What is the difference between ordinary chestnuts and wild chestnuts? Can wild chestnuts be eaten?

Contents of this article

1. The difference between common chestnuts and wild chestnuts

2. How to identify the quality of chestnuts

3. Can wild chestnuts be eaten?

4. Precautions for eating chestnuts

The difference between common chestnut and wild chestnut

Wild chestnuts grow wild in the mountains, while ordinary chestnuts are cultivated and bred artificially. Generally speaking, wild chestnuts are very small in appearance, with about 140 pieces per kilogram, and slightly dark in color. When sold in the market, they have small white hairs on the surface. Chinese chestnuts are large in size. There is not much difference in nutritional value between the two.

How to Identify the Quality of Chestnuts

1. Look at the color: If the shell is bright red, brown, purple, ochre, etc., and the particles are shiny, the quality is generally good. If the shell is discolored, dull, and has a dark shadow, it means that the fruit has been eaten by insects or deteriorated by heat.

2. Pinching the fruit: You can pinch the chestnuts with your hands. If the grains are firm, the flesh is generally full. If the grains are hollow, it means the flesh has dried up or has become soft after being kept hot.

3. Hand-cranking: Shake a handful of chestnuts on a table or shake them in your hands. If there is a sound of shells, the flesh is dry and hard. They may be chestnuts from last year or original chestnuts disguised as fresh chestnuts.

4. Taste: Good chestnut kernels are light yellow, firm, fine-textured, less watery, highly sweet, glutinous, fragrant, and delicious to eat. On the contrary, good chestnut kernels are hard and tasteless, and taste bad.

5. Grain size identification: The bigger the chestnut grain, the better. my country's chestnuts are divided into southern chestnuts and northern chestnuts. Northern chestnuts are generally smaller, with about 70-80 pieces per 500 grams, flat and round in shape, with thin skin, easy to peel after frying, and more uniform grains.

Can wild chestnuts be eaten?

Generally speaking, wild chestnuts are not poisonous. Some people may have heard that there are wild chestnuts for sale in Shennongjia. In fact, this explains it. Many people living in the mountains often eat wild chestnuts. The nutritional value of wild chestnuts is also very high, and they are not common. It’s just that some people may think that wild chestnuts are not as delicious as the chestnuts we usually buy. Wild chestnuts are relatively small. Generally speaking, wild chestnuts are not poisonous and are good for eating.

Wild chestnuts grow naturally and do not contain pesticides, so they are safer to eat. There are many ways to eat wild chestnuts. Eat them raw, just peel them and eat them, but it is difficult to digest, so you need to chew them more. You can also stir-fry them, using a special stir-frying sand. Before frying, make a small cut in the chestnuts, so that it is easier to peel. You can also stew them, stew them with pork ribs and chicken, and stewing them is very nutritious. You can also boil them, and it is recommended that diabetic patients boil them.

There are relatively few wild chestnuts now, and most of them are artificially cultivated. Even if they are artificially cultivated, their nutritional value is still very high, but you must remember that you cannot eat too many chestnuts, because many people may find that eating too many chestnuts will cause bloating, so you can only eat a few per day, but you can eat them every day, and eating them regularly has the effect of strengthening your body.

Precautions for eating chestnuts

1. People with weak spleen and stomach should not eat chestnuts raw. They should stew or fry them. They can also cook porridge with chestnuts, jujubes, poria cocos and rice.

2. People suffering from blood diseases, such as vomiting blood, bloody stool, etc., should eat chestnuts raw.

3. Because they contain a lot of carbohydrates, diabetics should eat chestnuts in moderation.

4. Whether eating raw, fried or stewed, you must chew it carefully and swallow it with saliva to achieve better tonic effect.

5. Postpartum women and children with constipation should not eat too many chestnuts.

6. Oil chestnuts are a type of chestnut, which is more suitable for sugar frying. Traditional sugar frying chestnuts use maltose. If you use sodium saccharin and inferior oil to fry chestnuts, the opening of the chestnut will be sticky with "sugar juice", coke, dust and other impurities, which is not only unhealthy but also unhygienic. It is recommended not to buy them.

7. It is best to eat chestnuts as a snack between meals, or cook them in meals, rather than eating a large amount after meals, so as to avoid excessive calorie intake, which is not conducive to maintaining weight.

8. Do not eat too much, whether raw or cooked. 5 to 10 capsules a day are enough. Chew them carefully and swallow them little by little when there is no residue in your mouth.

9. Chestnuts cannot be eaten with beef; chestnuts cannot be eaten with mutton; chestnuts cannot be eaten with tofu; chestnuts cannot be eaten with almonds.