What are the medicinal and edible homologous medicinal materials?
The state-approved homologous catalogue of medicine and food clearly reads "almonds (sweet and bitter)". So is there a difference between sweet almonds and bitter almonds?
It is true that some almonds taste slightly bitter, and some are slightly sweet, and usually the people call those bitter almonds "northern apricots", and the sweet ones are called "southern apricots". Most of the almonds that are used as snack nuts today are sweet almonds, which are artificially cultivated and improved varieties in the later period, while the almonds of wild apricot trees are generally bitter after picking. Therefore, it can also be understood that "bitter almond" is wild and "sweet almond" is artificially bred.
Bitter almonds are toxic in many records, and modern studies have found that bitter almonds do contain a substance "amygdalin", which will produce hydrocyanic acid after hydrolysis, and hydrocyanic acid is a highly toxic substance, so it is generally considered that bitter almonds are toxic. According to relevant statistics, every 100 grams of amygdalin contained in bitter almonds can be decomposed and released to release 100 250 milligrams of hydrocyanic acid, and 60 milligrams of hydrocyanic acid can put people to death. Therefore, if you eat a large amount of untreated bitter almonds, there is a high risk of getting hit.
Bitter almond is the fruit of mountain almond, the grain is heart-shaped, but relatively small, about 1 cm in diameter, the skin of the seed kernel is dark yellow, and the lines on it are relatively fine. Sweet almond is the fruit of the kernel apricot, the grain is heart-shaped, the shape is slightly larger than the bitter almond, the tip is slightly crooked, the skin of the kernel is pale yellow, and the lines on the skin are relatively thick. To put it simply, sweet almonds are bred by human beings and specially eaten almonds, so the nuts are particularly developed and have a sweet and fragrant tasteAnd bitter almonds are grown by nature, not specifically for eating almonds, and do not take into account human tastes.
So can bitter almonds still be eaten?
Of course, you can eat it, but you can use it properly, and after proper processing, there will be no problem. In nature, it is the medicine that is poisonous, and the poison is also used in the medicine. Almost all natural toxins have a special value, and bitter almonds are no exception. When a small amount of bitter almond is applied, the amygdalin contained in it can be decomposed by the enzyme of bitter almond itself or the microbial enzyme of the coliform to produce trace hydrocyanic acid, which has an inhibitory effect on the respiratory center and has the effect of suppressing cough and asthma. Benzaldehyde is produced when amygdalin is decomposed, and its metabolites have certain anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. As for its effect on inhibiting digestive enzymes, if used properly, it is not without benefits in preventing excessive rise in blood sugar and blood lipids after meals. A small number of foreign researchers have pushed amygdalin as an anti-cancer substance, although it has not been fully scientifically proven, but it has been reported that amygdalin extract has the effect of inhibiting cell mutations.
In sweet almonds, the content of amygdalin is very low, so there is no need to worry about poisoning. The content of amygdalin in bitter almonds is about 2 4%, of which hydrocyanic acid (HCN) content is 017 %。Whereas the amygdalin in sweet almond is 011 %, of which the hydrocyanic acid content is only 00067 %, its toxicity is negligible. However, it is precisely because the content of bitter amygdalin in sweet almonds is too low that the medicinal effect is far less than that of bitter almonds.
So how to reduce the toxicity of almonds (sweet, bitter)?
Usually, mountain almond debittering and detoxification can be done by acid hydrolysis, alkali hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. Amygdalin decomposes easily under acidic, heated conditions, while hydrocyanic acid is easily soluble in water. The easiest way is to soak in warm water at 50-60 degrees for 5-7 days and change the water once or twice a day. If you soak in slightly acidic water with pH5 6, the bitter taste will be eliminated after 3 days. If heated to 70-80 degrees, the detoxification is faster. Wild mountain almonds are mostly bitter almonds, which are processed to produce delicious almond syrup drinks, as well as almond side dishes. This is because most of the amygdalin has been removed after reasonable processing, and there is no need to worry about poisoning.
Share an almond diet remedy:
Pork lung soup with ginger almonds:
1. Efficacy: warm the lungs, relieve cough and dissolve phlegm. It is suitable for chronic bronchitis deficiency, cold, wheezing, cough, phlegm, constipation and other symptoms in the elderly.
2. Raw materials: 250g of pork lungs, 12g of sweet almonds, 2 tablespoons of ginger juice.
3. Method: Wash the pig lungs and cut them into pieces. Wash the sweet almonds, put the pork lungs and almonds in an aluminum pot and add water to boil, add ginger juice and a little salt when cooked.
4. Usage: eat pig lungs and drink soup.
If you have anything else you want to know about almonds or what experience you have in using them, you are also welcome to leave a message to discuss and jointly promote the development of medicine and food.