Can osmanthus berries be eaten raw? Read this before eating them raw

Osmanthus berries are the fruit of the osmanthus flower. Every year after the osmanthus blooms, some small green gems are left among the treetops. When the berries ripen, their shape and color are somewhat similar to grapes, and the deep blue appearance makes people want to take a bite. So can osmanthus berries be eaten raw?

1. Can osmanthus berries be eaten raw

Osmanthus berries can be eaten raw. As long as no pesticides or similar substances have been sprayed on them beforehand, they can be eaten after being freshly picked and washed clean, and after being dried in the sun they can also be steeped in water to drink. However, the taste of osmanthus berries is very poor. Green osmanthus berries have an astringent taste and are also bitter, and even when ripe, their sweetness is only average. This is probably one of the reasons why osmanthus berries are generally not picked by anyone.

Osmanthus fruit generally ripens between April and May, and it can be harvested when the peel gradually turns from green to purplish blue. In traditional Chinese medicine, the main effects of osmanthus fruit are warming the stomach, calming the liver and dispelling cold, and it is used for stomach pain due to deficiency cold. Sun-dried osmanthus fruit can warm and tonify yang qi, whiten the skin, remove toxins from the body, relieve cough and resolve phlegm, and nourish and moisten the lungs. However, not all osmanthus trees will produce seeds. In the colder north, osmanthus trees will not easily produce seeds.

2. The cultivation history of the osmanthus tree

The osmanthus tree has a very long history of cultivation in our country, and its varieties are also very numerous. It has been preliminarily determined that there are 32 osmanthus varieties, and in terms of flower color, there are golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus and red osmanthus. As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the “Classic of Mountains and Seas·Classic of the Southern Mountains” mentioned that “the Zhaoyao Mountain has many osmanthus,” and Qu Yuan's “Nine Songs” also has the line “raising the Big Dipper to ladle osmanthus wine, with a magnolia cart and osmanthus banners.” This shows that the osmanthus tree entered people's view very early on. At present, in Shenshui, southeast of Hanzhong city in Shaanxi, there is still one Han osmanthus tree. It is said to have been planted by Xiao He, a minister of Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han. Its canopy covers an area of more than 400 sq m, with luxuriant branches and leaves, vigorous and majestic, and every year when it blooms, many people go to admire it. Liu Yong of the Song dynasty recorded in “Gazing at the Sea Tide” that “in the three autumn months, osmanthus berries, and for ten li, lotus flowers,” which was even more of a magnificent scene.

That is all for osmanthus berries. For animals and plants whose edibility raw cannot be confirmed, it is best not to eat them, so as to avoid poisoning.