Why sugar cane is sweet?

Sugarcane is a plant of the genus Sugarcane (Gramineae), which is native to tropical and subtropical regions. Sugarcane, alias potato sugarcane, dry sugarcane, grafted grass, sugarcane, sugar stem, etc. It is a C4 plant with high photosynthetic efficiency, high light saturation point, low carbon dioxide compensation point, low photorespiration rate and high photosynthetic intensity. Therefore, sugarcane has high biological yield and great benefit. Sugarcane is the main raw material for sugar production in China. In the world total sugar production, sucrose accounts for about 65%, while China accounts for more than 80%. Sugar is one of the necessities of human beings, and it is also an important raw material for candy, beverage and other food industries. At the same time, sugarcane is an important raw material for light industry, chemical industry and energy. At present, China's total sugar output reaches 770 1 10,000 tons, accounting for 86.2% of China's total sugar. China has become the third largest sugar producer in the world.

There are three theories about the origin of sugarcane, one is Indian, the other is South Pacific New Guinea, and the third is China. China is one of the oldest sugarcane growing countries in the world. Sugarcane cultivation has a long history. Before written records, there were wild sugarcane forests in southern China. In the 4th century BC, there was a historical record of sugarcane cultivation in China. The famous patriotic poet Qu Yuan's "Evocation of Soul" contains the words of introducing sugarcane. There are records of making rock sugar over the years in the Tang Dynasty. Wang Wei, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a poem that "when you are full, you don't have to worry about internal heat, but big officials still have cold cane pith", revealing that sugarcane has the function of "purging heat".

Sugarcane is one of the favorite fruits in winter, and its sugar content is very rich, about 18-20%. Sugar in sugarcane is composed of sucrose, fructose and glucose, which is easily absorbed and utilized by human body. Sugarcane also contains a large number of trace elements necessary for human body, such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, manganese and zinc. Among them, the iron content is particularly high, reaching 9 mg per kilogram, ranking first among fruits, so sugarcane is known as "blood-enriching fruit". Sugarcane is also the "cleaner" of the mouth and contains a lot of fiber. When chewing repeatedly, the residual dirt in the mouth and between teeth can be swept away, which can improve the self-cleaning and caries prevention ability of teeth. At the same time, chewing sugar cane is also a good exercise for teeth and oral muscles, which has the function of beauty beauty.

Sugarcane is usually listed in autumn, but many supermarkets sell it all winter, even in spring, so that people who like it can eat it at any time. However, most of the sugarcane in spring is stored in autumn. After a winter, it is easy to deteriorate, and flocculent or fluffy white material appears at the end of sugarcane. After cutting, there will be red silk on the section. Some people didn't choose sugar cane carefully when they bought it, but it was normal to see red silk after cutting it, which led to sugar cane poisoning after eating it. Mildew sugarcane is very toxic, which contains a neurotoxin 3- nitropropionic acid. The symptoms after poisoning are mainly central nervous system damage. Generally speaking, after eating sugarcane for 2-8 hours, vomiting, dizziness, headache, visual impairment, and then stiff limbs are all obvious symptoms of sugarcane poisoning, which may even lead to coma and death.

I like eating sugar cane since I was a child. My father always generously gave me a dime or two to buy my favorite fruits, such as sugar cane and watermelon. Children of the same age follow me, and a catty of sugarcane can eat two or three cents. Sometimes, when they have no money, they take their children to the fields to break sweet sticks to eat. Up to now, the habit of eating sugar cane has not changed, but eating sugar cane in front of people feels a little old and embarrassed, for fear that everyone will laugh at me like a child. I always buy sugar cane secretly, let the stall owner cut it into short pieces, wrap it in a black bag, quietly take it back to the office, lock the door, and can't wait to "chew" it. That kind of effort is no less than the feeling that Monkey Sun ate a flat peach. One word "cool"! If someone knocks at the door, hide the sugar cane in the cupboard for fear that others will see it, just like being a thief.

Sugarcane has been eaten unconsciously for more than 30 years, and it has reached the level. Let me introduce some ways to buy sugar cane. If there are colleagues who eat sugar cane, both men and women can consult for free, which is a shopping guide. Let me introduce the varieties of sugarcane first. According to my tasting experience, sugarcane can be roughly divided into purple skin, red skin and yellow-green skin. Purple-skinned sugarcane is the top grade of sugarcane, which is mostly produced in southern provinces such as Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan. This kind of sugarcane has thick nodes, short nodes, fine fibers, good taste, high sugar content and high sweetness, and is deeply loved by consumers. Red-skinned sugarcane is mostly produced in Sichuan. This kind of sugarcane is long, but it has thick skin, thick fiber, poor taste and low sweetness. Yellow-green-skinned sugarcane is mostly produced in Hunan and Hubei, and its advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of red-skinned sugarcane.

In terms of purchasing skills, I summed it up as "know yourself and know yourself." First of all, we must master the wholesale price of sugarcane. In recent years, the wholesale price of sugarcane in Baoji is mostly about 5 cents to 6 cents per catty, and the retail price is generally 1 yuan. This year, the price has reached 1 yuan 50 cents, setting a new record for sugarcane prices. When selling sugar cane, the sugar cane retailer will cut off both ends of the sugar cane, scrape off the skin and weigh it. Considering that the weight of most sugarcane retailers is 80% to 80%, the final retail price is acceptable to most customers. In this way, prices are generally dead, and there is not much room for bargaining, so time is spent on how to choose sugar cane. When selecting sugarcane, we should master the principle of "touch, see and smell", and touch is to test the hardness of sugarcane; It depends on whether the pulp of sugarcane is fresh (fresh sugarcane has a hard texture, milky white pulp and obvious fragrance); Smell is to identify whether sugar cane smells or not. Mildew sugarcane has soft texture, slightly dark and light brown pulp, and smells tasteless or slightly distiller's grains. Moldy sugarcane is poisonous and inedible. Most customers like to buy long cane. When the nodes of sugarcane are long, the stems are thin and the sweetness is poor. However, sugarcane with thick stems must have short nodes and obviously high sweetness. This is a dilemma. My experience is that I would rather buy sugar cane with short section and thick section than sugar cane with poor sweetness. At the same time, we should also carefully observe the appearance of sugarcane for scars and mildew. As for some so-called "bug eyes" on sugarcane, it doesn't matter. Most of the "bug eyes" are hollow in the middle of sugarcane, and the sugar overflows. We don't have to worry, which proves that the sugar content of this sugarcane is good. I have another trick, that is, watching the cutting of sugar cane. The cut surface of sugarcane is a good sugarcane with thin skin, fine meat and less fiber. This kind of sugarcane has less bagasse and good taste. On the contrary, the cut surface of sugarcane is thick and fleshy, and the fiber is mostly inferior sugarcane. This kind of sugarcane has a lot of bagasse and poor taste. Finally, after buying sugar cane, let the seller chop it into bags, and remember to cut it at the joints of the sugar cane, which is harder. After being cut with a knife, it is more convenient to eat and it is also a kind of protection for teeth. Remind women in particular that if they eat half a cane at a time, they can buy half a cane. Pay attention to the lower part of sugarcane, which is rich in sugar and sweet in taste. Tips are getting less and less sweet.

Writing here, I suddenly linked buying sugar cane with being a man. Buying sugar cane is a dilemma. Not as a man. In real life, it is difficult to have both. Whether to choose "bear's paw" or "fish" has been inconclusive since ancient times. There is only one thing to weigh the pros and cons, which is more important, and that is a matter of opinion.