Can the bugs in bayberry be eaten? Teaching you the correct washing and deworming method

Right now is exactly the season when bayberries ripen. Faced with the sweet-and-sour, delicious bayberry, people who love bayberries find it hard to resist the temptation. In many farmers' markets and fruit shops, various varieties of bayberry are coming onto the market one after another. But at this time some people say bayberries are full of bugs, so can the bugs in bayberry be eaten? How should they be washed to remove the bugs?

Can the bugs in bayberry be eaten?

In fact, the bugs in bayberry are the larvae of fruit flies. Mature fruit flies lay eggs on bayberries, and some of the eggs hatch into larvae that live in the bayberry flesh. After the larvae grow up, they turn back into fruit flies and fly away. The reason fruit flies choose bayberry trees is still that they cannot resist the fresh fragrance and juicy nutrition of bayberry. Not only humans like it, insects are also very fond of it.

Fruit flies count as “clean” bugs. They usually live by eating honey and fruit, so even if people eat these fruit flies, they will not be harmful to the human body. On the contrary, they are also a kind of high-quality protein. The antibacterial peptides contained in fruit flies, and properly eating some bugs, may even improve the body's resistance. In short, as long as the bayberries are fresh and uncontaminated, they can be eaten with confidence, and there is no need to worry that the bugs will harm the body.

How should bayberry be washed to remove the bugs?

Unlike other fruits such as apples and bananas, bayberry does not have a peel for protection. The whole bayberry fruit is exposed to the air, and at the same time, the dense flesh in the middle is especially easy for bugs to hide in.

For friends who are still afraid of bayberry bugs, you can soak freshly bought bayberries in highly concentrated salt water for 15 minutes, which can force the white bugs inside the bayberries out. If the soaking time is too short, the bugs cannot be fully forced out, and if the time is too long, the flavor of the bayberries will also be greatly reduced. Some people also soak bayberries in clean water, or wash them under running water, but the effect is not as good as soaking in salt water.

If there are bayberries left uneaten, they should be soaked in salt water before being put in the refrigerator. If they are washed after being put in the refrigerator, the bugs will have been frozen to death and will no longer come out. However, putting them in the refrigerator can not only freeze the bugs to death, but also keep the bayberries fresh for storage. Frozen bayberries have an even better icy taste, but it is not recommended to eat too much of cold fruit.

In addition, the shelf life of bayberry is very short, only 1~2 days at room temperature. If there are bugs inside, they will mature as the bayberries spoil. Fruit fly larvae are harmless to the human body during the white larval stage. Once they mature, turn black, and crawl out, eating them again will be harmful to the human body. Therefore, after buying bayberries, eat them as soon as possible.

How to select bayberry

1. Look at the color. It is best not to choose bayberries that are dark red, or too blackish red. You should choose bayberries with a dry fruit surface and bright red color.

2. Touch with your hand. If the bayberry flesh is too soft, it is overripe, while if the flesh is too hard, it is not fully ripe, and it will taste sour and astringent, with a poor mouthfeel.

3. Look at the flesh. On the surface layer of the bayberry flesh, there are very obvious individual raised flesh granules. Those without sunken areas are good bayberries.

4. Smell the fragrance. Fresh bayberries have a fragrant smell. If they have been stored for a long time or stored improperly, they may have a faint alcoholic smell, which affects the taste.

The effects and functions of bayberry

1. The fruit acids contained in bayberry can both stimulate appetite and promote fluid production, aid digestion and relieve summer heat, and also have the function of preventing sugar in the body from converting into fat, which helps with weight loss.

2. Bayberry contains vitamin C and B, which have a positive effect on preventing cancer and fighting cancer. The cyanamide compounds, fatty oils, and other substances contained in bayberry kernels also have the effect of inhibiting cancer cells.

3. Bayberry has an inhibitory effect on bacteria such as Escherichia coli and dysentery bacillus. It can treat dysentery and abdominal pain, and has a good effect on those with persistent diarrhea.

4. Bayberry contains a variety of organic acids, and its vitamin C content is also very rich. It can not only directly participate in the metabolism of sugar in the body and the redox process, enhancing the permeability of capillaries, but also has the effect of lowering blood lipids and preventing cancer cells from forming in the body.

5. The effective component of bayberry leaves, bayberry flavonoid, has astringent, stimulant, and emetic effects, and is used for diarrhea, jaundice hepatitis, lymphatic tuberculosis, chronic pharyngitis, and so on.

6. The quercetin in bayberry also has antioxidant properties and eliminates free radicals in the body. It is widely used in medicine, food, health products, and cosmetics.

7. In terms of food nature and flavor, bayberry is warm in nature and sweet-and-sour in taste. It enters the lung and stomach meridians and has effects such as promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, harmonizing the stomach and aiding digestion, and stopping vomiting and diarrhea.

What foods bayberry cannot be eaten together with

1. Bayberry cannot be eaten together with cucumber

Because bayberry is rich in vitamin C, it is originally very nutritious, but it is most afraid of the enzyme that decomposes vitamin C, and cucumber contains exactly this enzyme. If eaten together, it will cause bayberry to lose its original nutritional value, so would it not be eaten for nothing?

2. Bayberry cannot be eaten together with milk

As everyone knows, we drink milk to supplement protein. But the fruit acid in bayberry will instead cause protein to coagulate, thereby affecting absorption, so these two also cannot be eaten together.

3. Bayberry cannot be eaten together with scallion

Although bayberry and scallion seem to have no connection, once the two are eaten at the same time, complex chemical reactions will occur, thereby causing adverse effects on the human body, and may cause stomachache.

4. Bayberry cannot be eaten together with radish

Because bayberry contains rich plant pigments, if plant pigments are eaten together with radish, they will be digested and decomposed in the stomach and intestines, thereby producing a substance that inhibits thyroid function, and may very likely cause goiter.

How to make bayberry wine

To make bayberry wine, you first need a good container. Generally, a wide-mouth glass bottle is enough. According to your quantity of bayberries, it is enough if it can hold the bayberries. Generally, farmers' markets sell large glass bottles specially for making wine, and you can also buy them on Taobao. Families with particularly large amounts can also choose to use a 20-jin wine jar, but no matter what kind of container, it should be one that can be sealed.

There are no special requirements for the bayberries used to make wine. Ordinary families use bayberries they cannot finish eating to make wine. If you are especially fond of this taste, you can deliberately go buy good varieties. When purchasing, it is best to choose bayberry varieties that are small and dark in color. Wild ones are even better. Large bayberries make wine with a slightly inferior taste.

Steps for making:

1. Sort out the bayberries, remove leaves and impurities, and try not to wash them with water. Raw materials for making wine are not suitable for long storage after being washed, and are prone to turning sour and spoiling. After washing the bayberries, dry the surface moisture as much as possible.

2. Put the bayberries into a wide-mouth bottle, handling them gently and not damaging the bayberries. Friends who like a sweeter taste can put in one layer of bayberries and one layer of rock sugar. For ordinary tastes, it is fine not to add rock sugar, because bayberry itself has a sweet taste, and a light sweetness is healthier.

3. Pour in high-proof baijiu (above 50 degrees is best). For baijiu, ordinary bulk baijiu (must be pure grain liquor. It is best to use home-brewed baijiu). Baijiu with a strong aroma will cover part of the bayberry's original fresh fragrance after brewing. When pouring the liquor, the bayberries in the bottle must be completely submerged, that is, the height of the liquor must exceed the stacked height of the bayberries.

4. Seal the wide-mouth glass bottle and store it for about 3 months. If you are not sure, you can use a spoon to scoop a little wine and taste it. When the color of the wine turns red and the wine taste becomes lighter, and the flavor of the bayberry has been infused into the wine, it is ready.