In winter, bundles of sugarcane often stand prominently at street-side fruit stalls and drink stores next to the subway. In winter, sugarcane is crunchy and sweet, and when you bite into it, the sweet juice immediately overflows into your mouth, making it so delicious that you can’t stop eating it.
But delicious sugarcane may become a deadly “poison”, about eating sugarcane poisoning news is not uncommon, we must pay attention.
So why is sugarcane poisonous? How can you tell the difference? Today’s article says it all.
Sugar cane has a red core, do not eat a bite!
Sugar cane may be sweet, but if you find it has turned red, don’t eat it, it may have deadly toxins.
After picking sugarcane, due to improper storage and transportation in the case of transportation, sales, etc., it is likely to produce mold, contaminated by rhodospore mold (Arthriniumspp.). This mold in the growth and reproduction process will and produce a highly toxic toxin – 3-nitropropanoic acid (3-Nitropropanoicacid, 3-NPA).
3-NPA is a strong neurotoxin, into the human body is absorbed, the onset is very fast, within a short period of time can cause damage to the central nervous system, resulting in dizziness, headache, convulsions and other symptoms, serious can lead to cerebral ischemic necrosis, respiratory failure, and even death. Some poisoned patients may also suffer from speech and movement disorders.
Especially children, their liver and kidneys and other detoxification organs are not mature, resistance is weak, once the children moldy sugar cane poisoning, it is easier to develop into a serious disease.
When mold occurs in sugarcane, a very important feature is that the core of the sugarcane turns red or reddish-brown, which is due to the red nitrate-like substances produced by the mad reproduction of rhodospore mold. In addition, softened, hairy, smelly sugar cane may also have mold risk, try not to eat.
At this point, someone may ask: then remove the red core part is not to eat?
No! No! No! (Say important things three times)
When sugarcane is infested with mold, the mycelium has extended to every part of the cane. Besides the moldy part, the intact part actually contains toxins, except that these toxins don’t glow red, so they can’t be seen by the naked eye.
How to buy sugarcane that is safe and sweet?
-Prioritize sugarcane that has a firm texture. If you find that the sugarcane has become soft, has a red heart, or smells bad, don’t buy it and don’t eat it.
-Many people want to choose sweet and tasty sugarcane, but in fact, the varieties of sugarcane sold in the market that can be eaten directly are basically similar, and there is not much difference in taste. So you don’t need to be too obsessed with how to choose. However, in order to facilitate good gnawing, you can choose the slender ones.
A little reminder:
Sugar cane is high in sugar content and should be eaten in moderation and not in excess. Especially people with diabetes and high blood sugar should be careful to eat less sugarcane.
Children who can’t spit out bagasse will easily choke on sugarcane when eating it, triggering the risk of choking, and it is not recommended to directly gnaw on sugarcane.
Two Things Most People Don’t Know About Sugar Cane
- Sugar cane is not actually a fruit
Sugar cane is a tropical herbaceous plant that belongs to the same family as bamboo, wheat, corn and rice. It is a typical tropical crop that likes light and heat. Sugar cane is very tall, the head can grow to 5 to 6 meters, long knife like slender leaves, the head will bloom like reeds into spikes of flowers, stalks divided into many sections, in the joints of the place can grow buds (the so-called tiller [niè]). Its rhizomes store a large amount of sugary sap – “sucrose”.
Later, sugar cane spread northward, and the Indians were the first to extract crystallized sugar from its juice. During the Warring States period in the 3rd century B.C., sugarcane was introduced to southern China and spread throughout the country around the time of the Tang Dynasty.
Generally, sugarcane matures around October each year and is available until March or April of the following year, so it’s no wonder that it’s become a common “fruit” in the winter. The reason for the quotation marks is that it is not strictly speaking a fruit, as it produces stalks rather than fruits.
Different types of sugarcane vary in color, stalk thickness, sweetness, amount of juice and fiber, and so on. However, by use, there are two main types: for sugar production and for fresh eating. Both the sugarcane for fresh consumption and the sugarcane supplied mainly for sugar production are the result of artificial hybridization.
Sugar cane used for fresh eating (chewing), also called “fruit cane”, is characterized by high water content, high sugar content, and low fiber content. In this country, the sugarcane we often eat is the Chinese bamboo cane (S. sinensis), which not only has a sweet (high sugar content) flavor, but is also rich in juice, making it ideal for eating directly.
- Sugar cane: an important economic commodity
On the afternoon of December 14, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited and investigated Laibin City in Guangxi, inspecting 10,000 acres of sugarcane forests and harvesting scenes of mechanized operations, and encouraging a greater role in guaranteeing the security of the national sugar industry and promoting the increase of sugarcane farmers’ incomes and wealth.
In addition to fresh food, sugarcane has a more important role – sugar production, at present, 80% of the world’s annual sugar production comes from sugarcane.
Sugarcane is harvested, juiced, purified, dried and other processes to achieve a wide variety of sugar that we usually eat.
When it comes to sugar, many people may think that it is unhealthy and doesn’t seem to be a good thing. In fact, sugar has played an important role in the history of the world. Until now, sugar is still an important economic commodity for all countries.
For a long time in history, sugar was a very valuable commodity, and because of its value, countries around the world used the pursuit of sweetness to engage in a variety of interests and power struggles, changing the world pattern more than once. It is only in the last century or two that sugar has become cheap and readily available in every household. As for the claim that sugar is bad for health, our annual per capita consumption of sugar is less than half the world average.
China is an important producer and consumer of sugar, sugar planting in China’s agricultural economy occupies an important position in China, in China, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong provinces occupy the first three chairs of sugar cane production, combined sugar cane production amounted to more than 90% of the national production. Sugar is not only an indispensable living material, but also a basic raw material for more than 120 industry sectors, such as food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
