves. Iceberg and butterhead sit at the bottom of the lettuce range.

The salicylate of a bag of mixed leaves depends entirely on what is in it: pale lettuce is low, but bags that include rocket, watercress or radicchio pull the mix up.

Mushrooms are low in salicylate, and cooking does not change it. They are notable on the amine axes rather than this one.

Okra: low in salicylate, eaten pods and all. Nothing in the usual preparation raises it, so it stays a straightforwardly safe vegetable here.

Onion measures 5.0 mg of salicylate per kilogram for the white variety and 12.9 for the spanish - the variety matters more here than on most foods, and the survey measured both. A 36 g serve of white onion carries 0.18 mg.

• Malakar S, Gibson PR, Barrett JS & Muir JG, J Food Compos Anal 57 (2017), 31-39 - salicylic acid measured by GC-MS in 112 common foods, reported per serve as well as per kilogram

Parsley root is low in salicylate, unlike the leaf, which is a different entry. Peel it as you would a parsnip.

Peeled parsnip is low. Roasting it unpeeled — a common way to cook it — keeps the skin and the salicylate with it.

Porcini is low in salicylate fresh. Dried porcini is the format to watch — drying concentrates everything, and dried mushroom is used as a flavour concentrate.

Peeled white potato is reported at zero salicylate — one of the few foods that reaches nothing at all. The skin is where it is, so peeling is not optional here. How it is cooked moves the phenolic content, and this vegetable is one of the four that were measured. Deep frying and sautéing RAISED total phenols; both kinds of boiling lowered them. Frying in extra virgin olive oil also transfers the oil's own phenols into the food - oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, pinoresinol - so the dish is not simply the vegetable. All the methods preserved or raised antioxidant capacity. These are PHENOLS in general, though: the study measured eighteen of them and salicylic acid is not the subject.

• Ramirez-Anaya J. del P. et al., Food Chem 188 (2015) 430-438, phenols and antioxidant capacity of Mediterranean vegetables cooked in extra virgin olive oil

The cabbage is low and the fermentation does not create salicylate. Any added caraway or juniper does, so plain sauerkraut is the lower choice.

Savoy cabbage is low in salicylate, and as with other leafy brassicas the dark outer leaves carry a little more than the pale heart - a difference too small to matter at this level.

Seaweed is low here, and it is worth attention for iodine rather than salicylate - the two are unrelated.

Low in salicylate fresh, higher dried — and shiitake is sold dried more often than most mushrooms, so check which form you have.

Low in salicylate, which is worth stating plainly because spinach is high on several others — oxalate especially. One low rating is not a general clearance.

Turnip is low in salicylate once peeled. Young turnips are sometimes cooked skin-on, which is the version that carries more.

Low in salicylate once peeled, and yam is always peeled — the thick skin is inedible anyway, which does the work for you.