It's hard to believe that a flower can cause a fit of uncontrollable laughter. But it is so. In the Arabian Peninsula, in Southwest Asia, there is a plant called the "flower of laughter." Its pea-sized seed can cause a person to have a causeless fit of laughter for 30-35 minutes, after which he falls asleep. The local population uses “seeds of laughter” to relieve toothache.
Until recently, the sweetest substance was supplied to us by chemistry, the science of miraculous transformations. This is saccharin, which is 300 times sweeter than regular sugar. However, plants have recently been discovered whose fruits are much sweeter not only than sugar, but also saccharin. One of these unusual plants is located in the savannas of the South American country of Paraguay. This is a stevia shrub whose leaves contain a substance resembling saccharin. It is more than 300 times sweeter than sugar.
Great interest among scientists in last years Causes the so-called sugar grass, growing in Central America, mainly in Mexico. A sweet oily liquid was isolated from its leaves and flowers, which, as it turned out, is 1000 times sweeter than sugar - site. In honor of the Spanish physician Francisco Hernandez, who discovered this plant in 1570, the isolated substance was named hernandulcine. What is especially valuable is that, unlike natural sugar, this substance is completely harmless to diabetics and is not conducive to obesity.
It grows under the scorching rays of the sun in the African savannah. herbaceous plant with large leaves Latin name- tomatocus dannelius. The special substance talin, which is found in its red berries, is 2000 times sweeter than sugar.
An even sweeter plant is the vine Dioscorephyllum cumminisii, growing in tropical forests Nigeria and other countries West Africa. Sugar, in comparison with its coral-red berries, collected in large clusters, due to the content of the monellin substance, seems devoid of taste. Of course, monellin is 3000 times sweeter than sugar. These berries are called fabulous.
And yet it is not this plant that is the champion among super-sweet ones, but the ketemf shrub, which grows in the tropical forests of West Africa. Scientists have isolated from it the sweetest substance in the world - toumatin. It is sweeter than sugar (hard to imagine) 100,000 times! This substance will be sweet even if toumatin is dissolved at a concentration of 10 g per whole a ton of water!
Scientists believe that growing super-sweet plants could revolutionize the world's sugar industry.
So, for example, one of these plants - stevia, or two-leaf plant, a native of South America, is “only” 300 times sweeter than sugar, but has already begun a successful march through the fields of Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Laos. In Europe, where stevia was brought back at the beginning of this century, it is cultivated in Spain and with light hand Academician N.I. Vavilov in Russia. Significant cultural plantations are located in the Krasnogvardeisky district Belgorod region. Belgorod residents sweeten confectionery products for diabetics with an extract made from stevia.
Another miraculous plant grows in the tropical forests of West Africa - this is the synsepalum dulcificum shrub. Its red berries, due to the content of miraculin, which means “miracles” in English, have the amazing property of influencing a person’s taste sensations. If you chew a few of these small berries before eating, miracles will immediately begin to happen to your taste: sour lemon will seem sweeter than orange, and sugar will seem bitter. This effect lasts for about an hour, and sometimes more, depending on the amount of fruit eaten. Local people from Ghana to Zaire, where this plant grows, use its fruit to sweeten sour palm wine.
Interestingly, plants with similar effects are found in the Transcaucasus, in the south of Tajikistan and in China. The red-brown jujube fruits, 3-4 cm long, contain up to 30% sucrose, 3.5% proteins, about 4% fats and 2.5 % acids. Compotes, jams, and marshmallows are prepared from them. Store dried. It has long been used in folk medicine for hypertension, asthma, and kidney stones.
It is also growing in India interesting plant kalir-kanda, which is also called deceive the stomach. And not without reason: after eating 1-2 leaves, a person feels full for a whole week, despite the fact that they do not contain any nutrients. Due to the property of creating the illusion of satiety, tablets or infusions from the leaves of kalir-kanda are recommended for people who want to lose excess weight. Doctors are researching kalir-kanda.
In the tropical forests of Indonesia there grows a keppel tree, the fruits of which are so fragrant that the sweat of the person who tastes them takes on the smell of violets.
Its substitutes can be used in limited quantities. Andrey Sharafetdinov, head of the department of metabolic diseases at the Clinic of the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, talks about some sweeteners and their properties.
Aspartame
Most often sold under the names “Nutrasvit” or “Sanecta”. In the list of ingredients it is indicated by the code E951.
It was synthesized back in 1965 from two amino acids that are found in any protein. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so it is used in food production in small quantities.
This sweetener is never added to baked goods or processed foods. But many soft drinks are made with it.
Permissible dose per day- no more than 40 mg per kg of body weight. Contraindicated in patients with phenylketonuria.
Saccharin
How food supplement indicated by code E954. Opened at the end of the last century.
Saccharin is widely used in medicine as a component of many medicines, since it has no calorie content and is 98 percent excreted unchanged by the kidneys. Therefore, it is also used in the production of products for diabetics.
Saccharin is 300-500 times sweeter than sugar, but has a specific bitter taste, which is why it is often mixed with cyclamates.
Permissible dose per day- 5 mg per kg body weight.
Cyclamic acid
Cyclamate, cyclamates, E952. This is a so-called old generation sweetener, which was synthesized in 1937.
Most often used to correct the bitter taste of saccharin. Since it is only 30 times sweeter than regular sugar, it is mixed with saccharin in a 10 to 1 ratio.
True, studies have shown that intestinal microflora is capable of producing cyclohexamines from cyclamates, which potentially toxic.
In addition, products containing cyclamate contraindicated during pregnancy, since it can cross the placenta and affect the metabolism of the fetus.
Permissible dose per day- 11 mg per kg body weight.
Acesulfame potassium
Also called sunnet, denoted by the code E950. This sweetener is 200 times sweeter than sugar, but is resistant to heat treatment and does not lose its properties when boiled.
E950 is widely used in the production of confectionery, sweet soda and ice cream. This sweetener is not absorbed by the body at all and is completely excreted in the urine.
Permissible dose per day- 15 mg per kg body weight.
Sucralose
Trichlorogalactosucrose or E955. This is a very intense sweetener that is 500-600 times sweeter than sugar.
It is resistant to high temperatures and the proximity of acidic foods. It is considered completely safe for the human body.
Permissible dose per day- 15 mg per kg body.
Stevia
One of the newest and most talked about sweeteners. Isolated from the leaves of the stevia plant and approved for food production in the United States in 2008.
Stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than regular sugar and is resistant to high temperature. Therefore it can be used in most types food production- both for confectionery products and for sweetening drinks.
Permissible dose per day- 2 mg per kg body weight.
Sorbitol
He's the same E420. It is made from plant materials and is itself found in many fruits.
It is three times as sweet as sugar, but not much less caloric. Often used in manufacturing medicines and chewing gum, tolerates boiling well.
One of the most interesting properties sorbitol - the ability to slow down the growth of bacteria in oral cavity and protect against caries. True, if the daily dose is exceeded, it can lead to to bowel dysfunction.
Permissible dose per day- no more than 40 g.
Xylitol
Indicated by code E967. Like sorbitol, it is part of chewing gum and helps protect teeth from caries. It is made from corn and cotton waste.
Xylitol is suitable for diabetic nutrition because its absorption does not require the production of insulin. In large doses it causes intestinal disorder.
Permissible dose per day- no more than 10 g.
Take note!
| Name | Calories per gram | Taste relative to sugar | Safe daily dose |
| Natural sugar | 4 kcal | 1 | Up to 10 percent of your daily calorie intake |
| Artificial substitutes | |||
| Acesulfame sodium | 200 | 15 mg per 1 kg body weight | |
| Aspartame | 4 kcal | 200 | 40 mg per 1 kg body weight |
| Saccharin | No calories, not metabolized | 300-500 | 5 mg per 1 kg body weight |
| Sucralose | No calories, not metabolized | 600 | 15 mg per 1 kg body weight |
| Cyclamates | No calories, not metabolized | 30 | 11 mg per 1 kg body weight |
| Natural substitutes | |||
| Stevia | No calories | 250-300 | 2 mg per 1 kg body |
| Xylitol | 4 | 1 | Up to 10 g for any person |
| Sorbitol | 3,4 | 0,6 | Up to 40 g for any person |
I think it has already become a tradition on my website to publish the most exotic plants. Let's remember what I already talked about: and much more. This time I want to talk about the most exotic edible plants. Let's begin.
10th place: Breadfruit grows in Oceania. All species of trees of the genus Artocarpus of the mulberry family are called cereal trees. They bear fruit in “loaves” weighing up to 12 kg! Starch accumulates in the pulp of oval fruits, which turns into dough as it ripens.
“He who plants a breadfruit tree will do more to feed his descendants than a farmer who works the field all his life by the sweat of his brow,” wrote James Cook. Typically, breadfruit trees bear fruit within 70–75 years. On one tree, 700–800 “breads” ripen annually. The fruits are filled with sweetish pulp. Drinks are made from unripe fruits, and something similar to bread is baked from ripe ones. The fruits of the Indian breadfruit tree reach a meter in diameter. The branches could not withstand such a load, so the “loaves” grow directly on the trunk. The African breadfruit tree Traculia has smaller fruits - up to half a meter in diameter and weighing up to 14 kg. Patriarch still exists in Madagascar breadfruit trees- height 20 m, trunk girth 50 m.
9th place. The starch of the sago palm, which grows in New Guinea, is used to make fritters. The palm tree blooms at the 16th year of life, but it is cut down before flowering, when the core greatest number starch. The core is removed, pressed through a small sieve onto a hot metal surface and they make sago, which is why the palm tree is called sago.
8th place. Without any processing, you can consume the milky juice of the milk tree itself - the Venezuelan galactodendron. In composition it is close to cow's milk and resembles cream with sugar. If this juice is boiled, a delicious curd mass is formed.
7th place. In Madagascar you can admire a stunning tree from the begonia family with bizarre fruits. It is called sausage because on its branches there are many brown, sausage-shaped fruits hanging randomly on long stalks. Each such “sausage” can be about half a meter long and 10 cm in diameter.
6th place. The island of Socotra off the east coast of Africa is a center of strange, peculiar shapes plant life. Here, on the rocky slopes of the mountains, you can find the cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotrana) - a plant with prickly wrinkled leaves, spiky fruits similar to ordinary cucumbers and a thick trunk, swollen with milky juice, consisting of soft whitish cellular tissue that is easily cut with a knife. This is the only tree in the pumpkin family.
5th place. On the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, a palm tree grows, the thickened juice of its nuts taste qualities almost no different from butter.
4th place. There are plants - “lollipops”. For example, the leaves of the Paraguayan stevia shrub are more than 300 times sweeter than sugar, and the leaves of the Mexican sugar grass are 1000 times sweeter. The red berries of the herbaceous plant Tomatocus dannelia from the African savannah are 2000 times sweeter than sugar, and the red berries of Dioscorephyllum cumminisii from the forests of Nigeria and other West African countries are 3000 times sweeter. The sweetest plant grows in West Africa - the ketemf bush, which contains the substance toumatin, which is 100,000 times sweeter than sugar!
3rd place. On the islands of Oceania there is a species tropical trees- “cakes”. They grow in abundance with yellowish fruits that taste like sweet cakes.
2nd place. The candy tree or Japanese raisin tree is a member of the buckthorn family, native to
It is very difficult to believe that a flower can cause a fit of laughter. However, this is true. In South-West Asia, on the Arabian Peninsula, there lives a plant called " flower of laughter" Its seed resembles a pea and can cause a causeless fit of laughter in a person for 30-40 minutes, after which he falls asleep. Local residents began to use grains to prevent toothache.
It is known that the sweetest substance was formed as a result of chemical compounds - this is saccharin, which is three hundred times sweeter than sugar. But recently, scientists have discovered plants whose fruits are sweeter not only than sugar, but even saccharin!
One of these unusual plants was found in the savannah of Paraguay. This shrub is named stevia, its leaves contain a substance that is similar to saccharin. However, it is three hundred times sweeter than sugar.
Scientists are of great interest in sugar grass, which grows in Central America, and more precisely in Mexico. Flowers and leaves produce a sweet oily liquid that is more than a thousand times sweeter than sugar. The plant was discovered in 1570 by a physician from Spain, Francisco Hernandez, and in his honor the plant was named hernandulcine. It is valuable that this substance, unlike regular sugar, is harmless to diabetics and does not contribute to obesity.
Under sun rays in the African desert grows a herbaceous plant that has large leaves – tomatocus dannelius.
Its red berries contain the substance talin, which is two thousand times sweeter than sugar. is an even sweeter plant that grows in the forests of Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.
If you compare sugar to coral red berries, due to the monellin content, it seems to have no taste at all. After all, it turns out that Monnelline is three thousand times sweeter than sugar. These berries are nicknamed fabulous. The shrub is recognized as the champion among super-sweet plants ketemf
.
It grows in the forests of West Africa. Scientists have isolated the sweetest substance from this plant - toumatin. It is one hundred thousand times sweeter than regular sugar! If you dissolve it at a concentration of 10 grams per whole ton of water, it will still be very sweet. stevia Scientists believe that growing extremely sweet plants will help revolutionize the world's sugar industry. For example,, considers it his homeland
South America, but he has already begun his march through the fields of South Korea, Japan, Laos and Vietnam. It is cultivated in Spain. Huge cultural plantations are located in the Belgorod region. Local residents make stevia extract and sweeten sweet products for diabetics. Miracle plant
lives in the forests of West Africa - shrub
sinsepalum dulcificum . Due to the content of miraculin, its red berries have excellent properties - they influence the sense of human taste. If a person chews several of these berries before eating, then miracles happen to the taste: sugar becomes bitter, and lemon becomes very sweet. This effect in the mouth lasts for an hour, and sometimes longer, because it all depends on how many fruits you eat. People from Zaire to Ghana, where this plant grows, consume its fruits to sweeten sour palm wine.
An interesting fact is that plants with similar effects live in the south of Tajikistan, Transcaucasia, and also in China. This tree is called jujube, also called
Chinese date or unabi. Jujube fruits reach a length of three to four centimeters and contain about thirty percent sucrose and four percent fat. They are used to make jam, marshmallows and compotes. To create such an illusion of satiety, infusions and tablets from kalir-kanda leaves are intended for people who want to lose weight. On this moment Doctors are conducting research on calir-kanda.
There is a tree in the forests of Indonesia Keppel, its fruits are very fragrant. If a person tries them, his sweat acquires a wonderful violet smell.
Arhat (Siraitia grosvenorii) Synonyms: Momordica grosvenorii Swingle; Thladiantha grosvenorii (Swingle) C.Jeffrey. Siraitia grosvenorii is a perennial herb climbing plant from the pumpkin family, native to southern China and northern Thailand. The plant is valued for its fruits, the extract of which is almost 300 times sweeter than sugar. In China, monk fruit is used as a natural low-calorie sweetener for chilled drinks, and in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetes and obesity. In publications on English language Arhat fruits are often called luo han guo or lo han kuo (Lo Han Guo), from Chinese Luohan guǒ, 罗汉果 / 羅漢果. The plant is also called la hán quả, Buddha fruit, monk fruit or longevity fruit (the latter name is also used for some other plants). The plant Siraitia grosvenorii is named after Gilbert Grosvenor, who, as president of the National Geographic Society, helped finance an expedition in the 1930s to discover the plant in its cultivation areas.
Description
The vine reaches a length of 3 to 5 meters, “climbing” other plants using tendrils that twine around everything they touch. The plant has narrow, heart-shaped leaves 10-20 cm long. The fruits are round, 5-7 cm in diameter, smooth, yellow-brown or green-brown in color, with stripes extending from the end of the stalk, with a hard but thin skin covered with small hairs. The fruit contains edible pulp, which when dried forms a thin, light brown, brittle shell about 1 mm thick. The seeds are elongated and almost spherical in shape. The monk fruit is sometimes mistaken for an unrelated species, the purple mangosteen. Inner part the fruit is eaten in fresh, and the bitter peel is used to make tea. Siraitia grosvenorii is famous for its sweet taste, which can be concentrated from the sap of the plant. The fruit contains from 25 to 38% of various carbohydrates, mainly fructose and glucose. The sweetness of the fruit is enhanced by the presence of mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides (saponins). The five different mogrosides are numbered I to V; The main component is mogroside V, which is also known as esgoside. The fruit also contains vitamin C.
Growing
Seed germination is slow and may take several months. The plant is grown mainly in the far southern Chinese province of Guangxi (mainly in the mountains near Guilin), as well as in Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. Because of the mountains, the plants are in the shade and often surrounded by fog, which protects them from the sun. However, the climate in this southern province is quite warm. The plant is rarely found in the wild; it has been specially cultivated for several hundred years. Records dating back to 1813 mention the cultivation of this plant in Guangxi Province. There is currently a 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) plantation in the Guilin Mountains with an annual production of approximately 100 million fruits. Most of the plantations are located in Yongfu and Linggui counties. Longyang City in Yongfu County is considered the "home Chinese fruits Luo Han Guo"; a number of companies specializing in the production of Lo Han Guo extracts and finished products from the fruits of the arhat, were founded in this area. The oldest of these companies is Yongfu Pharmaceutical Factory.
Traditional use
The plant is most valued for its sweet fruits, which are used in medicinal purposes and as a sweetener. The fruit is usually sold dried and is traditionally used in herbal teas or soups.
Non-toxic
No negative effects reported side effects arhat fruits. The FDA defines the fruit as "generally safe for health." No restrictions have been made regarding the consumption of the fruit or its extracts.
Active substances
The sweet taste of the fruit is provided by mogrosides, a group of triterpene glycosides that make up about 1% of the pulp. fresh fruits. Using solvent extraction, a powder containing 80% mogrosides can be obtained, the main one being mogroside-5 (esgoside). Other similar substances found in the fruit are siamenoside and neomogroside. Recent research suggests that isolated mogrosides have antioxidant properties and possibly limited anticancer effects. Mogrosides have also been shown to inhibit Epstein-Barr virus induction in vitro. The plant also contains the glycoprotein momogroswine, which inhibits ribosomal protein synthesis.
Traditional processing methods
Arhat fruits are round and green when harvested, and during the drying process they acquire Brown color. They are rarely used fresh due to difficulties associated with storage. In addition, during the fermentation process, the fruits acquire a rotten taste, which is superimposed on the already present unpleasant aromas. Thus, the fruits are usually dried and sold in dried form in Chinese herbal shops. The drying process is carried out over low heat in ovens, thanks to which it is possible to preserve the fruit by removing most of the unpleasant odors. However, this method also produces a bitter and astringent taste. This limits the use of dried fruits and extracts for teas, soups, and as a sweetener for foods traditionally consumed with sugar or honey.
Procter & Gamble process
In 1995, Procter & Gamble patented a process for making a healthy sweetener from monk fruit. The patent claims that while monk fruit is very sweet, it contains too many extraneous flavors that render it useless. The company's patented process focuses on removing foreign odors. Fresh fruits are collected until they are completely ripe, and then they are stored for some time so that the process of their processing occurs precisely at the stage of fruit ripeness. The shell and seeds are removed and the pulp of the fruit is made into a fruit concentrate or puree, which is then used for further food production. Solvents are used to remove unpleasant odors.
Story
During the Tang Dynasty, Guilin was one of the most important places for Buddhist retreats with many temples. The fruit was named after the Arhats (Luohan, 羅漢), Buddhist monks who hoped to achieve enlightenment and liberation through what they considered proper lifestyle and meditation. The word "luohan" (羅漢) is a shortened form of the word "āluóhàn" (阿羅漢), which is a very old transliteration of the Indian Sanskrit word "arhat". In early Buddhist traditions, an arhat was a monk who had achieved enlightenment. This process was called "attaining the fruits of the arhat" (Sanskrit: arhattaphala). IN Chinese this word was transformed into "Luohan guǒ" (羅漢果, lit. "Arhat fruit"), which later became the name for this type of sweet fruit in China. According to Chinese history, the fruit was first mentioned in the records of 13th century monks who used it as food. However, the space for establishing plantations was limited, and arhat grew mainly on the slopes of the Guangxi and Guangdong mountains, and to a lesser extent in Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Hainan. Because of this and the difficulties associated with its cultivation, the fruit did not become part of the Chinese traditional medicine, which used more readily available herbs and plants. Because of this, the fruit is also not mentioned in traditional herbal reference books.
Rediscovery of the Arhat in the 20th century
The first mention of this plant in English is in an unpublished manuscript written in 1938 by Professor Groff and Hoh Hin Chung. The report said the fruits were often used as the main ingredients in “chilled drinks,” that is, drinks used in hot weather, and as remedies for fevers or other disorders traditionally associated with heat (inflammations). It was known then that the juice from the fruit was very sweet. Interviews confirmed that the fruits have only recently gained significance in Chinese history. However, a small group of people appear to have long mastered the cultivation of the plant and have accumulated extensive experience in the plant's growth, pollination, and climatic requirements. The fruit was brought to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. Groff mentions that during his visit to the American Ministry Agriculture in 1917, botanist Frederic Coville showed him monk fruits bought in Chinese store in Washington. Fruit seeds purchased from a Chinese store in San Francisco were introduced into botanical description species in 1941. The first study of the sweet components of monk fruit is credited to S. H. Lee, who wrote a report on the plant in English in 1975, and to Tsunematsu Takemoto, who studied it in the early 1980s in Japan (Takemoto later decided to focus on a similar sweet plant gynostemma). In China, the development of production of products from arhat fruits, in particular, concentrated extracts, is still ongoing.