Jerusalem Artichoke

A misnamed misnomer

Both halves of “Jerusalem artichoke” are wrong:

• Not Jerusalem — the name appears to be a corruption of the Italian girasole (“sunflower”), the plant’s actual identity. Italian immigrants introduced the tuber to colonial Boston as girasole articiocco (“sunflower artichoke”), which English ears garbled into “Jerusalem artichoke.”
• Not an artichoke — it’s a sunflower (Helianthus) tuber. The flavor is mildly artichoke-like, which is probably why early Europeans connected the two unrelated plants.

The alternative name sunchoke is gaining traction in English-speaking markets, especially in the U.S., as a more accurate label.

The fart problem

Jerusalem artichokes are notoriously gas-producing. Their carbohydrates are mostly inulin rather than starch — humans don’t digest inulin in the small intestine, so it reaches the colon intact, where gut bacteria ferment it vigorously. Some people tolerate the tubers fine; others have severe digestive consequences.

The 17th-century English gardener John Goodyer wrote that Jerusalem artichokes “stir up and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind.” This reputation has limited their popularity for centuries.

A pre-Columbian crop

Indigenous peoples in eastern North America cultivated Jerusalem artichokes for thousands of years before European contact. The plant naturalizes easily and grows aggressively — once planted, it’s nearly impossible to remove from a garden, since any small piece of tuber sprouts a new plant.