The Radish's origins are not clear.  However, most botanists agree they were probably first cultivated in prehistoric China.  For a very long time, the Asian culture has served the Japanese white radish, Kaikon, in cooked dishes.  In Egypt, the radishes were meatier and larger than today's and possibly are what energized the slaves during the pyramid-building era.  The ancient Greeks ate radishes, which were black in color very large.  A first century writer compared Roman radishes to the size of a healthy baby or about seven pounds.  In the 16th century, a herbalist claimed to have seen a radish weighing 100 pounds.

In the fifth century BC, a Greek writer was the first to tell the story about inscriptions on the Egyptian pyramids describing the large quantities of radishes, onions, and garlic, eaten by the slaves.  The inscriptions are gone now but there are pictures and records of radishes written in Egyptian that support this claim.  Beginning with the 1500s radishes started arriving in Britain.  Later the Spanish and Portuguese colonists took the radish to the new world.

In Oaxaca City, Mexico, they have been celebrating radishes with a festival entitled La Noche de Rabanos or Radish Night.  Over 112 years ago, two Spanish friars were helping cultivate the area's lowlands.  To attract customers at the market, one of the monks suggested the farmers sculpt the radishes.  The idea worked; became an actual ritual; and in 1897, the mayor of the city formalized the tradition. In December each year artisans sculpt radishes into ornate animals, human figures, even reproductions of actual events.  The winner receives 13,000 pesos or roughly 1,300.00 U.S. dollars.  The radishes grow over one and a half feet long, are heavily fertilized and treated with chemicals, and are not for human consumption.

Some of the health claims, according to everynutrient.com, are that radishes are an excellent source of Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, folic acid, and the trace mineral molybdenum.  They contain cancer-protective properties; sulfur-based chemicals that increase the flow of bile; they help improve digestion; and maintain a healthy gallbladder.