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Lotus, beautiful to see and . . . a highly nutritious food, and . . . a promising food ingredient
Pods Lotus pods are just that: the pods of the lotus flower. The can be eaten raw. They are juicy and crispy and have a rather neutral taste. In traditional Chinese terminology lotus pods are cold food and hence an excellent refreshment during a hot day. According to Chinese medicine, lotus pods strengthen the spleen and the stomach and relax strained nerves.
Raw lotus pods
The China Research Institute for Nutritional Resources (Beijng) has found the following composition of nutrients in lotus pods (per 100 gr of fresh lotus pod). Nutrient Proteine Fat Carbohydrates Calcium Phosphorous Carotene Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Nicotinic acid Vitamin C content 1gr 0.1 gr 19.8 gr 19 mg 51 mg 0.22 mg 0.11 mg 0.04 mg 0.4 mg 25 mg
Lotus pods are most frequently processed into slices. Lotus pods slices can be sold dried, fresh, canned, etc.
Sliced lotus pods, ready to eat Paste A second lotus product is lotus paste. The dried seeds are stewed in water until soft and then mashed into a fine paste. The paste is then watered down to a thin slurry and passed through a sieve and into cheesecloth, with which it is squeezed dry. This produces a fine crumbly paste, which is then mixed with sugar or other sweeteners and often oil to produce a smooth sweet paste. Chinese cuisine requires further preparation by dry cooking the sweetened paste over heat with caramelized sugar and vegetable oil. This produces a paste with a darker color, which is rich, sweet, and silky with a slight fragrance of caramel. Lotus paste is used in Chinese cuisine as a filling for mooncake, buns, and other sweet pastries.
Lotus paste and diced mooncake In recent years, manufacturers are trying to adapt lotus paste to modern dietary requirements by replacing sugar with low calorie sweeteners like maltitol and erythritol. Powder A third traditional product is lotus root powder. Cleaned pods are crushed in water and then filtered. The filtrate is then set aside to let the lotus powder precipitate. Lotus root powder is a time-honored traditional Chinese nourishing food, whose ingredients include lotus root powder, sweet osmanthus and so on. It is highly nutritious with good medical effect. Modern nutrition has also reached this industry and a number of fortified lotus root powders are available on the market. For example, Tianhe (Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is producing a lotus root powder specially formulated for the elderly, enriched with calcium (calcium lactate) and dietary fibre.
Lotus root powder for the elderly
R&D Lotus root powder is the subject of some R&D in China. Here we just list the English translations of a few titles of academic papers: − Experimental Studies on Rheological Properties of Lotus Root Powder Paste − Experimental study on spray drying of whole lotus powder − Process technology of high dietary-fibered dissoluted lotus root power Eurasia Consult has been active in the Chinese food industry since 1985. However, the basis of our services goes far beyond ‘so many years of experience’. We study what moves the Chinese food industry by always keeping an eye open for the power of culture. Currently China is an important region for international suppliers of food ingredients because of its size and population. China is also an emerging export region of more and more food ingredients. However, the future strength of China lies in what it can add to the global food industry from its rich culinary history. Eurasia Consult is your best guide to be one of the first to start mining that great tradition.