Conifer Cherry is the Chinese name for Acerola Cherry. Native to the Caribbean region of the West Indies in tropical America, it is also known as the West Indian Cherry. Suitable for growing in tropical and subtropical areas with abundant rainfall, abundant sunshine and suitable temperature, it is rich in vitamin C and famous in the world, which is recognized as "the king of natural VC" and "the fruit of life" in the world.
Do you know? A small acerola cherry can provide about 200 to 300 milligrams of vitamin C, and rich in flavonoids and other phytonutrients. It is because of the presence of flavonoids that the natural vitamin C in acerola cherries can be better absorbed and utilized. The recommended daily intake of vitamin C for adults in China is 100 milligrams, which means that as little as 1/2 to 1/3 of an acerola cherry per day can satisfy a person's basic needs for the whole day, which is truly amazing! Not only that, pin cherry also contains vitamin A, B1, B2, E, iron, calcium, phosphorus, nicotinic acid, protein and many other nutrients!
Morphological features
Conifer cherry belongs to the yellow bedding flower family, evergreen shrubs. The tree is 2 ~ 3?5m high, with no obvious trunk, soft branches, opposite branches, grayish-white bark, and obvious protruding lenticels.
Leaves
Coniferous cherry two leaves opposite, elliptic; leaf tip obtuse pointed, a small amount of concave tip; leaf stem is rounded; leaf margin undulate inward rolled; pinnate veins: the leaf length and width of 4.8 ~ 6.8cm, 2.1 ~ 2.7cm; leaf texture is thin, the surface of the dark green, glossy.
Flowers
Two to five flowers grow on the side of the leaves, naturally unfolding, umbels; palmate corolla, 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, with five petals, light red.
Fruit
The fruit is yellowish-white before maturity, and finally changes from golden-red to dark red, nearly globular in shape, with 3 lobes, about 2.5-3cm in diameter, weighing 7-8g, with a thin skin, which is soft and juicy when it is red, and moderately acidic.
Seeds
There are three seeds in each fruit.
History
Legend has it that when Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, he discovered this marvelous fruit. At the time it was known as the "Barbados Cherry". But it didn't attract much attention.
Early 20th century, coniferous cherry from tropical America to the United States of America, Hawaii, India, Southeast Asia countries began in the world's tropical and subtropical regions widely spread.
During the second world war, the needle leaf cherry for the allied forces to heal the wounds of the wounded and made great achievements, so that tens of thousands of wounded from the wound festering, saved tens of thousands of soldiers life!
After the end of the Second World War, the United States and other developed countries quickly began the planting and research on the acerola cherry. The results found that the acerola cherry is rich in natural vitamin C, and then was the world's attention. However, due to the poor controllability of the production technology at that time and the geographical limitation of acerola cherry cultivation, especially the successful development of synthetic VC and its industrialized production. People gradually ignored the value of acerola cherry, and the enthusiasm for its cultivation and research and development gradually faded.
It wasn't until the 1980s that people realized that there was a huge difference between synthetic VC and natural VC. Natural VC became more and more popular, which made people recall the acerola cherry! And so the miraculous acerola cherry was finally reborn, opening a brand new page in the history of world nutrition.
The nutritional value of the world
A lot of research at home and abroad confirmed that the needle leaf cherry is rich in vitamin C, is currently the world's known vitamin C-rich fruit. Its 100 grams of fruit in the VC content of 2445 mg, much higher than the lemon 40mg, citrus 68mg and kiwi 100mg, and has been considered to be extremely high vitamin C content of guava is only 180mg, is the real "king of vitamin C". At the same time, needle leaf cherry also contains vitamin A, B1, B2, E, P, niacin, anti-aging factor (SOD), calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and protein and other nutrients, nutritional value is very high, "the fruit of life" reputation. Vitamin P can prevent vitamin C from being oxidized and damaged, and enhance the absorption and utilization of VC. Its unique anti-aging factor (SOD) - superoxide dismutase, can effectively resist the invasion of foreign harmful substances, with the role of delaying aging.
In terms of nutritional abundance and high content, acerola cherries are definitely the best of all fruits in the world.
Comparison table of nutrients between acerola cherry and common fruits
Unit: mg/100g
Nutrients
Fruit Vitamin C Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Nicotinic Acid
Acerola 2445 1832 28 79 340
Banana 8 280 0.3 0.06 -
Poplar 40 980 0.04 0.03 -
Mango 34 2100 0.04 0.05 -
Citrus 68 1080 0.11 0.05 -
Lemon 25 - 0.06 0.02 -
Papaya 73 1560 0.04 0.03 -
Pinach 29 50 0.1 0.04 -
Pomegranate 180 130 0.04 0.03 -
Remarks: (1) Vitamin A is measured in IU (International Units), others in milligrams.
(2) The sources of information in the table are: the second collection of economic plants in Taiwan and the Gutetsu Kungfu Agricultural Production and Marketing Foundation.
. Rare and precious plants
As the saying goes, "Cherries are delicious and difficult to grow". Cherry growth conditions have relatively harsh requirements, it is afraid of cold and heat, and afraid of drought and flooding, but also susceptible to pests and diseases. Growing a good cherry, there may be a sudden death.
And the needle leaf cherry is even more so. Needle leaf cherry is native to the Caribbean region of the West Indies in tropical America, only suitable for the rainfall, sunshine, the temperature is suitable for the growth of tropical and subtropical areas, at present the whole world only a few countries and regions can be planted on a large scale, the number is very sparse.
Amazing natural beauty
The beauty of coniferous cherry is amazing, its mature fruit is bright red, nearly globular in shape, diameter of about 2.5-3cm, weighing about 7-8g. Unlike ordinary cherries, coniferous cherries have three shallow grooves in the fruit, slightly three-valved, thin skin, the skin of the fruit is red when the soft and juicy, sweet and sour. When the ripe season, the forest swaying bright red, sweet fruit flavor and lovely innocence, let a person like a fairyland, mesmerized.
The picking of coniferous cherries
The red crystalline cherries are fragrant, which makes people's mouths feel good. But the highest nutritional value of cherries is not when they are ripe, but when they are green before they ripen.
Research has proved that the content of VC in every 100g of fruit flesh is: 4458mg in immature fruit (green); 3250mg in the beginning of discoloration fruit; 2103mg in moderately ripe fruit; 1517mg in ripe fruit; and 1219mg in slightly overripe fruit; therefore, once the fruits of acerola cherry begin to ripen, a large amount of Vitamin C will be lost, and in order to ensure that we can get the highest amount of Vitamin C, we must grasp the best time, and then we should use the best time in order to make the fruit ripen. , it is important to get the best timing and pick when they are about to ripen but not yet ripe.
A hard-won world treasure
Birds love pin cherries more than we can imagine. Often a forest of acerola cherries can be devoured by them before the fruit is ripe, so looking after them during the ripening season can be a very laborious task.
Coniferous cherry is also a very delicate berry, its fruit will rot and spoil within 1-2 days after picking, and it is not easy to store and transport. So there are very few acerola cherry fresh fruit on the market. Such a wonderful fruit but can not meet with the crowd, which can not be said to be a great regret.
The acerola cherry is mainly in the form of processed products for human consumption.
Processing of acerola cherries
The processing of acerola cherries is very complicated.
First of all, it is not easy to store the acerola cherry, and the picked fruit should be immediately transported to the product processing room to be pressed into juice, and frozen and stored in the form of pure juice or pure pulp. So as not to cause the destruction and loss of its nutrients.
Secondly, acerola cherries are rich in vitamin C, and VC is the most unstable vitamin, exposure to light, heat and water will cause great loss. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid light and high temperature during processing, and adopt advanced science and technology in order to maintain the nutrition and active ingredients of acerola cherries to the greatest extent.
Again, the extraction of acerola cherries is very difficult, about 17 kilograms of acerola cherries to make 1 kilogram of acerola cherry concentrate.
Finally, the process is laborious. There are dozens of processes, large and small, before and after, and any problem with any of them will directly affect the quality of the product.
Balance Kang--Conifer cherry planting and R & D experts
Balance Kang in 1992 from Brazil successfully introduced the conifer cherry, so far in the conifer cherry planting and R & D has more than 10 years of history. And we have the earliest, the largest and the best environment of acerola cherry planting base in China, the most excellent scientific research team, the most advanced technology and the most first-class scientific research equipment. Sincerely coniferous cherry, the most marvelous gift from God to mankind, is dedicated to the majority of consumers.