Group · Vegetables
White asparagus
White asparagus is an asparagus grown under mounds of earth, away from light: without photosynthesis, it does not turn green. The work of earthing up and harvesting blind explains its price.
In terms of nutrition facts, boiled it provides just 17.3 kcal per 100 g, with 1.44 g of protein and 1.3 g of fibre. It provides 120 mg of potassium, 15 mg of calcium and 5.16 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, and contains 94.9 g of water.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 17 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 73 kJ |
| Protein | 1,5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1,7 g |
| Fat | 0,3 g |
| Fibre | 1,3 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Copper0,09 mg9 %
- Vitamin C5,16 mg6 %
- Potassium120 mg6 %
- Phosphorus29 mg4 %
- Vitamin B10,04 mg4 %
- Manganese0,07 mg4 %
- Vitamin E0,39 mg3 %
- Zinc0,3 mg3 %
- Vitamin B9dietary folate equivalents66,8 µg
See the other 9 nutrients
- Vitamin B60,03 mg2 %
- Magnesium7,1 mg2 %
- Calcium15 mg2 %
- Iron0,26 mg2 %
- Vitamin B50,1 mg2 %
- Vitamin B20,02 mg1 %
- Vitamin B30,15 mg1 %
- Omega-6 LA0,08 g1 %
- Vitamin A1,59 µg0 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
It is less nutrient-rich than green asparagus, which makes sense. Without light, there is no chlorophyll or carotenoids: 19.1 µg of beta-carotene against 438 for green asparagus.
17.3 kcal: it is one of the lightest vegetables. What weighs it down is what you put on it: hollandaise sauce or mayonnaise multiplies the calories of the dish tenfold.
It must be peeled, completely. Its skin is fibrous along its whole length, from tip to base. This is what sets it apart from green asparagus, and what takes time.
Cook it upright, with the tips out of the water. The tips steam while the stalks boil: it is the only way to get even cooking on white asparagus.
Its season is short: April to June. Out of season, what you find comes from Peru or Morocco, which means a lot of transport for a vegetable that is 95% water.