Why Bayberry Gets Bugs and How to Wash Them Away

Bayberry is the fruit of a small tree or shrub in the genus Myrica of the family Myricaceae. It gets its name because its shape resembles water willow and its taste resembles plum. The fruit ripens in early summer, has a brilliant color, is sweet and sour with a pleasant taste, is rich in nutrients, and has high medicinal and edible value. But many times we find bugs inside bayberries. Let's take a look below at why bayberries have bugs!

Why Do Bayberries Have Bugs?

The small bugs in bayberries are mainly the larvae of fruit flies. Fruit flies come to lay eggs after the bayberries ripen and soften. It is worth noting that fruit fly larvae are not particularly toxic, and even if you accidentally swallow them, there is no great harm. Bayberries are prone to bugs because of the characteristics of their fruit. In fact, the part we eat is a derivative on the exocarp——a soft, juicy tissue formed by the columnar protrusions of the outer layer of cells of the exocarp. In other words, the edible part of the bayberry is already the outermost layer of the fruit, with no peel outside to protect it, so bugs can easily invade the fruit and lay eggs.

Can Bayberries Still Be Eaten If They Have Bugs?

If bayberries have bugs,they can be eaten. The white bugs inside bayberries are harmless to the human body and are even a high-quality protein. If you accidentally swallow them, there will be no adverse reaction. The small white bugs inside bayberries are actually the larvae of fruit flies. Fruit flies usually feed on honey, fruit and so on, and are relatively clean themselves. During the breeding season, they are attracted by the smell of bayberries and lay eggs on the surface of the bayberries. After the eggs hatch into larvae, they burrow into the flesh and feed on it. From birth to growth, fruit fly larvae are almost always in an uncontaminated environment, so there are almost no germs harmful to humans present, which is why eating bayberries will not give you diarrhea.

How Do You Remove Bugs from Bayberries?

After buying bayberries, do not put them in the refrigerator. Immediately soak them in salt water for 10 to 20 minutes. At this point the bugs will automatically float out. If you put them in the refrigerator first, the bugs will be frozen to death and cannot be soaked out even if you try. Wait for the small bugs to float out, then pour out the water. Then add some fresh water and a spoonful of cornstarch, put the bayberries into the water and shake them. The dirt will gradually be washed out. Pour out the water, rinse again, and they are safe to eat.

How Do You Select Fresh Bayberries?

1. Color: Bright red ones are best. It is best not to buy dark red or overly blackish-red bayberries. Green or greenish-red bayberries are not yet ripe.

2. Flesh: Look at the flesh of the bayberry. The surface layer should have very obvious individual flesh granules that protrude and must not be shrunken. Those that are shrunken are generally not fresh.

3. Softness and firmness: Bayberries that are moderately soft and firm are best. If the flesh is too mushy, it is overripe, while if the flesh is too hard, it is not fully ripe.

4. Taste: Bayberries are juicy, fresh, tender and sweet, and leave no residue in the mouth after eating, while poor-quality bayberries are relatively dry and astringent, with little juice when eaten and residue left in the mouth.

When Do Bayberries Ripen

As is well known, every summer there are many bayberries available for purchase on the market. Women who love beauty can also eat bayberries to improve their appearance, nourish their skin and fight aging. So do we know exactly when the bayberry ripening season is? Let's take a look below with the editor!

When Do Bayberries Ripen

The bayberry ripening season is generally in May. Most bayberries are picked around the Dragon Boat Festival. In areas with lower altitude and higher temperatures, bayberries ripen earlier, and vice versa. But in high mountain areas at an altitude of more than one thousand meters, they ripen relatively later, some not until the end of the fifth lunar month, and a few are delayed until the sixth lunar month.

Methods for Washing Bayberries

1. Fruit and vegetable cleaner is a very good way to sterilize and remove pesticide residues. However, fruit and vegetable cleaners inevitably contain chemical ingredients. Although they can neutralize pesticides on bayberries, they cannot avoid the fact that the cleaner itself contains substances harmful to the body. Therefore, when using fruit and vegetable cleaner, you must rinse the bayberries again with clean water.

2. Soak the bayberries in ordinary clean water. Note that all the bayberries must be submerged in the water, then use your index finger to stir the bayberries in the water in the same direction. In this way, denser substances will move into the water. But be careful not to stir too forcefully, and do not stir randomly, to avoid damaging the skin of the bayberries and making them not fresh and not tasty.

3. You can also clean bayberries with starch solution or baking soda. Put all the bayberries into the flour solution and soak them, then stir with your fingers to separate out the dirt or large bugs, then filter out the bayberries and rinse them clean with water.

The Medicinal Value of Bayberry

1. Bayberry has the effects of promoting salivation and quenching thirst, strengthening the spleen and improving appetite. Eating more not only does not harm the spleen and stomach, but also has the effect of removing toxins and dispelling cold. The Compendium of Materia Medica records, “Bayberry can quench thirst, harmonize the five viscera, cleanse the stomach and intestines, and remove irritability and foul qi.” The fruit, pit, root and bark of bayberry can all be used as medicine. It is neutral in nature and non-toxic. The pit can treat athlete's foot, and the root can stop bleeding and regulate qi. The bark soaked in alcohol can treat bruises, swelling and pain, etc. Bayberries soaked in baijiu, eaten in midsummer, will immediately make one feel relaxed and refreshed, relieving summer heat and greasiness. When having diarrhea, take bayberries, boil them into a strong decoction and drink it to stop the diarrhea; it has an astringent effect. Bayberry has multiple medicinal functions such as aiding digestion, removing dampness, relieving summer heat, promoting salivation and stopping cough, helping digestion, resisting cold, stopping diarrhea, promoting urination, and preventing and treating cholera. It has the reputation of being the “agate among fruits.”

2. 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. The fruit acids it contains can not only improve appetite and promote salivation, aid digestion and relieve summer heat, but also have the function of preventing sugar in the body from converting into fat, which helps with weight loss. Bayberry has an inhibitory effect on bacteria such as E. coli and dysentery bacilli, can treat dysentery and abdominal pain, and has a good effect on those with persistent diarrhea. Bayberry contains vitamin C and B, which have a positive effect on cancer prevention and anti-cancer. The cyanamide compounds and fatty oils contained in bayberry kernels also have an inhibitory effect on cancer cells.

Benefits of Women Eating Bayberry

1. Anti-aging. The vitamin C and anthocyanins in bayberry have antioxidant capacity and help the human body resist aging.

2. Detoxification and skin nourishing. Bayberry flesh contains very rich cellulose, which can stimulate intestinal peristalsis and help discharge toxins from the body, so it has the effect of detoxifying and nourishing the skin.

3. Weight loss. The fruit acids contained in bayberry can not only improve appetite and promote salivation, aid digestion and relieve summer heat, but can also prevent sugar in the body from converting into fat, which has a significant effect on weight loss.

So the ripening season of bayberry is in early summer. In addition to its beauty benefits, bayberry also has high medicinal value! Although bayberries are good, after buying them home you must pay attention to washing them clean, because hidden inside are small bugs we cannot see!

What Kind of Bug Is the Cherry Bug? Can Cherries Still Be Eaten If They Have Bugs?

Cherries are one of people's favorite fruits, but a message that spread widely on the Internet made many people uneasy. A netizen soaked bought cherries in salt water, and half an hour later many small bugs resembling “maggots” appeared on the surface of the cherries, making people look at them very uncomfortably. Let's take a look below at what kind of bug the cherry bug is!

Is It True That Cherries Have Bugs?

It is true that cherries have bugs. A reporter specially conducted a set of experiments for this. After removing surface dirt from cherries randomly bought at a fruit stall, they were soaked separately in cups of warm boiled water and salt water. Half an hour later, no abnormality was found in the cherries soaked in warm boiled water. But in the cherries soaked in salt water, three small white bugs were found, only the size of a thread end and the length of a ballpoint pen tip, looking like maggots. Although it is a fact that cherries contain small bugs, it is not as exaggerated as the online saying “9 out of 10.”

What Kind of Bug Is the Cherry Bug?

The cherry bug is the larva of a fruit fly. According to Director Wang Jin, who is in charge of the cherry research group at the Fruit Tree Research Institute of the Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, these small white bugs inside cherries are larvae hatched from fruit fly eggs laid inside the cherries. Fragrant fruits such as bayberry, strawberry, kiwifruit, grape, pear and banana are the favorites of fruit flies.

Can Cherry Bugs Really Be Eaten?

Cherry bugs can be eaten. The larvae of fruit flies are different from the “maggots” in our usual impression. They are relatively close to flies but are not flies. They are a type of fly that lives on ripe fruit and can appear on all kinds of ripe fruits. Fruit flies parasitize inside plant fruits and move only on fruit. From birth to growth, the larvae are always in an uncontaminated environment and rarely carry pathogens. Therefore, they do not harm animals, let alone humans. On the contrary, fruit flies are rich in protein and beneficial to health. Moreover, cherries that can soak out bugs are precisely those that have not used pesticides, so they can be eaten with confidence. Of course, after all, eating bugs makes people feel “rather uncomfortable.” If you want to taste the deliciousness “without worry,” the best method is still to soak fruits such as cherries and bayberries in salt water for a while.

Extended Reading: Fruit Fly

Fruit flies are widely distributed in temperate and tropical climate zones around the world. Because their main food is yeast and rotting fruit easily breeds yeast, their traces can be seen in human habitats such as orchards and vegetable markets. Apart from the North and South Poles, at least more than 1000 fruit fly species have been discovered so far. Most species feed on rotting fruit or plant matter, while a small number use only fungi, sap or pollen as food. At the same time, as a eukaryotic multicellular insect, the fruit fly has physiological functions and metabolic systems similar to those of mammals, is very sensitive to air quality, and abnormal behavior can reflect indoor air pollution.