First, look at the posture and body wall thickness.

Because the wild sea cucumbers of the same age are smaller, but the content of active substances and taste are better than those in captivity. ?

Second, look at the number of heads in a catty.

Under normal circumstances, all live sea cucumbers are over 2 years old. For example, if you buy a bottom-sown wild pure light dry sea cucumber, the age of 80 to 100 sea cucumbers is generally about 3 years, and 50 to 60 sea cucumbers are generally about 4 years. If it is less than 50 sea cucumbers, it will be more than 5 years old. The bigger the sea cucumbers are, the longer the growth period will be, and the higher the nutritional value will naturally be.

Extended data:

Dry sea cucumber's growth years can't be judged by its size. The nutritional value of sea cucumbers is indeed related to their growth years. Take Stichopus japonicus in the north as an example, the maturity period of bottom sowing sea cucumbers is 3-5 years, but the growth period of cultured sea cucumbers is often about 2 years.

After the northern sea cucumber is cultivated in the south, the maturity of sea cucumber is shorter, and some of them are even less than 1 year. The cultured sea cucumber grows fast, and it can grow to the size of sea cucumber for 3-5 years in a short time, but the nutritional components can't keep up at all. Generally speaking, more than 3 years can be called adult ginseng.

After the sea cucumber grows up, although the body size changes slowly, it has gone through a long process of nutrient accumulation. Therefore, the longer the growth period of sea cucumber, the thicker the meat, the higher the nutritional value and the more precious it is.

However, sea cucumbers do not grow indefinitely. Generally, the growth period of sea cucumbers is around 10- 12 years. After this period, sea cucumbers will generally "naturally die". After all, sea cucumbers are not ginseng, and they can grow for hundreds of years. Therefore, if the merchants say how many years their sea cucumbers are, consumers should also be careful.

It should be noted that the growth period of sea cucumbers can't be seen only from the appearance. After all, cultured sea cucumbers are carefully eaten, and less than 1 year can grow into the size of bottom-sown sea cucumbers for 3-5 years. In the propaganda about the growth period of sea cucumber, many businesses may not tell the truth. In particular, many vendors who set up stalls in the vegetable market or sea cucumbers produced by unknown small workshops may have considerable exaggeration.

Therefore, in the process of selecting sea cucumbers, we should not only have the corresponding identification ability, but also choose some larger brands and markets, so as not to be deceived by the merchant's propaganda means.