Water chestnut is also known as ground chestnut, horseshoe, taro, ground pear, Tongtian grass. Scientific name: Eleocharis tuberosa English name: chufa. water chestnut is our country's specialty fruit, native to the south of China and India, now the United States, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and other countries and regions are also widely planted.

Water chestnut belongs to the Salix family water chestnut genus shallow watery persistent herbs, to the bulb as a vegetable to eat. Commonly known as horseshoe, also known as ground chestnut, because it is shaped like a horseshoe, and like a chestnut and so named. Called it horseshoe, refers to its appearance; said it like chestnut, not only is the shape, even the flavor, composition, function are similar to chestnut, and because it is in the mud results, so there is the name of the ground chestnut. Water chestnut has purple-black skin color, white flesh, sweet and juicy taste, and crisp and delicious. Water chestnut can be used both as a fruit and a vegetable, and is a popular favorite seasonal product.

Water chestnut is rich in nutrients, juicy and sweet, and has been known as "underground snow pear" since ancient times, and is regarded as "ginseng in the south of the Yangtze River" by people in the north.

Water chestnut is also Mr. Lu Xun's favorite things, especially love to eat air-dried water chestnut. He wrote to his friends in Guangxi before his death, "Guilin water chestnuts, also known as early, but not blessed to be there, a taste of good flavor, had no choice but to Shanghai small horseshoe instead of the ear." Guilin's water chestnut is famous for its sweetness and crispness, but it is long in the sandy soil, Jiangsu and Zhejiang water chestnuts are produced in the paddy fields, which are wet water chestnuts, and Guilin's water chestnuts are dry water chestnuts.

Water chestnut has the effect of cooling blood and detoxification, diuretic and laxative, transforming dampness and expelling phlegm, eliminating food and swelling. It is most suitable for children and patients with fever. About 10 at a time. Water chestnut should not be eaten raw, water chestnut grows in the mud, the outer skin and the inside may be attached with more bacteria and parasites, must be washed and boiled through before eating, and boiled water chestnut is sweeter. Water chestnut is a cold food, which is not suitable for people with spleen and kidney deficiency and blood stagnation.

The nutritional value of water chestnuts is very high, especially for the treatment of constipation, regular consumption can laxative, clearing heat and phlegm, and has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect on diabetic patients, can help the elderly to reduce blood pressure, improve the body's immune system, treatment of cancer, resistance to germs, inhibition of cerebrospinal fluid, and influenza virus colds.