We always encounter some specious food names in life, which is especially common in fruits, such as dates are not dates, pineapples are not pears, cashew apples are not apples, and jackfruit has nothing to do with pineapples. Not to mention the hibiscus sabdariffa we mention today, which are not related to roses and eggplants, but are related to cotton.
Dried hibiscus tea. Image: Wikimedia
In recent years, with the emergence of herbal tea, chrysanthemums, osmanthus flowers, roses and other special flowers have begun to appear in the tea cup. Rose eggplant is also one of them, put two or three rose tomatoes in a glass, rinse with boiling water, wait a moment to find a trace of "red mist" from the rose eggplant "rising", not long, the whole glass of water will turn into a beautiful purple red. Coupled with a faint sour taste (though I don't like it), it couldn't be more appropriate to combine it with the afternoon sunshine that melts away the rich bourgeoisie.
Roselle flower tea. See watermark for image source
However, if you think about the cousin of the fluffy cotton ball you are drinking, will this beautiful tea have a different taste? The question is, why can't our common flowers brew such a beautiful tea soup, and will this beauty bring us more health?
Red sour tea from Africa
Rose ashwagandha is a plant of the genus Hibiscus in the family Mallow family, home in West Africa. As mentioned at the beginning, cotton belonging to the same mallow family is closer to the rose solanum than the rose of the Rosaceae family and the eggplant of the Solanaceae family. Just as cotton can provide us with fiber, the original function of rose ashgarwood is to provide fiber. It is just that the fibers of rose ashwagandha are not appendages of the seeds, but are produced by the stalks.
Image: qjure.com
Like most mallows, the phloem of rose ashwaves is so well developed that the extracted fibers can be spun into coarse cloth. However, the softness and comfort of these fibers are much lower than those of cotton. So to this day, the fibers of roseha are only used in some nostalgic handicraft workshops of coarse bristles or turned into some ropes. Most rose tomatoes are reborn in the tea bowl, where they become fashionable drinks.
You may be familiar with this mallow family. Image: szzx.edugd.cn
Roseha in a cup of water adds a different color to our afternoon tea, and even the detritus of roseha can add a lot of color to the mixed herbal tea. It should be noted that the rose ash drink we drink does not come from the petals of the flower, but from the fleshy calyx of the rose eggplant.
Sepals that go beyond their job
In the impression of most friends, calyxes are just dispensable presences on flowers. In general, sepals are smaller than the petals, and they grow on the outermost side of the flower. They are like miniature versions of petals, usually green. Before the flowers bloom, they wrap around the entire bud and act as a protective cover, and when the flowers bloom, the sepals take a back seat. The most representative calyxes are roses and moons, and their green triangles are difficult to compete with the petals. Moreover, the calyxes of most plants fall off after the flowers are successfully pollinated.
Moon season, pay attention to its calyxes. Image: biyebi.com
But in the magical natural world, earth-shattering sharp turns occur from time to time. Some calyxes have taken important jobs like rose tomatoes. If the emergence of rose ashgargar still exists in the intentional screening and cultivation of human beings, then mulberry is a typical representative of the natural expansion of calyx, and the succulent calyx of mulberry also plays an important role, that is, to attract birds and animals to eat, to help mulberry trees to spread seeds.
The juicy part of the flesh you eat is the calyx of the female flower of the mulberry. Image: wanhuajing.com
As for solanaceous plants, their calyxes are also a bit stubborn, such as the calyx of eggplant, the calyx of tomato and the calyx of chili pepper will grow slowly with the fruit until it becomes the small hat on the head of the fruit. It's just that these calyxes are either prickly or dry and hard, and they can't be part of the table.
Can natural colors bring health?
At present, many studies believe that plant components such as anthocyanins, lycopene and catechol are good for human health, because these substances have a relatively strong reducibility, which can scavenge free radicals in the human body, thereby reducing the incidence of cancer and other diseases. However, the vast majority of experimental results are obtained in cells cultured in vitro, and there is still insufficient evidence for the true role of anthocyanins in the human body. Moreover, the anthocyanin content in food is really very small, for example, the anthocyanin content of purpurea, which is regarded as an emerging source of anthocyanins, is 64 to 90 mg/100 grams, and in an anthocyanin anti-aging test for mice, the daily intake of anthocyanins at a dose of 500 mg per kilogram of body weight will have a more obvious effect. However, there is better than nothing, as a psychological placebo is still good.
Image: lickr.com
The sour taste represents the abundance of vitamin C, and in fact, the two are not closely related. The sour taste of rose ashwagandha comes from organic acids such as citric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid. It is these acids that give rose ashwagandha a special flavor. However, the organic acids described above are not markers of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Take the familiar vitamin C "king" - lemon, the vitamin C content per 100 grams of lemon is 43 mg, and the vitamin C content in 100 grams of fresh peppers can be as high as 144 mg. As for fresh rose ashwagandha, the vitamin C content is 12 mg/100 g, only 1/3 of lemon, about 1/12 of chili pepper, which is not a master at all. The strong correlation between acids and vitamins is intentionally or unintentionally constructed.
In addition to soaking water, rose ashwagandha can also be made into jam, which is said to taste close to plum jam, but it is more sour. Unfortunately, I haven't tasted it yet, and it's a thought of this beautiful plant.
marmalade. Image: douguo.com