Pinyin: bí qí

Scientific name: Eleocharis tuberosa

English name: chufa

Family: Salicaceae Water chestnut

Salicaceae Water chestnut is a shallow-water, persistent herb that is eaten as a vegetable from its bulb. The ancient name of water chestnut (Eiderophthalmos), commonly known as the horseshoe, also known as the ground chestnut, because it is shaped like a horseshoe, but also like chestnuts and so named. Call it horseshoe, only refers to its appearance; say it like chestnut, not only is the shape, even the sexual flavor, composition, function are similar to chestnut, and because it is in the mud in the results, so there is the name of the ground chestnut. Water chestnut has purple-black skin color, white flesh, sweet and juicy taste, crisp and delicious, since ancient times, it has the reputation of underground Snow Pear, and people in the north regard it as the ginseng in the south of the Yangtze River. Water chestnut can be used as a fruit, but also can be counted as a vegetable, is a popular favorite seasonal products.

Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" has a detailed description of its botanical properties and cultivation method. It is widely cultivated in the provinces south of the Yangtze River in China. Anhui Wuwei, Guangxi Guilin, Zhejiang Yuhang, Jiangsu Gaoyou and Fujian Fuzhou are famous places of origin. It is propagated by bulbs. After germination, it first forms a short, condensed stem, and its terminal bud and lateral buds are drawn upward into green leafy stems that are slender, tube-like, and erect. The leaf blade degenerates into a membrane sheet, inserted in the base of the leafy stem and the upper part of the bulb, and photosynthesis is carried out by the green leafy stem. Stolons are produced from the shortened stems of the mother plant in all directions, with the tips expanding into new bulbs. Spikes, florets in a spiral adnate. Nutlets, fruit leathery, not easy to germinate.

Seed capsule sprouting at 15 ℃, 25 ℃ began to tiller, 30 ℃ plant vigorous growth, the temperature fell below 20 ℃ when the bulb formation. Generally in the early spring to choose the top bud and side bud sound seed capsule in the outdoor seedbed nursery, often keep wet. Seedlings can be formed in about 15 to 20 days for planting in the field. The spacing between rows and plants is generally 30cm×60cm, and about 3000 holes are planted in mu. Maintain a certain water layer and apply nitrogen fertilizer during tillering and plant division. Phosphorus and potash fertilizers are applied before bulb formation, which have significant effects on increasing yield and improving quality. The main pests and diseases are wilt, stem borers and so on.

Water chestnut bulb contains about 21% carbohydrate, protein 1.5%, can be eaten raw or cooked. Can also be processed canned or as raw material for starch extraction. Chinese medicine is considered to be thirst quenching, food elimination, fever function.

Effectiveness: water chestnut contains phosphorus is the highest in root vegetables, can promote human growth and development and maintain physiological functions, the development of teeth and bones have great benefits, while promoting the body's sugar, fat, protein metabolism of the three major substances, regulating the acid-base balance. Therefore, water chestnut is suitable for children to eat. Britain found an intolerant antibacterial ingredient - water chestnut Ying - in the study of water chestnut. This substance has a certain inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and it also has a certain effect on lowering blood pressure. This substance is also effective against cancer of the lungs, esophagus and mammary glands. Water chestnut also has the function of preventing acute infectious diseases. In the spring when measles and epidemic meningitis are more likely to occur, water chestnut is a very good disease prevention food. Water chestnut is a cold food with good effect of clearing heat and diarrhea. It can not only clear heat and generate fluids, but also replenish nutrients, and it is most suitable for patients with fever. It has the efficacy of cooling the blood and detoxifying the toxin, diuretic and laxative, resolving dampness and expelling phlegm, eliminating food and removing flatulence.

Suitable for people: It is a popular food. It is most suitable for children and fever patients.

Applicable amount: about 10 at a time. Water chestnut should not be eaten raw, because water chestnut grows in the mud, the outer skin and the inside may be attached with more bacteria and parasites, so it must be washed and boiled thoroughly before eating, and the boiled water chestnut is sweeter. Water chestnut is a cold food, which is not suitable for people with spleen and kidney deficiency and blood stasis.