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Seedbed requirement and sowing
Salsify is grown similarly to other root vegetables like parsnip and carrots and thus require similar attention. Sowing can be done in early winter late summer already to foster an early growth. Planting can also be done in early spring about a 100 days before the first frosts in a well prepared soil, preferably a loam or silt-loam. It should be done at the depth of 1.3 to 2 cm. Spacing between rows should be around 45 to 60 cm and the seeds should be separated by 3 cm approximately. This represent 12g of seeds per 10m of row for the variety Mammoth Sandwich Island. A thinning to 5 cm between the plants is needed when the seedlings reach 5 cm.

Medicinal uses
Folk medicine in the Middle East has a long history of use of T. porrifolius to fight cancer and hepatic diseases. Lately, researchers have investigated the reason for this interest from folk medicine. Significant amount of antioxidants have been extracted from the plant with different solvents. Flavonoids and phenolic compounds were the most abundant antioxidants extracted. The antioxidant power was assessed and showed good results which presumes that the extract would be efficient at reducing radical levels. The anti-cancer activity was also assessed using in vitro experiments on two different osteosarcoma cell lines as well as on breast and colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines. The dead cell count appeared to be higher in all four cases which demonstrates the cytotoxicity of the extracts. The proliferation of cancerous cells was also reduced by the extracts in all four cases which illustrates the anti-proliferation power of the extracts. Thus some of the compounds extracted from T. porrifolius could be useful to fight against breast cancer, colon cancer and bone cancer.

The hepatoprotective properties of the extracts were also demonstrated on rat liver treated with CCl4. The levels of antioxidant enzymes, principal protection against radicals, were found to be significantly higher in the liver when treated with a methanolic extract from T. porrifolius for healthy liver and for liver treated with CCl4. The effect was comparable to this observed for the reference drug sylimarin.