Bayberry - fruit knowledge

Yangmeigu called "Jizi" a "Pearl River", Fujian called "Vermilion", Taiwan called Shumei. The Compendium of Materia Medica says: "Its shape is like a poplar, and its taste is like a plum, hence the name". Native to the south of China, it has been cultivated for 2,000 years. Han Lujia's "Chronicle of South Vietnam" contains that "there is a lake at the top of Luofu Mountain, and bayberry and mountain peach surround it." In the Ming Dynasty Xiangjin's "Genealogy of Qunfang", it is recorded that "Yangmei will be the crown of the world, wuzhong yangmei, there are many kinds." "It can be seen that at that time, Guangdong and Zhejiang were already rich in bayberry.

Bayberry is the fruit of the evergreen tree of the bayberry family, the tree is up to 10 meters high, prefers acidic soil and warm and humid climate, where the moisture is sufficient, the life is long and productive. Cultivated in the valley, where sunlight is rare, it grows better than the sun on the top of the mountain, and the results are better. The result of the age sooner or later, depending on the variety, the early 7 to 8 years, the late must be 14 to 15 years. The age of the tree is 70 to 80 years or even more than 100 years.

Arbutus trees are male and female, the branches are alternate, and the internodes are shortened into umbrella-like branches, and the brittle texture is easy to break. The top buds are all leaf buds, and the flower buds are all lateral. The leaves are alternate, dark green, multi-clustered at the top of the branches, the leaf margin is full margin, or the upper part is coarsely serrated or wavy, and the old tree is generally full margin. The carberry plum is small, unisexual, indumental, and has a soft inflorescence, axillary, and hermaphroditic. Female flowers are rotated, 10 to 15 flowers, stigma red; male flowers 10 to 40 flowers, bright red or dark red, very much pollen, yellow, wind-mediated flowers. It usually blooms between the months and the fruit ripens in June to July.

【Origin and variety】The main production of bayberry is in several provinces south of the Yangtze River Basin, that is, between 20 and 31 degrees north latitude. Zhejiang has the largest output, the main production in Cixi, Yuyao, Yuhang county, followed by Xiaoshan, Lanxi, Shangyu, Zhenhai, Ninghai, Fenghua, Linhai, Huangyan, Wenzhou, Wenling, Yongjia, Jinhua, Zhuji and other counties.

Jiangsu: abundant in Wu County, followed by Yixing, Wuxi, Liyang.

Fujian: Produced in Jianyang, Jian'ou, Fuding, Putian, Xianyou, Jinjiang, Changle, Minhou, Lianjiang, Longxi, Changtai, Gutian and other counties.

Guangdong: Produced in Guangzhou, Milk Source, Chaoyang, Chao'an, Puning.

Hainan and other places.

In addition, Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, southern Anhui are also produced.

There are many varieties of bayberry, and the method of classification is also inconsistent, and Shanghai business customs are divided into white, red, pink and black according to color.

White. The fruit is white, yellowish-white, off-white or white with a green and reddish halo. The best poplar plum produced in Shangyu Erdu, Zhejiang, the poplar plum produced in Xiaoshan, and the pure white honey produced in Changle, Fujian are also of the highest quality.

Red species. Most of the fruit is red and dark red. There are Zhejiang Lanxi red plum, Cixi, Yuyao chi large seed, Shangyu late seed, Jiangsu Wu County red bayberry, Fujian Changle Zhuangyuan red.

Pink species: The fruit is pink or reddish, and there are also one and two colors. To Fujian Jianyang, Jian'ou production of two-color bayberry as the top product, as well as Zhejiang Shangyu white flower species, Zhenhai sugar acid bayberry.

Ubiquitous: The fruit is intense purple, purple-black or purple-black. Most of them are excellent varieties, such as Zhejiang Cixi, Yuyao water chestnut species, Hangzhou, Yuhang charcoal plum, Yongjiading aomei, Jiangsu Wuxian Wumei, Guangdong Chaoyang Wu crispy core, etc., the general fruit sugar content is about 10%, the acid content is low.

Variety introduction.

Lychee bayberry: produced in Putian, Fujian, 80 to 90 per kilogram, medium and lower quality, early to mid-May, coarse meat column, large core, sour taste.

Hongmei: Produced in Lanxi, Zhejiang, Wuxian, Jiangsu, 45 to 50 per kilogram, medium quality, early to mid-June, coarse flavor meat column, japonica quality, medium-sized core, sour taste.

Black crisp core: produced in Chaoyang, Guangdong, 30 per kilogram, quality, early to mid-June, flavor meat column thick, crispy, small core sweet taste.

Early plum (early large seed): Produced in Cixi, Yuyao, Zhejiang, 40 per kilogram, medium and high quality, in mid-June, the flavor of the meat column is thick and round, the core is small and sweet, slightly sour.

Small seed bayberry (water chestnut species): produced in Cixi, Yuyao, Zhejiang, 45 per catty, excellent quality, late June, flavor meat column fat round, soft texture, very small core, sweet and fragrant.

Two-color bayberry: the origin of Fujian Jianyang, Jian'ou, 35 per kilogram, excellent quality, late June, flavor meat column mallet-like, smaller texture than the core, sweet taste.

Charcoal plum: the place of origin of Zhejiang Yuhang, Deqing, 40 per kilogram, quality, late June, the flavor of the meat is soft, small core, sweet and slightly sour.

Wumei: Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, 48 per kilogram, quality, late June, flavor meat column round blunt, smaller quality than loose core, sweet and slightly fragrant.

Poplar plum: zhejiang Shangyu, Xiaoshan, 35 per kilogram, excellent quality, early July, flavor meat column fat, small texture glutinous core, sweet and strong, fragrant.

【Quality identification】 The quality distinction of bayberry is mainly determined by the composition of the substances contained in the variety, but whether the harvest is appropriate is also very important, and the harvest is too raw and sour, and the overcooked meat is crispy, which affects the flavor quality of the fruit. At the same time, it is also necessary to see whether the fruit flesh column is rounded or blunt or spiked. Most of the general high-quality varieties are round wontons, and most of the poor quality varieties are spikes. But it is not absolute, the round and pointed formation of the meat column, although related to the variety, often varies with the climate, nutrients, tree orders and fruit growth sites:

Juvenile, fruit trees; fruit growth period rain is uniform; fruit fruit on the shade side; adequate nourishment; fruit has reached physiological maturity, most of them are round blunt flesh columns. On the contrary, the trees become older and the fruit grows dry; the fruit bears at the top of the trunk without shade of sunlight; and most of the harvest is spiked flesh.

The round blunt flesh column is of good quality, and the quality of the spike column is poor.

The main points of the sensory test bayberry are as follows:

Eyes: The fruit is full, the flesh column is strong, and the color is brilliant for fresh and good fruit. Where the surface layer of the fruit has a local flesh column has shrunk, anthocyanin fading, or appear white dots or small pieces for the imminent deterioration of the characterization.

Taste: Juicy and succulent, sweet and fragrant, small core fruit, for the best product. Where the flesh of the food is loose and soft, there are signs of deterioration, and there is wine in the nose, the fruit cannot be eaten.

Hand measurement: open the whole basket of bayberry, use the back of the hand to caress the physical object, feel the quality of the cool air freshness; feel the slight temperature of the freshness has been poor; the temperature is higher, indicating that the fruit in the middle of the container has deteriorated.

【Sales and Eating Method】The mature listing period of Bayberry is the earliest in Fujian Lychee Bayberry, but the number is not much. A large number of them are listed from mid-June to early July, with a full period of about 20 days, so Zhejiang has a "summer solstice bayberry full of red, small summer bayberry to produce insects" agricultural proverb.

Bayberry has a high moisture content and no protective layer on the epidermis, making it extremely delicate. Moreover, in the yellow plum season, the temperature is humid and hot, and it is very easy to deteriorate. Picking, transportation and sales should be closely coordinated with the fastening link, forming a one-stop, so as to achieve fast transportation and fast sales.

Harvesting: Harvest in batches according to the required maturity. The picking time is preferably in the early morning or evening, avoid rainy days and rainy picking.

Transportation: Bayberry is perishable and limited to transportation facilities, so most of them are sold to adjacent areas, requiring 1 to 2 days to arrive at the place of sale. It is advisable to use vehicles or ships to transport wholesale stations or other stores from the place of origin to reduce the transit loading and unloading links as much as possible to ensure the quality of goods. If you want to transport it far, you need to use a refrigerated insulation truck.

Sales: Bayberry is tender and skinless, should not be turned, and is traded in a unified manner. However, in the hundreds of pieces of unified goods, the quality is also high or low, wholesale, sales also need to pass the sensory test, so as to achieve the price according to quality.

The inspection points are as follows:

1. Open the lid of the bayberry basket, visually see whether the ripeness of the fruit in the surface layer is appropriate, and how fresh is the quality? If the bottom of the package is dry, the nose smells no wine, and the hand caresses the fruit and feels cool, it means that the whole bayberry has met the requirements of good unified goods.

2. If the fruit of the noodle layer is opened, such as the existing bun, the foot, the green only, etc., the fruit cannot be eaten, and the proportion of the whole piece is calculated according to the proportion of the number of noodle layers, and it is deducted from the unified price.

3. Fruit epidermis has juice spillage; anthocyanin fading; hand-pasted fruit has a slight heat and other phenomena, the surface fruit is close to deterioration, must be sold at a reduced price.

4. Hand-pasted fruit has temperature; there is water leakage at the bottom of the package; small insects flying around the packaging, although the surface fruit is still fresh, but the fruit in the middle of the container and the bottom layer may be stuffy or damaged and deteriorated, and must also be appropriately deducted according to the severity of the above reflected phenomenon.

Stores should pick up moldy fruits, steamed fruits, feet, and green fruits when retailing.

Immerse in a thousandth of a thousandth of a solution of ash manganese oxygen for a few minutes, or in brine for half an hour, and then wash it with cold boiling water and eat it again. You can also set up a diluted solution containing bleach powder tablets in the store, soak the bayberry for a while to sterilize, and then eat it.

Bayberry contains more sugars, organic acids and vitamins. In addition to raw food, it can also be dried, brewed, sauced, juiced, canned sugar water and salted, etc. Dried bayberry can be reprocessed into a variety of preserves. Zhejiang folk are also accustomed to soaking bayberry in 50 to 60 degrees of liquor, called "bayberry shochu", which can be eaten after soaking and sealed for 20 days, the flavor is very beautiful, and it is not bad for a long time. After one year of storage, the bayberry in the wine becomes inky black and can still be swallowed. Another method: mixed with white wine with an equal amount of cold boiled water, put bayberry soaking, add a small amount of bergamot tablets, half a month later can be eaten, at this time the bayberry color is still fresh, the wine juice turns red, fragrant and delicious, in the summer to drink in moderation, appetizing and refreshing, is a kind of summer cider with a unique flavor.

conscience

October 20, 2021