I have learned something new this year. Hostas are indeed edible and delicious! They are eaten regularly in Japan and other parts of the world. I have read that they taste just like asparagus, only better, with a very slight green onion flavour added in.
These would be delicious in an omelet or a salad. They can be cooked gently, like you would asparagus, and eaten as a vegetable. The small leaf shoots and the flowers and stems are edible, cooked or raw. The flowers are sweeter with a flowery taste added in, similar to daylilies, also edible.
I can't wait for my hostas to send up tender shoots to try!
Nutritional Value
Hostas are rich in vitamin C. They can also boost resistance to disease, as they have polysaccharides that can increase the number of lymphocytes in the human body.
All hosta species are edible but H. montana and H. sieboldii are most popularly used for vegetables. H plantaginea is grown for its sweet flowers.
More nutritional content (testing one leaf from 12 different varieties of
hostas):
potassium (K) content ranged from 2.85 to 4.05%;
phosphorous content from
0.13 to 0.34%;
Calcium from 0.02 to 1.15%;
Magnesium from 540.00 to 794.12 ppm;
Manganese 26.93 to 133.77 ppm;
Zink 115.39 to 334.52 ppm;
Copper 1.78 to 5.95 ppm
Iron 26.43 to 251.95 ppm.
