Carambola fruit is as jade-green as soft jade; what makes this fruit so special

Carambola is a beloved Lingnan fruit. Su Dongpo, while in Hainan, praised it in a poem: "Freely pouring white honey, gathering the five-lobed fruit." Coincidentally, when Mr. Lu Xun was in Guangzhou, he also strongly recommended it to everyone, saying: "Of Guangdong's flowers and fruits, what I love most is carambola - smooth yet crisp, sour yet sweet. I often proclaim the virtues of carambola, and those who eat it mostly agree." As for canned carambola, preserved fruits, candied fruits and the like made from processed carambola, they are sold far and wide across the north and south and are deeply welcomed by people.

Carambola is also known as wulianzi and wulengzi, and originated in the tropical regions of Nanyang. According to Ji Han's "Nanfang Caomu Zhuang" of the Jin Dynasty, there is a record: "'Wulianzi' is as large as a papaya, yellow, with crisp and soft skin and flesh, extremely sour in taste, with five ridges on top, as if carved out. Southerners call ridges 'lian', hence the name. Preserved in honey, it is sweetly sour and delicious, and comes from the South Seas." It can be seen that carambola has a history of more than a thousand years of settling in southern China. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian in China produce more of it, and the quality of the product from Huadi in Guangzhou is especially the best. Therefore, on the market it is often branded as "Huadi carambola."

Carambola belongs to the wood sorrel family, an evergreen or semi-evergreen tree. Its flowers are small and slightly fragrant; the flowering branches and buds are deep red, and the backs of the petals are pale red, pink or white, giving it great ornamental value. The flowering period is from April to December. Every year from summer to autumn it blooms four times in succession, and the fruits likewise mature one after another in summer, autumn and winter and are continuously supplied to the market. There are two major categories of varieties, sweet and sour. The skin is as thin as paper, and the flesh is crisp and juicy. The fruit contains sucrose, fructose, glucose and so on, and its sugar content ranks first among Guangdong's fresh fruits. In addition, it also contains malic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid and various vitamins. It is cold in nature and sour in taste. Eaten fresh, it promotes body fluids and quenches thirst, lowers qi and harmonizes the middle, dispels wind-heat, promotes urination, and detoxifies.

For wind-heat cough and sore, swollen throat, eat carambola fresh, 2 to 3 times daily, 1 to 2 fruits each time, for 3 to 5 consecutive days. The effect is excellent.