Will soaking lemon in hot water destroy vitamin C?

An oversized net red water cup with a maximum price of nearly 500 yuan - "ton ton barrel" has recently continued to be popular on the short video platform and Xiaohongshu. The content push of "idols" drinking water with "buckets" has made many young people feel the importance of drinking water more and more. And if you feel that drinking boiled water is light and tasteless, and you do not like to drink tea or are sensitive to caffeine, it is actually a good choice to drink a cup of lemonade that quenches thirst.

How thick is lemonade to be? Will soaking lemon in hot water destroy vitamin C? Can special people drink lemonade... If you also have such doubts about a glass of lemonade, you may wish to listen to the opinions of experts.

Lemon is very sour, not suitable for eating but suitable for soaking

Whether it's a hot summer or a dry autumn, the freshness of a glass of lemonade can surprise and comfort people's taste buds.

Li Xinguo, a professor at the College of Horticulture of Hainan University, said in an interview with the China Consumer Daily reporter that the fruit juice of lemon is full, crisp, rich in vitaminSC, A, B1 and B2 and other beneficial ingredients for the human body. However, lemon itself is a very unique fruit, with a low sugar content and an extremely rich acid content (mainly citric acid), up to about 5%.

The sour taste of lemon is something that few people can master. Therefore, except for acidophilic pregnant women (lemons are therefore also called "mother fruit" or "mother and child") occasionally eaten fresh, most of the time, lemons appear in people's lives as a seasoning. In particular, its rich citric acid has a strong bactericidal effect, and is often used to give shellfish and other seafood fresh sterilization.

Although lemon tastes very sour and slightly bitter, it cannot be eaten raw like many fruits, but it can be soaked in water to relieve the heat and wake up the spleen.

How to choose a good quality fresh lemon, Li Xinguo reminds consumers to remember the "four good" criteria:

"Good-looking": the high-quality lemon fruit is well-shaped, and some varieties have obvious characteristics, such as the top of the Yulik lemon fruit has a papillae; The skin color is lemon yellow or green, the epidermis is bright, and there are no cracks or insect eyes.

"Good smell": Fresh lemons have a fragrant smell. If you can't smell it, it means that it is not new.

"Delicious": Fresh lemon fruit is full of sourness, slightly bitter, no taste or wine.

"Good feeling": fresh lemon moisture is sufficient, the feel is hard and solid, and the feel is heavier; The epidermis looks tight and taut, and if you gently pinch the epidermis with your hand, most of them will not have obvious depressions.

Lemon fruit ripening time is mainly in September to November every year, so the supply time of fresh lemon is only about 3 months, and the sun-dried lemon slices have become the best "substitute", which is one of the most effective ways to extend the shelf life of lemons, which can maintain the original flavor and nutrition of lemons to a greater extent.

According to Li Xinguo, a good dried lemon still has a faint fragrance even after drying, and the quality of those without a clear fragrance is poor. Consumers are advised to choose large, dried lemon slices with few seeds (lemon seeds contain very bitter limonin). In general, dried lemon slices with dark flesh have a stronger flavor after brewing; The cyan dried lemon slices taste more sour than the yellow dried lemon slices after brewing, and consumers can choose according to their personal preferences.

Lemon soaking water, is it better to be thicker or lighter?

Lemon soaked in water, ancient.

"Guangzhou garden officials into thirsty water, the heavenly wind and summer ripe Yi Lemon Zi", the Yuan Dynasty poet Wu Lai said in the "Lingnan Yi Maozi Thirst Quenching Water Song", also known as Limu Thirsty Water, is a lemonade drink popular with the court. It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, a special orchard with 800 limu trees was set up in Guangzhou to ensure the continuous supply of lemons.

However, in the eyes of food and nutritionists, the lemonade that the ancients liked was "sour and sweet" and not a truly healthy "hydration artifact".

Fan Zhihong, a professor at the College of Food and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said in an interview with the "China Consumer Daily" reporter that the lemonade must be light, and it is best to control it to the extent that a piece of peeled lemon soaked in a puddle of water can pour 3-4 small cups. This is because if you put too much lemon, you have to add sugar or honey to neutralize the sour taste. In this way, lemonade becomes a homemade sweet drink, thus deviating from the original intention of hydration. At the same time, the heat will also increase. If drunk uncontrolled, some people may be at risk of gaining weight.

Some people are worried that if you soak lemon in hot water, will it destroy the vitamin C in it?

Fan Zhihong analyzed that lemons are more acidic, while vitamin C has better heat resistance under acidic conditions, and it is not so easy to lose, even if the water temperature is higher than 60 degrees. From another point of view, the vitamin C content per 100 grams of lemon is only about 10-40 mg, which is similar to the level of ordinary leafy green vegetables. Since we can all throw green leafy vegetables into the pot and fry and cook, why can't lemons be soaked in hot water? After all, the purpose of soaking lemonade is to drink water, not to supplement vitamin C.

How to brew a cup of good quality lemonade, Fan Zhihong advises consumers to pay attention to the following points:

Lemon peel is rich in lemon essential oil that emits aroma and flavonoids that are beneficial to the human body, so be sure to slice it together with the skin when soaking in water. Slices must be thin, thin cut is easier to bubble out lemon aroma components.

The seeds of lemon contain very bitter limonin, which is more likely to release a strong bitter taste after cutting, so it is best to remove the seeds when soaking in water.

Soak in hot water, let it cool, and refrigerate it to achieve optimal aroma and taste.

After slicing, the unused lemon can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated. Citric acidity is very large, in addition to mold, most of the microorganisms are often difficult to retreat, as long as it is used up in two or three days, there will be no problem.

Lemonade, special people can not drink casually?

Drinking lemonade, many network "popular science" listed a lot of taboos, these statements are reasonable?

People with stomach problems can not drink lemonade? Some people say that lemonade is too acidic to stimulate the stomach, so patients with stomach disease, including people with excessive stomach acidity and gastroesophageal reflux, cannot drink it.

Fan Zhihong analyzed that the pH (pH) of pure lemon juice is about 2.5, which is equivalent to cola. If you use a slice of lemon to soak a large amount of water, the lemonade tastes very light, not only will not cause stomach ulcers, a small amount of citric acid is also conducive to gastric mucosa repair; People with indigestion, when drinking light lemonade, add a thin slice of ginger to accompany the meal, which can also promote the secretion of digestive juices.

Shouldn't gout patients drink it? Some people say that lemons are too "acidic" and so not suitable for gout patients.

Fan Zhihong analyzed that the main components of lemonade are citric acid, potassium, vitamin C, polyphenol antioxidants, and trace amounts of lemon essential oil. Among them, potassium is conducive to making the urine alkaline, helping the body to excrete uric acid and reducing the risk of gout attacks; Vitamin C and polyphenolic antioxidants also help reduce the inflammatory response. Patients with gout need to drink plenty of water in order to dilute the urine and exclude uric acid. Light lemonade without added sugar is a good choice for hydration.

Kidney stones patients can not drink? Some people say that lemonade and calcium-rich food are eaten together, calcium and citric acid will combine into a precipitate, and even generate stones in the body, so kidney stone patients can not drink.

Fan Zhihong explained that citric acid not only does not promote kidney stones like oxalic acid, on the contrary, organic acids such as citric acid are conducive to the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and other minerals in food. Studies have shown that ingestion of citric acid is beneficial for the prevention of kidney stones, and even potassium citrate has been used in the treatment of kidney stones.

At the same time, in order to prevent urine concentration and recurrence of stones, kidney stone patients should also drink more water. Therefore, stone patients are suitable for drinking light lemonade.

Can people with high blood pressure and diabetes drink lemonade? Fan Zhihong said that the unsweetened light lemonade has no sodium, almost no energy, and contains potassium, a small amount of vitamin C and a small amount of flavonoids, which is very suitable for chronic patients such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes.

Potassium can fight the blood pressure effect of sodium, flavonoids are beneficial for insulin sensitivity, and vitamin C is also helpful for blood lipid metabolism. Of course, the content of these ingredients in lemonade is not too high, so it cannot be said that lemonade has any therapeutic effect on high blood pressure. (Reporter Li Jian)

Source: China Consumer Daily