Approaching the Spring Festival, cherries and cherries are booming again.
Good looking, delicious, and of course expensive!
A pound is as little as a few dozen, and as much as a few hundred.
In particular, the larger the cherries, the more outrageous the price.
It is said that a large cherry is better than a small cherry, and the redder the color, the better? Is this really the case?
Many people are used to calling small cherries, and big ones called cherries or large cherries.
Or call the imported cherry and the domestic cherry.
In fact, all wrong!
The "cherries" you buy in the market, no matter how big or small, whether imported or domestic, are basically cherries.
(Source: soogif)
Many people eat Chinese cherries (Prunus pseudocerasus) when they were children, because the fruit is small, relatively soft, and not easy to transport, and has gradually been eliminated by the market.
(Source: PPBC China Plant Image Library)
Cherry is a transliteration of the plural word "cherries" for cherries, which originally referred to the European sweet cherry (Prunus avium).
European sweet cherries originated in Central Asia and Europe[1], but were introduced to Yantai, Shandong as early as the 1870s.
Because of its early ripening period, large fruit grains, bright color, rich nutrition, sweet and sour, and resistant to storage, it has quickly become the most eaten cherry variety in mainland China and the world.
So now many domestic cherries are also European sweet cherries, and the quality is not worse than foreign ones.
(For the sake of understanding, let's refer to the European sweet cherry as a cherry.) ）
Many people will also wonder: is it better to be bigger and redder in color?
Sorry, it's not the case either.
There are many sub-varieties of cherries, such as red light, miya, samitol, and black pearl.
Different varieties are inherently different in color, different in size, and somewhat different in taste, but the overall nutritional difference is not large [2].
What variety you want to eat, just depend on your personal preferences.
As long as there is money.
Although cherries are not as good as you might think, you may have expectations for this fruit:
So expensive, and red through, nutrition is not bad!
It might also disappoint you!
1. Cherries cannot replenish iron and blood
Although most of the cherries are red, it is really not possible to rely on it to replenish blood.
The iron content of the cherry family is not high, basically similar to apples and peaches.
And as a plant food, the iron in cherries is not easy to absorb.
Whether you sell dozens of pieces or hundreds of pounds of cherries, you will not replenish iron and blood when you eat them, and it is better to eat pork liver, pig blood and lean meat for a few dollars a pound.
2. Cherries can not be anti-inflammatory, antioxidant
Although cherries contain anthocyanins, they are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, which is also too exaggerated.
Dark cherries are indeed rich in antioxidants such as anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and polyphenols[3], but there is no direct research evidence that eating it can reduce inflammation and antioxidants [4,5].
Plus you can't eat much at one time, so don't be delusional about the antioxidant effects.
The real strength of cherries is actually high in potassium (232 mg/100 g), close to bananas.[6]
Of course, the biggest benefit is still good to look good, as long as you can meet this, it is worth spending money. You say yes or no?
How many cherries have you eaten this year? Hand it in the comments section!
Contributing Author: Li Yuanyuan
Registered Dietitian
Review expert: Shi Jun
Ph.D. in Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
bibliography
Cui Jianchao, Wang Wenhui, Jia Xiaohui, et al. Problems and development countermeasures of the domestic sweet cherry industry from the current situation of sweet cherry production at home and abroad.
Li J Y, Gong Y, Yang J H, et al. Comparison of fruits of seven cherry cultivars in greenhouse[J]. Journal of Southwest University:Natural Science Edition, 2018, 40(7):6.
Liu Xinna et al. Research progress on cherry. Grains and Oils.2020,33(4) .
[4] Elaine M et al. Inflammation, Free Radicals, and Antioxidants.Nutrition［J］.1996,5.
[5] Ricker MA et al. Anti-Inflammatory Diet in Clinical Practice: A Review. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 2017, 32(3).
Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Ingredient List Standard Edition. 6th Edition/Volume 1. Beijing:Peking University Medical Press,2019.]