When will water chestnut be on the market?

Water chestnut is usually listed in winter.

The harvest period of water chestnut can start from the first frost to the vernal equinox of the following year. The bulbs harvested in the early stage are tender in meat, light in taste and thin in skin, which is not resistant to storage. From the winter solstice to the slight cold, the bulb skin turns reddish brown and tastes sweetest, which is the period with the highest sugar content. Harvesting is the most suitable time. After that, the sugar content of bulbs gradually decreased, the epidermis thickened, the skin color deepened and turned into dark brown, and a yellow coating was produced under the epidermis, which made the quality worse.

The harvesting method is generally to drain the water in the field the day before harvesting, because bulbs are mainly concentrated in the soil layer of 9-20 cm. Scrape off the upper 8-9 cm soil layer first, then scrape off the lower soil layer, and carefully squeeze out the bulbs by hand (commonly known as "touching the water chestnut"). If it is stubble grabbing (such as rape stubble or wheat stubble), it should be drained 10- 15 days before harvesting and dug with a fork.

Edible value of water chestnut

Water chestnut can not only promote human metabolism, but also has certain antibacterial effect. The content of phosphorus in water chestnut is the highest among all stem vegetables. Phosphorus can promote human development, promote the metabolism of sugar, fat and protein, and adjust the acid-base balance. Scientists also found an antibacterial component-water chestnut in the study of water chestnut.

It has certain inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Coupled with its rich nutrition and unique taste, it is indeed a rare food.