When Do Ginkgo Nuts Ripen? An Introduction to the Ripening Period and Harvest Time of Ginkgo Fruit

The ginkgo nut is actually the fruit produced by the ginkgo tree, also called ginkgo fruit. For this reason, the ginkgo tree is also known as the ginkgo nut tree, and it is the long-lived elder among trees; in some places you can see old ginkgo trees that are several hundred or even over a thousand years old. So, when do ginkgo nuts ripen?

1. When do ginkgo nuts ripen?

Ginkgo nuts generally ripen around October. Because China is a vast country, the specific ripening time may vary slightly from place to place; it may be earlier in the south and later in the north, but the difference is not too great. When ginkgo nuts ripen, their fruit skin has an unpleasant smell, but once the skin is peeled off and the kernel is eaten, the flavor and texture are both very good.

2. How can you eat ginkgo nuts without getting poisoned?

Although ginkgo nuts are good, eating them cooked and in small amounts is the fundamental way to prevent poisoning. For young children, eating 5 to 10 raw ginkgo nuts can cause poisoning, and more than 10 can be fatal; even adults should not eat more than 10 per day. People who are especially frail, as well as children under 5 years old, are not advised to eat ginkgo nuts. Raw ginkgo nuts cannot be eaten; although the toxicity of ginkgo nuts is reduced after stir-frying, they still should not be eaten in large quantities.

Ginkgo nuts must be eaten cooked! A relatively safe way to eat them is to shell the ginkgo nuts, soak them in water for about one hour, and then heat them before eating; this can reduce the toxicity.

There are many ways to eat cooked ginkgo nuts; they can be used in dishes and prepared by many cooking methods, such as stir-frying, steaming, simmering, stewing, braising, and stewing in sauce. If they are fresh ginkgo nuts, the outer shell needs to be removed first, and the peeled ginkgo kernels will have a light brown membrane on the outside; simply soaking them in boiling water for 3-5 minutes makes it easy to tear it all off. You can also buy the already processed fresh ginkgo nuts at the supermarket. Adding a few ginkgo nuts when stewing meat or making soup not only makes the dish more delicious, but also removes the greasy feeling when eating meat.

When using ginkgo nuts in dishes or soups, it is best to add them later. This is because the starch contained in ginkgo nuts tends to gelatinize. In order to preserve the aroma of the ginkgo nuts as much as possible, it is best to add the ginkgo kernels after chicken, duck, and other meats are basically cooked through, then heat for a little while longer and they are ready to serve.

3. How should first aid be given for ginkgo nut poisoning?

There is no specific antidote for ginkgo nut poisoning. After poisoning, symptoms may appear in as little as 1 hour, or as long as 12 hours after eating. How soon symptoms appear is closely related to how much was eaten, age, and physical condition. In mild cases of poisoning, the signs are a blank expression, slow reactions, and reduced appetite, and the person soon recovers on their own; in more serious poisoning, there is often nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizziness, and headache first, followed by restlessness, fear, sometimes screaming, sometimes dementia, frequent convulsions, and elevated body temperature; in severe cases, the patient may go from loss of consciousness into coma, difficulty breathing, a weak and irregular pulse, and paralysis of the lower limbs.