Written by / Shi Jun
This article is from the magazine Knowledge is Power
At present, health care has become a hot word that almost all ages pay attention to. Soaking goji berries in a thermos cup has also become a standard "health" practice - choose a few red and full goji berry fruits into the thermos cup, add warm water, watch the fruit expand little by little, drink this cup of warm water, as if the whole person is instantly full of vitality.
So, what kind of effect does goji berries have? The same is the fruit, but we rarely see fresh goji berry fruit on the fruit stall, why is this? Also, what is the relationship between black goji berries and ordinary goji berries?
Goji berry family
The wolfberries we usually see include three species: wolfberry, Ningxia wolfberry and black fruit wolfberry (usually referred to as black wolfberry), all three species belong to the genus Solanaceae.
The calyx of Ningxia goji berries generally splits into two pieces
In various publicity, the wolfberries produced in Ningxia have undoubtedly become the representatives of wolfberries, and with the development of logistics, those fresh wolfberries and wolfberry products that are transported from thousands of miles away also give us the illusion that wolfberries only grow in Ningxia.
In fact, the distribution area of goji berries is far beyond our imagination. If you see some low shrubs on the side of the road, full of lilac five-pointed star-shaped flowers, and some of the whitish branches have small green leaves that are not densely ovate or nearly oval, that is, goji berries or Ningxia goji berries.
Black fruit goji berries can make water turn blue or purple
Black goji berries prefer to grow in the desert Gobi and have black fruits that distinguish them from the other two sibling species.
Is there sulfur on the goji berries?
In the production process of many dried plant products, the treatment of raw materials with sodium sulfite and sulfur is the standard food processing technology, and this practice will indeed make the color of dried plant products more beautiful.
Sulfurous acid (active ingredient sulfur dioxide) has a strong reducivity, which can destroy the vitality of the oxidase system in vegetable tissues and inhibit the oxidation discoloration of raw materials. Sulfur dioxide can also bind to tannin ketone groups so that they do not become brown due to oxidation; sulfur dioxide can also be combined with many colored compounds to become colorless derivatives, avoiding these colored substances from losing their original beautiful color. Of course, sulfur dioxide is not a panacea, and they can mainly protect anthocyanins and some carotenoids.
The development of vacuum lyophilization technology has made production more scientific
The red pigment in the red goji berries does not actually come from anthocyanins, but from the same beet red pigments as the main pigments in red beets and red heart dragon fruit, so it is not a strong point to protect them from sulfur dioxide. As for why there are such cute color goji berries, it is because vacuum freeze-drying technology is already a very mature technology, and the rapid dehydration of goji berries under low temperature drying conditions can largely avoid browning and discoloration.
The taste of goji leaves
Goji leaves are also a delicacy
In addition to the fruit of goji berries, goji leaves are also a delicacy. Pluck the young goji leaves from these branches and wash them. The bone broth is then boiled and "flown" into the fresh pork liver that has been sliced and soaked in cool water, and the pork liver is broken and sprinkled with goji leaves. With a little salt, a little pepper, a little sesame oil dripped, a bowl of delicious pork liver soup with goji leaves becomes an appetizer on the summer table.
Is vitamin A supplement reliable?
Fruits and vegetables and vitamins are all for the maintenance of human health
In many advertisements about goji berries, the high content of vitamin A, eating it is good for the eyes is the first slogan. However, there is no vitamin A in goji and goji leaves, and some are only precursors of vitamin A, β-carotene.
Whether it is anthocyanins or vitamin A, when brewing goji berries, we finally drink these beautiful expectations with a cup of warm water, and from the perspective of drinking water to maintain health, we have succeeded. With goji berries with you, why not be healthy?