This fruit has nearly 8 times more vitamin C than oranges! It is known as the "savior" for people with constipation!

Originally, the oil orange was a niche fruit, and few people knew about it, especially in the north. However, in the past two years, with the popularity of oil orange drinks, the oil orange has gradually become known to people, and its recognition has continued to increase. It has even been hailed as a "magic weapon for inducing diarrhea."

Image source: A social platform

What kind of fruit is the oil orange? What is its nutritional value? Can eating it really make people "have diarrhea"? In this article, we will talk about the oil orange.

Why does oil orange make people love and hate it?

The oil orange is the fruit of a deciduous small tree of the genus Phyllanthus in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is also known as the fruit of the elm, the elm fruit, the elm fruit, the amla, the Yunnan olive, etc. Although the name of the oil orange contains the word "gan", it has nothing to do with citrus fruits; even though it is also called the Yunnan olive, it has nothing to do with olives.

The oil orange is a specialty fruit of tropical and subtropical regions. It is native to India and Southeast Asia. It has a cultivation history of more than 1,800 years in my country. The main cultivation areas are Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Hainan and other places.

Friends who have never eaten it may be curious: What does oil orange taste like?

The fruit of the oil orange can be said to be a love-hate relationship. It is fleshy, oblate, deeply ridged, and has a yellow-green skin. It tastes sweet and sour with a slightly astringent aftertaste. People who like to eat it think it is delicious, but people who don't like it will wrinkle their faces after taking a bite.

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If you eat emblica for the first time, you will obviously feel that it is sour and astringent, and it is almost difficult to swallow. But if you swallow it, you will feel a hint of sweetness in your throat after a while, which is what we call "5 seconds sweetness". It is named emblica because it is "extremely sour and astringent at first, but sweet after a long time".

The reason why this "magical taste" occurs is because the oil orange contains high levels of tannic acid, organic acid, phenolic substances, polysaccharides and other ingredients.

Tannic acid is the main component that causes astringency. The tannic acid content of tangerine is about 45%, which is not low! The astringent persimmons we usually eat have a maximum content of more than 4%. Astringency is not a taste, but a touch. When tannic acid touches the tongue, it feels very astringent. This is because tannic acid causes the protein in the saliva to clump, thereby increasing the surface friction.

Generally speaking, the less mature the food is, the higher the tannic acid content is, and the more astringent it tastes. This is a defense method for plants to avoid being eaten by animals before they are mature (because this will cause them to "die young" and fail to spread mature seeds, resulting in no offspring).

In addition, oranges are also rich in organic acids, including malic acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, and acetic acid, which are the main sources of the sour taste of oranges.

The sweetness that appears when the taste is sweet may be because the substance condensed by tannic acid and salivary protein slowly fades away. Only after the astringency gradually disappears can we feel the sweetness, and the effect of sweetness aftertaste appears.

How nutritious is oil orange?

The orange is known as the "fruit of life" and is quite nutritious, containing vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, zinc, selenium and other nutrients.

The vitamin C content is very good. Data from the "Chinese Food Composition Table" shows that the vitamin C content of oranges is 62mg/100g. Based on this content, eating two or three handfuls can supplement nearly 60% of the daily vitamin C requirement of the general population.

A handful of oil oranges weighs about 100 grams. Source: Photo by the author

Literature data show that the vitamin C content of some varieties of oranges exceeds 100mg/100g. Some researchers compared 9 different varieties of oranges, including "Special Sweet", "TZ1", "BLG1", "Lanfeng No. 1", "Rongtian", "Tianzhong", "Boglass", "Qingpi" and "Binggan". The results show that among these 9 varieties, the lowest vitamin C content is in Tianzhong, which is 98.3mg/100g; the highest is in Binggan, which is 267.7mg/100g, which is nearly 8 times that of oranges.

Vitamin C content of different varieties of oranges

According to data in the literature, the contents of potassium and magnesium in oranges are also good, which are 76.3mg/100g~251.7mg/100g and 19.2mg/100g~46.5mg/100g respectively. The potassium and magnesium contents of the bananas we usually eat are 256mg/100g and 43mg/100g respectively. Consuming more potassium and magnesium in the diet will help stabilize blood pressure.

Potassium and magnesium content of different varieties of oranges

In addition, oranges are rich in antioxidant ingredients, such as polyphenols and flavonoids, which not only have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, but are also very helpful in preventing cardiovascular diseases, preventing cancer, and regulating blood sugar.

As for the calories of tangerines, they are only 45kcal/100g, which is not as high as apples. Eat one a day, and those who want to lose weight don't have to worry about gaining weight!

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Is the oil orange a "magic weapon for causing diarrhea"?

With the explosive popularity of the oil-orange drink, many people have been attracted to try its delicious taste. Those who are trying to lose weight have even praised it as a "magic tool for eliminating diarrhea" and a "magic tool for scraping fat", claiming that drinking it can help with "laundering" and help with weight loss.

Image source: a food delivery platform

Is it really that bad? Do you have to go to the toilet after eating it? Actually, it depends on the individual. Some people may experience gastrointestinal discomfort after eating it, while others will feel fine after eating it.

To promote defecation, the food must either be rich in dietary fiber, which can promote gastrointestinal motility, or contain some polysaccharides that can stimulate the intestines to produce a defecation reaction.

What is the content of these two ingredients in oil orange?

According to the data in the Chinese Food Composition Table, the dietary fiber content of oranges is quite high, and the insoluble dietary fiber content alone is as high as 3.4g/100g, which is nearly twice that of apples and dragon fruits. However, there are also literatures comparing the dietary fiber content of 9 orange varieties, which are almost all between 1.2g/100g and 1.9g/100g, which is not outstanding and is similar to the mangoes, oranges, and apples we usually eat.

As for the polysaccharide content, a literature compared 16 types of oranges and found that their sugar content was relatively low, with a total sugar content of 3.93% to 6.73%; however, some varieties of oranges have a higher sugar content, reaching more than 15%, such as the sugar content of Nandaigan, Chaigan, and Xiaotiangan varieties, which are as high as 17.76%, 17.52%, and 19.15% respectively.

Therefore, on the whole, whether eating oranges can promote bowel movements cannot be generalized. It is related not only to personal constitution, but also to the variety.

Summarize:

The taste of the orange is sour and astringent at first, but then becomes slightly sweet, which brings a wonderful taste experience. At the same time, it can also provide us with rich vitamin C, minerals such as potassium and magnesium. In terms of eating methods, in addition to washing it and eating it fresh, it can also be made into juice, boiled in water, cooked in soup, dipped in soy sauce, or drunk with tea.

References

[1] Yang Wanyuan, Chen Xiaowei, Liu Dujuan, et al. Research progress on biological activity and processing of Phyllanthus emblica[J]. Guangdong Agricultural Sciences, 2022, 49(07): 120-130. DOI: 10.16768/j.issn.1004-874X.2022.07.016.

[2] Wang Jianchao, He Yinying, Liu Xinming, Shen Chaogui, Chen Faxing, Guo Linrong. Comprehensive quality evaluation of 16 emblica germplasm resources in my country[J]. Journal of Northwest A&F University (Natural Science Edition), 2022, 50(3): 125-135

[3] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[4] Wang Jianchao, Chen Zhifeng, Liu Xinming, Chen Ting, Guo Linrong. Analysis and evaluation of nutritional components of different varieties of Phyllanthus emblica fruits[J]. Journal of Fruit Science, 2018, 35(1): 108-117

[5] Wang Ruiwen. Study on physiological quality and storage stability of Phyllanthus emblica fruit[D]. Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 2023. DOI: 10.27018/d.cnki.gfjnu.2023.000655.

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert