What is fern root powder made of? The three benefits of fern root powder

Fern root powder, as the name implies, is vermicelli made from the starch stored in the underground rhizomes of ferns. Freshly picked fern roots are ground into powder, which is a natural food. Fern root powder contains various natural pigments, minerals and other ingredients. Fern root powder is often served as a cold dish at banquets and is served on the table very early. Because it is rich in starch, it actually plays a role in balancing the three major energy-producing nutrients.

Contents of this article

1. What is fern root powder made of?

2. Three benefits of fern root powder

3. Taboos of fern root powder

What is fern root powder made of?

Fern root powder refers to the starch extracted from the rhizomes of wild fern. During the production process, no additives are contained. The roots of wild fern are directly taken, washed, crushed, filtered and dried. Fern roots are distributed in the deep mountains of Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places. They are natural, wild and pollution-free.

Fern root is the rhizome of the fern plant of the Pteridaceae family. The roots of "ferns" are collected in autumn and winter, washed and dried. Fern root can be used as medicine, also known as "fern chicken root".

Freshly picked fern roots are ground into powder, which is a natural food. Fern root powder contains various natural pigments, minerals and other ingredients.

Fern root, perennial herb. Rhizome long, strong, creeping, underground, hairy. Petiole sparse, strong and upright, 30-100 cm long, naked, brown or yellow stalk, leaves triangular or broad lanceolate.

Three benefits of fern root powder

Fern root powder, as the name implies, is made from starch stored in the underground rhizomes of ferns. Ferns are a type of lower plant that do not have true roots, but have some parts that are embedded in the soil to absorb water, called rhizomes, commonly known as fern roots. According to a survey, 13 fern species in my country have a high starch content in their underground rhizomes, which can be extracted and used to make fern root powder.

To make fern root powder, you first need to get the starch from the fern root. Mash the part of the fern root containing starch, soak it in dilute alkali, filter out the residue, and then leave the filtrate for a while, the starch will settle. Then after repeated washing and filtering, wet starch is obtained. This starch also contains various natural pigments, flavonoids, minerals and other ingredients, and its color is black. Using this crude starch to make vermicelli, rice noodle skin and vermicelli is similar to the production method of other similar products.

What's in fern root powder? Like other vermicelli, the highest content is water, and the most dry matter is starch. According to data reports, fern root contains only 2.4% protein, 1.2% fat, and a small amount of minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, etc., but the content is lower than that of ordinary vegetables and grain beans. The process of extracting starch and making vermicelli will remove most of the protein and amino acids, and will also lose most of the minerals and vitamins. In other words, the main active ingredient in fern root powder is starch, and the other ingredients can be said to be negligible, and they do not play any significant role in dietary nutrition.

At this point, the nutritional value of fern root powder is a bit disappointing. However, there is no need to be too disappointed - at a banquet, fern root powder has three benefits:

First, although fern root powder is mainly composed of starch, this starch is different from other starches. It has a high content of straight chain starch and a high content of resistant starch, which is digested and absorbed slowly. Therefore, under the premise that the total carbohydrate content does not exceed the standard, when dining out, diabetics and dieters can occasionally use it to replace part of white rice and white noodles as a way to balance nutrition during banquets.

Second, fern root powder is often served as a cold dish at banquets and is served very early. Because it is rich in starch, it actually plays a role in balancing the three major energy-producing nutrients. Before eating meat dishes with a lot of protein and fat, eating some fern root powder can not only reduce protein waste, but also make people feel full in advance and avoid eating too much vegetables. It actually plays a role in protecting health and balancing nutrition.

Third, dark fern root powder contains more antioxidant ingredients such as flavonoids. It not only tastes cool and is suitable for summer consumption, but also has certain benefits in preventing the rise of blood sugar and blood lipids compared to white rice. The jelly served in restaurants nowadays is often bleached or dyed products. Therefore, using dark brown fern root powder to replace soft white products has certain health advantages.

People who are particular about food always want to bleach it when they see that the starch extracted from fern root is too dark. In fact, this is unnecessary and will lose the characteristics of fern root powder. In fact, the darker the color of natural food, the stronger its antioxidant effect. It is an extremely unwise hobby to blindly pursue the white color of food.

Contraindications of fern root powder

Avoid consuming too much fern root powder, because it is cold in nature, and consuming too much can easily cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms. In addition, it should be noted that people with weak spleen and stomach and people with diabetes should also avoid eating fern root powder, otherwise it will increase the burden on the body.

One of the main contraindications of fern root powder is excessive consumption. Fern root powder is a cold food. If ordinary people consume too much or frequently, they are likely to experience abdominal pain and diarrhea.

People with weak spleen and stomach should avoid eating fern root powder. Also, because fern root powder is a cold food in nature, eating fern root powder will cause a great burden on the body and is not conducive to the body's recovery.

People with diabetes should also avoid eating fern root powder, because starchy foods such as kudzu root powder contain a lot of sugar. After people with diabetes consume kudzu root powder, it may cause blood sugar fluctuations and even induce diabetes-related diseases.