Can You Eat Bayberry If It Has Worms? Salt Water Soaking to Remove Worms and Cleaning Methods

Early summer is exactly the time to eat bayberry, and its sweet-and-sour juiciness makes it hard to stop eating. But many friends soak bayberry in salt water and before long see small white worms floating out, instantly losing their appetite. Why does bayberry grow worms? Can bayberry with worms still be eaten? Today let's make it clear.

What are the worms in bayberry? Can they be eaten?

The small white worms in bayberry are actually the larvae of fruit flies. Fruit flies usually feed on honey, fruits and so on, and are relatively clean themselves. After bayberry ripens and softens, it is attracted by the fruity aroma, lays eggs on the fruit surface, and after the eggs hatch into larvae, they bore into the flesh. The reason bayberry is especially prone to attracting worms is that the part we eat is itself the soft, juicy tissue formed by the columnar protrusions of the outer cells of the exocarp, equivalent to the outermost layer of the fruit, with no peel outside to protect it, so worms can easily invade and lay eggs.

What is reassuring is that this kind of larva is not toxic. From birth to growth, it almost always stays in an uncontaminated environment and rarely carries pathogens. If accidentally eaten, it generally causes no adverse reaction; instead, it is a kind of high-quality protein. Moreover, bayberry that can soak out worms precisely shows that no pesticide was used, so there is no need to worry excessively.

How to clean bayberry and remove the worms?

The key step: after buying bayberry, absolutely do not put it in the refrigerator first! Low temperature will freeze the worms to death, and no matter how you soak it afterward, they will not come out. The correct method is to immediately put the bayberry into salt water and soak for 10 to 20 minutes, and the small worms will swim out on their own. After the worms float out, pour off the salt water.

After that, add water again, add a spoonful of cornstarch, put the bayberry in and shake it, and the dirt in the crevices will slowly be washed out. After pouring it off, rinse once with clean water and it is safe to eat.

Besides salt water, there are several other methods: first, use a fruit and vegetable cleaner, which can sterilize and also remove pesticides, but because it itself contains chemical ingredients, it must be rinsed clean with clean water after use; second, after soaking in clean water, stir with the index finger in the same direction to let denser impurities move into the water, taking care not to use too much force, so as not to break the fruit skin and affect the taste; third, soak in starch water, flour water or baking soda solution and then stir, to separate the dirt and large worms, then filter and rinse.

How to choose fresh bayberry? When does it ripen?

Remember four points when selecting: first, look at the color; bright red is best, do not buy dark red or overly black-red ones, and green or green-red ones mean they are not yet ripe; second, look at the flesh; the individual flesh granules on the surface should protrude clearly, and those that are shrunken are mostly not fresh; third, feel the firmness; moderate firmness is best, too soft means overripe, too hard means not fully ripe; fourth, taste it; good bayberry is juicy, tender and sweet, with no residue left in the mouth after eating, while poor ones are dry and astringent with little juice and leave residue in the mouth.

Bayberry generally ripens in May, and harvesting is mostly concentrated around the Dragon Boat Festival. Areas with low altitude and high temperature ripen earlier, while high mountain areas at more than 1,000 meters above sea level ripen later, some not until the end of the fifth lunar month, and a few even delayed to the sixth lunar month.

Bayberry also contains a variety of organic acids and rich vitamin C, and has the effects of promoting salivation and quenching thirst, and strengthening the spleen and appetizing. The fruit acids can prevent sugar in the body from converting into fat, and together with the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C and anthocyanins, it is very suitable for women who love beauty to eat. In addition, fruits with strong aromas such as cherries, strawberries and grapes are also easily targeted by fruit flies for egg-laying. The handling method is the same: soak in salt water for a while before eating, for greater peace of mind.