Pueraria lobata, also known as kudzu, pueraria pueraria, etc., is a perennial herbaceous vine of the legume family. It is a commonly used ingredient in our life, the taste is sweet and delicious, and it contains a large number of minerals such as iron, calcium, copper and other minerals required by the human body, which was first recorded by the "Shennong Materia Medica", and the ancients often used it to dissipate heat and relieve heat and resist plague.
Nowadays, people have achieved remarkable results in the pharmacological research of Pueraria lobata, mainly for high blood pressure and high blood sugar, so Pueraria lobata is also known as "Asian ginseng".
So why did Kudzu, which is regarded as "ginseng" by China, become a "demon" on the bad street when it arrives in the United States? What exactly causes this?
In March 1876, a World's Fair was held in Philadelphia, USA, with a total of 35 countries participating in the exhibition and 10 million visitors. Among them, the Japanese used kudzu vines to decorate their exhibits, and the green vines were covered with beautiful purple flowers.
A large number of American gardeners were attracted by the appearance of kudzu, so after the exhibition, kudzu vine was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant.
Soon after Kudzu entered the United States, farmers discovered that cattle were very fond of eating it, so they promoted it as cattle feed. Until 1935, in order to solve the problem of soil erosion, the U.S. Federal Soil Protection Commission mobilized farmers to plant kudzu on their wasteland and use it as fodder and green manure, with a subsidy of $8 per acre for each acre.
Because the climate in the United States is extremely suitable for the growth of kudzu, coupled with the vigorous cultivation of the Americans. In just a few decades, kudzu has been flooding the United States. The rapidly climbing vines quickly cover the other plants, and the dense green leaves block out all the sunlight. Large trees and shrubs entangled in kudzu vines have a low chance of survival.
Everywhere Kudzu went, crops rotted, pastures were taken, and forests encroached upon, reducing carbon storage by 28 percent. A large number of trees are dying, reducing photosynthesis and likely to affect the global climate.
After the kudzu root flooded, the Americans used chemical control and artificial control methods to remove it, but the effect was not ideal, because the kudzu root is not only tenacious, but also the reproduction rate is particularly amazing.
Relevant data show that kudzu is found in two-thirds of the states in the United States, and has become one of the most harmful invasive species, and has even been listed as a hazardous species by the federal government and banned from being introduced.
The reason why kudzu has not flooded in China is first of all because the Chinese are very fond of kudzu, and some places even rarely see wild kudzu, and they still need to rely on artificial cultivation to catch up with the speed of eating, which also makes kudzu unable to reproduce in large areas in China.
The second is that Kudzu also has its own natural enemies in China. The natural enemies of kudzu are mainly fungi and insects. Among them, fungi belong to 4 phyla and 8 families, with a total of 12 species. There are more insects, belonging to 3 orders and 15 families, with up to 48 species. While there are many types of natural enemies, the number of kudzu in the wild has also been controlled.
Kudzu is a medicinal and edible plant in China, which looks similar to sweet potatoes, and even looks like some old tree stumps, but its nutritional value is extremely high and has a wide range of uses.
Archaeologists have found that as early as the Yao, Shun and Yu periods, people began to eat kudzu, and they could process kudzu into kudzu powder and kudzu chips. Especially in famine years, people will go into the mountains to dig kudzu roots to satisfy their hunger.
Kudzu contains a lot of starch, which can provide us with the energy needed for life activities, so after the kudzu is processed into arrowroot powder, it is mixed with cold water and then added with hot water, sprinkled with sugar, and you can drink it directly, and the taste is similar to that of lotus root powder.
After Kudzu arrived in Japan, it became an indispensable ingredient in desserts, such as kudzu cake and arrowroot soup. But for Americans, there is no habit of eating kudzu, because most Americans can't accept the unique taste of kudzu.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Americans, kudzu is only used as fodder and decoration. But as kudzu has become widespread in the United States in recent years, Americans regard it as a "demon."
In China, many businesses have derived a variety of convenient products after using modern technology to process kudzu, so that the medicinal value of kudzu has been brought into play again.
The first is instant arrowroot powder, our common arrowroot powder needs to be mixed into a paste with cold water before eating, and then brewed with boiling water, which is easy to agglomerate and dissolve incompletely if the operation is improper.
The improved instant arrowroot powder is similar to the brewing method of coffee, and it can be drunk directly after brewing with boiled water, which makes the arrowroot powder more soluble and deeply loved by young people.
Kudzu powder. Kudzu slices.
Kudzu drink. In addition, kudzu contains a lot of starch, protein, and fiber, which can be eaten as a green food instead of food.
As early as 2003, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that kudzu was on track to become the sixth largest food crop in the world. This has also led to an increase in international demand for kudzu every year, with the average annual consumption of arrowroot powder in Japan alone being as high as 8 kilograms.
As for whether kudzu can become the sixth food in the world, it is mainly from the following points:
The first is production. In recent years, a large amount of industrial land has taken up agricultural land, and the area of arable land has decreased sharply, and food production has also declined. The annual output of artificially cultivated kudzu can reach 2000-4000 kilograms, which can effectively make up for the problem of small grain production, and the rich starch content inside is far more than that of corn and potatoes.
The second is the effect of sand prevention and control, the adaptability of Pueraria lobata is strong, cold and drought resistance, the requirements for soil are not high, the growth rate is extremely fast, it is an environmentally friendly plant, which can effectively preserve soil moisture and purify the air, so Pueraria lobata can prevent and control sand in the planting process, reduce soil erosion, and can also effectively alleviate the problem of land desertification in China.
At the same time, it can also increase the income of farmers, and the processed arrowroot powder is generally 30-110 yuan, which is much higher than the income of growing grain, and it is also a good way for farmers to expand their sideline business.
Overall, it was only a matter of time before kudzu became the sixth food in the world.