What to Do When Bean Sprouts Rot? Cause Analysis and Prevention Methods

Bean sprouts, also known as sprouting vegetables, are edible "sprouts" cultivated from the seeds of various grains, legumes and trees, and are also called "living vegetables." Common sprouting vegetables include: Chinese toon sprouts, buckwheat sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, Sichuan pepper sprouts, green black bean sprouts, acacia bean sprouts, sunflower seed sprouts, radish sprouts, dragon beard bean sprouts, peanut sprouts, broad bean sprouts and more than 30 other varieties. Rich in varieties and comprehensive in nutrition, they are a common vegetable.

The Nutritional Value of Bean Sprouts

Bean sprouts are rich in dietary fiber, and eating more of them helps lubricate the intestinal tract and eliminate accumulated stool. Moreover, the abundant insoluble dietary fiber they contain can lower blood sugar levels and prevent sugar from being stored in the body as visceral fat. In addition, the vitamin B2 contained in bean sprouts can help burn fat. With such high nutritional value, bean sprouts are more than suitable as a weight-loss food.

Bean sprouts, which are perfect in terms of nutrition, also do quite well at maintaining a feeling of fullness. The lasting sense of satiety produced while slowly savoring a bean sprout dish can prevent overeating. Making a bean sprout dish one of the daily menu items can not only reduce cooking costs but also curb the desire for snacks between meals, achieving two goals at once.

Bean sprouts, which have extremely high nutritional value, contain very few calories; every 100 g of bean sprouts contains only about 16 kcal. If one dish in each main meal is replaced by a bean sprout-based dish, the calories taken in at each meal will be reduced accordingly, and over time, you will be able to see the "calorie-reducing effect" of bean sprouts on yourself.

Cause Analysis and Prevention of Bean Sprout Rot

Bean sprout rot is mainly caused by infection by pathogenic bacteria; the causes are analyzed as follows:

1. The bean seeds themselves carry pathogenic bacteria;

2. The containers and utensils holding the bean sprouts are not strictly disinfected;

3. The temperature is too high or too low;

4. Watering is not timely and the water quality is not clean;

5. Air pollution.

Prevention and control methods for bean sprout rot:

1. Carefully select bean seeds: choose plump bean seeds, and before soaking the seeds carefully remove diseased seeds, shriveled seeds, tender seeds and broken seeds. Then wash the seeds with a 0.5% bleaching powder solution and 5% limewater. Hot water treatment of the seeds can also be used, which helps disinfect and sterilize the seed surface. At the same time, it can promote the enzyme activity of the bean seeds, increase the germination rate and reduce the incidence of disease.

2. Strictly disinfect the bean-holding utensils: besides keeping the containers and utensils for producing bean sprouts clean, they must all be strictly disinfected before use. Generally, a 0.5% bleaching powder or 5% alum solution can be used for cleaning and disinfection, or they can be scorched several times with a torch to kill the attached pathogens. If conditions permit, a 40-watt ultraviolet sterilizing lamp should be installed in the workshop.

3. Control the temperature: the suitable growth temperature for bean sprouts is 20-25 degrees C. During production, the room temperature must be adjusted to this temperature so that the bean sprouts grow quickly at a suitable temperature and the occurrence of rot is reduced.

4. The water quality must be clean: it is recommended to use well water or stream water, and it is strictly forbidden to use unclean pond water or river water. This is because well water and stream water are pollution-free and, being warm in winter and cool in summer, play a very good regulatory role in promoting bean sprout growth and preventing overheating of the bean sprouts. Watering should be done at fixed times and in fixed amounts, generally once every 4-6 hours, so that the waste and dirt from the bean sprouts' metabolism are washed away with the water flow.

5. Drug prevention and control: in the early stage of bean sprout disease, use a small packet of "8503" diluted with 2.5 kg of water and spray it, spraying once every 4 hours, which can inhibit the spread of pathogens. Or spray with EJ-2 type disinfectant diluted 200 times.