Scientific name: Ficus carica Linn.

English name: Fig

Family name: Moraceae, Moraceae

Small deciduous trees, up to 10 m; Bark is dark brown; Branchlets erect, stout and glabrous. The leaves are thick and papery, obovate or nearly round, with a length of10-15cm and a width of 8-14cm. The tips are blunt, the base is heart-shaped, the edges are wavy or coarsely toothed, 3-5-parted, the surface is rough, and the back has short hairs and palmately veined. The petiole is 3-7 cm long; Stipules triangular-ovate, reddish, about 1 cm long. The solitary leaf axils of cryptocarpus are pear-shaped, 3-5 cm long and 3-4 cm in diameter, and are dark purple when mature. The flowering period is from May to June, and the fruit ripening period is1October.

The origin is along the coast of China, and it is cultivated in central and southern provinces of China and all parts of Jiangsu.

Hidden flowers and fruits can help digestion, moisten the lungs and relieve cough, clear away heat and moisten the intestines, and the roots and leaves can reduce swelling, detoxify and stop diarrhea; As a tree species with strong resistance to toxic gases, it can grow normally and bear fruit within 200 meters from the diffusion source of sulfur dioxide, and can be planted in areas with serious air pollution. Propagation can be done by cutting, cutting branches from old branches last year, inserting them into seedbeds in winter or early spring, or by budding, or by sowing. The fruit contains tannic acid, glucose, sucrose, fat and gum.

I always thought that "fig" is really a fruit without flowers, but today I realized that fig also has flowers, but its flowers are hidden and people can't see it.

Fig pulp is seedless, rich in nutrition, unique in flavor and excellent in taste. Its main nutrition is as follows:

1, fig has a high edible rate, the edible part of fresh fruit reaches 97%, and the dried fruit and candied fruit reach 100%, and the acid content is low, and there are no hard seeds, so it is especially suitable for the elderly and children.

2. Ficus carica is rich in amino acids, with 1.0% for fresh fruit and 5.3% for dried fruit; At present, 18 species have been found. Not only does it show high utilization value because it contains all eight essential amino acids, but especially aspartic acid (1.9% dry weight) has the highest content, which has a good effect on fighting leukemia, restoring physical strength and eliminating fatigue. Therefore, a fig drink is regarded as a "caffeine substitute" abroad.

3. The dry matter content of Ficus carica is very high, with 14-20% for fresh fruit and over 70% for dried fruit. Among them, the content of glucose which can be directly absorbed and utilized by human body accounts for 34.3% (dry weight), fructose accounts for 3 1.2% (dry weight) and sucrose only accounts for 7.82% (dry weight). Therefore, the calorie is low, and it is called low-calorie food in Japan. Domestic medical research has proved that it is a health food for losing weight.

4. Ficus carica contains polysaccharide, accounting for 6.49% (dry weight), mainly arabinose and galactose, which has certain anti-aging effect.

5. Ficus carica contains a variety of vitamins, especially carotene, with fresh fruit of 30mg/ 100g and dried fruit of 70mg/ 100g, ranking above peaches, grapes, plums, pears, oranges and sweet persimmons.

6. Ficus carica contains a lot of inorganic elements that are beneficial to human body, but does not contain inorganic elements such as Co, Cd, Pb, etc., which are easy to cause cancer. It has a good effect on enhancing the health and anti-cancer ability of the body.

7. The fruits, branches and leaves of Ficus carica are rich in enzymes, among which protein decomposes the most enzymes, followed by lipase, amylase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), etc. It is helpful to digest the fruits after meals. In recent years, a great breakthrough has been made in extracting SOD from figs and developing high-quality cosmetics, which has doubled the value of figs.

8. Ficus carica is rich in dietary fiber, in which pectin and hemicellulose can absorb a variety of chemical substances after water absorption and swelling, so that various harmful substances in the intestine can be absorbed and discharged, the intestine can be purified, the reproduction of beneficial bacteria in the intestine can be promoted, and the blood sugar can be inhibited, the normal cholesterol content can be maintained, and carcinogens can be eliminated.

9. Figs also contain acids such as malic acid, oxalic acid, fumaric acid, succinic acid, malonic acid, pyrrolidine carboxylic acid, shikimic acid, quinic acid and glyceric acid. Flavonoids, rutin ketose, aldose, resin, etc. As well as benzaldehyde, furan coumarin lactone, bone tonic, bergamot lactone and other components that have certain effects on cancer suppression.