March 4, 2024 | 08:53 pm PT
I personal an ornamental kumquat tree that’s presently laden with massive, ripe fruit. Is it potential for me to cook dinner or eat these fruits? (Thu, 22, Hanoi)
Reply:
Kumquats are fragrant, nutritious, and supply quite a few well being advantages. In keeping with oriental drugs, kumquats possess a candy and barely spicy taste with heat attributes, aiding within the dissolution of phlegm and the alleviation of coughs. Wealthy in vitamin C and antioxidants, kumquats bolster the immune system, help in alcohol metabolism, and supply aid from colds and fevers.
This fruit is consumable by all. Consuming kumquats with rock sugar is useful for treating coughs, whereas marinating them in sugar may also help in stimulating the urge for food.
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Kumquats on the tree. Illustration picture by Freepik |
A kumquat tree laden with fruit is historically seen in Vietnamese tradition as an emblem of well being, peace, longevity, and fortune, selling concord. A decorative kumquat tree is believed to draw prosperity and facilitate clean endeavors.
Nevertheless, due to that, it’s widespread for some growers to use pesticides or inject chemical compounds into these timber and use chemical fertilizers to reinforce the fruit’s look and measurement, lengthen the tree’s freshness, or speed up fruiting. Consuming kumquats from such practices could be dangerous to well being and should even lead to poisoning. Washing or soaking the fruits doesn’t assure security from these chemical compounds.
For ornamental kumquat timber grown at dwelling, with recognized origins and free from chemical remedies or pesticides, consumption is deemed protected. Nonetheless, these home-grown fruits normally lack the aesthetic attraction present in commercially offered kumquats, being smaller, much less spherical, and their pores and skin having a duller coloration.
Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh
Establishment of Science and Expertise, Hanoi College of Science and Expertise