Watermelon is also very sweet, why no one uses it to make sugar
Author:Look at the think tank Time:2022.07.21
"Watermelon and watermelon, sweet and sweet, don't money without sweetness."
Xiaoshu has passed, cool and hot. In midsummer, nothing is more refreshed than blowing the watermelon with air conditioners. I often hear the yelling of melon farmers along the roadside to promote how sweet their own watermelons are. But why is watermelon so sweet, but no one uses it to make sugar?
Wheat, sugar cane, beet, so many plants in the world can make sugar, but there is no watermelon. Today, as a crowd of melon, let's dig a watermelon to enter the reason why watermelon cannot enter the sugar industry.
Wen | Siyuan
This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account "National Human History" (ID: GJRWLS). The original first was released on July 15, 2022. The original title was "Watermelon is also very sweet. Why did the ancients never think of watermelon sugar? ", Does not mean looking at the view of the think tank.
1
Where does sugar come from
Sugar is the "old acquaintance" in our daily life, and it is indispensable to eat and drink. Speaking of where sugar comes from, we can go back to the sugar jar of the kitchen and the sugar bag of supermarket shelves, and always trace the source of the sugar factory, but where does the sugar in the sugar factory come from?
Some people say: "A plant is a natural sugar factory." Plants use carbon dioxide in the air and water in the soil as raw materials to produce a variety of sugar through photosynthesis: sugarcane generates a large amount of sucrose (bicosecoli); Wutanu; A large amount of starch (polysaccharides) is generated; bamboo produces a large amount of cellulose (polysaccharide) ... For a long time, in order to extract the natural sugar in the plant in the plant, humans have experienced long -term unremitting exploration and countless screening. Among thousands of plants, only a few plants are selected to make sugar.
The cereals were selected at the beginning. The so -called "sweetness is like 饴", and the invention of sugar has created an era of artificial sugar. Some scholars believe that "the same source of wine", as early as the long -term grain brewing practice of the Xia Dynasty, laid the foreshadowing for the germination of sugar. The sweet juice obtained by cooking grains is the "baby" period. However, the sweetness of the juice is not high and it is not easy to store, so "Boil Storm" ("Four Monthly Month"), "Fry into 饴" ("Food Scriptures"), through continuous concentration into sticky crickets.
In the Spring and Autumn Period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the wind of eating sugar was gradually flourishing, and the sales method of selling flute was also produced. "Xiao, edited a small bamboo tube, and now the soldiers are blowing" (Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty). When the children heard the sound of the hawker's flute, they knew that there was sugar to eat.
The sugar germinated from Xia and Shang, and the rapid development of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty. It can be described as its heyday in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, sugar sucrose was gradually growing. Sugarcane actually exists in the primitive society. At that time, the way of eating wild sugar cane still applied to this day. However, the earliest dynasty in my country was basically in the Central Plains area of the Yellow River Basin. The cold climate was not suitable for sugar cane growth, and its popularity was far less than that of grains. It was not until the beginning of the spring and autumn that a large number of sugar cane was recorded.
Maybe it is a lot of planting, or maybe the elderly and children can't chew sugar cane. People start to process sugarcane. During the Warring States Period, a grilled pulp (sugar cane juice) was produced. Qu Yuan's "Soul of the Soul" wrote: "胹 胹, there is a slurry." It means: "Stew turtle turtle fire roasted lamb, and it is better to pour some sugar cane juice." "Sugarcane ...... The juice is like 之, the name is sugar, and Yi Fuzhen is also exposed. "Southbords Foreign Body"), sugar cane juice is concentrated and concentrated, becoming syrup, thick syrup, and even solid, which is called stone honey. Because it is sweeter than soda, it is more attractive.
As for beets as sugar -making raw materials, it is already the 19th century. The history of beet in my country has a history of about two thousand years, and it is recorded as "amaranth" in ancient books. The ancients knew that beets had a sweet taste, but it was mainly used for cooking or medicinal. After all, sugar cane sugar is good, who will move the brain of beet. However, Europe is not the same. Europe does not produce sugar cane. It is found in the beets that sucrose is a big surprise for them: the sweet days are finally turn.
In fact, in addition to the above plants, some countries and regions also use sugar sorghum, sugar maple, sugar, brown, sugar coconut trees, and sweet chrysanthemum to make sugar. What to use to make sugar, you have to "get materials on the spot" to see if the raw materials are good.
2
"Dan Gourd" from the west
When the sugar cane has made a sky in the sugar industry, the watermelon has not yet shadowed in the Central Plains. "The old biography comes from the Western Regions, hence the name watermelon." (Wang Yan, etc., "Guangqun Fangpu"), some people believe that the reason why watermelon is called "West" melon is because it is the melon from the west.
The "New Five Dynasties · Siyi Appendix" written by Ouyang Xiu in the Song Dynasty recorded that there was a county magistrate named Hu Yan who was captured when he went to Khitan. He stayed there for seven years and learned that the Khitan (then the Liao Dynasty's jurisdiction) Returning (now Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) introduced a kind of melon that looks similar to winter melon, and it tastes sweet, called watermelon. (Dozens of miles of Pingchuan, many plants, began to eat watermelon. Yuncadan broke back and was planted with cow dung, which was as sweet as Chinese winter melon.)
Later, the Gao sect Hong Hao asked Jin Guotong for fifteen years in Jin Guo. He wrote "Song Mo Ji News", which commented on watermelon: "sweet and crispy, and there is juice in the middle." Sweet, crispy and juicy, this must not be taken home immediately. Hong Hao brought back to the watermelon from Jin Guo and vigorously promoted planting. Watermelon was passed into the Central Plains. ("There is no known watermelon in ancient times, and the gold is obtained from the western region, and Hong Hao returns from Yanzhong." Wang Shizhen's "Xue Sui Zi Shu Shu" in the Ming Dynasty) Even if the watermelon was planted in large -scale after the Southern Song Dynasty, it could not shake sugarcane. For the reason, everyone can imagine: it must be not cost -effective.
On the one hand, watermelons were not so sweet before. After continuous cultivation, watermelon has been continuously cultivated today.
In the view of Israeli researcher Harry Paris, people used to eat watermelon before seeing the water storage function of "Watermelon". Unlike other fruits, if watermelon is placed in a cool place, watermelon can be eaten for several weeks or even months. In 1924, a national geographical journalist saw that watermelon was regularly beaten to extract water in the dry season in the dry season.
A long time ago, the mature watermelon was yellow inside, because the genes of watermelon red meat and the gene that determined sweetness was closely related, and watermelon crickets gradually became red with the cultivation of humans. From the static oil painting works of the 17th century Dutch painter Albert Eckhout, we can see that the watermelon of hundreds of years ago is very different from the present: the cut watermelon looks like a magnified pomegranate at first glance, and it is divided into several parts, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones, red ones. There are not too many.
On the other hand, because the watermelon is too "water", the sugar rate is not high. There is a saying that when Shennong tasted Baicao, he found "sparse melon", which means that the water and meaty melons were sparse. The water content of a watermelon is about 92%, and the sugar content is only about 5%. On the other hand, the sugar content of the sugar cane next door can reach 17%, and the sugar content of the beet root can reach 19%.
3
Watermelon track selection
At this time, there may be people who eat melon dissatisfaction: "How is it possible? Obviously watermelon is so sweet, but do you say it is not sugar?"
The reason why watermelon is sweet is because there are many fructose, accounting for about 50%. From the perspective of sweetness, the sweetness of fructose is 1.2-1.8 times that of sucrose. Therefore, although watermelon contains not high sugar, the sweetness does not decrease.
Don't say that you don't take watermelon sugar, any behavior of making fruit sugar is somewhat "hooligan" (except sugarcane). The price of sugarcane itself is not expensive. As a fruit, fiber impurities are more impurities and poor taste. Although it has also won the favor of some friends with good teeth, the profits directly sold are not high, and it is better to process it.
The watermelon is different. The watermelon is already sweet and juicy. It can be said that it is easy to capture the taste buds of men, women, and children. In addition to the heat and thirst, the sweet and refreshing taste, the watermelon also integrates people's daily life with a rounded appearance and festive pronunciation. The coincidence has become a good gift, which is accompanied by ancient agricultural civilization and traditional customs.
On July 15th of the summer calendar, Watermelon Mountains were popular in Jiaodong District, Shandong. In the past, because of the large number of watermelons, it was also called "melon festival". During the festival, watermelon is indispensable among the offerings of each household sacrificing ancestor. In some areas, watermelon is cut into dogs to make petals, and it is like two lotus flowers, red cricket black seeds, and is called "Watermelon Mountain" in the case. After worshiping, the family was separated and eaten again.
Regardless of the southeast, South China, Southwest, North China, or even some places in the north, watermelon lamps are placed. People are inserted on the hollow watermelon, inserted the lit candles, and put them in the river to drift, and the drifting far.
Eating melon during the autumn is intended to remove heat and avoid dysentery, and is called "bite autumn" or "啃 autumn". "Eating melon in the autumn, bite autumn, can avoid diarrhea." (The Qing Dynasty Zhang Ye's "Jinmen Miscellaneous Customs") This custom and legends were one year in the Ming Dynasty. Many people in Nanjing have scabies sores, and some people imitate Cui Xianggong's daughter's melon to let the "diarrhea" fall into the scars. The more the story, after eating a lot of watermelon, the sore sore fruit is really good. Therefore, people eat watermelon on the day of autumn to prevent autumn dryness.
Eating watermelon in the Mid -Autumn Festival is also the mainstream. The Ming Dynasty "Emperor Jing Scenery" records: "On August 15th, the monthly sacrifice of fruit cakes must be round;
Lian Jiazhen sent watermelon to the Mid -Autumn Festival gift to Jia Mu. There is a clip of "Dream of Red Mansions" in the 75th round:
Mother Jia also said: "You are good for the moon cakes you sent yesterday. Watermelon looks good, but it can be opened." Jia Zhen laughed: "Moon cakes are a newly -made kitchen chef. I tried it. I dared to be filial. Watermelon was OK in the past year, I don’t know how this year is not good. "
Even if the festival, everyone loves melon.
Love to eat on the road. The "Yanjing Shi Ji" of Fucha Dun in the Qing Dynasty contained: "In early June, watermelon has been ascended, and there are three white, black skin, yellow sandy, and red sand. , Take the summer, eat everywhere, can not only clear the summer, but also wake up. "
I love to eat at home. It is said that Su Dongpo compares watermelon to "ice slurry fairy liquid", and once wrote: "Sitting in the south to the north to eat watermelon, the skin is dumped to the east; It is neat, and he wrote his leisurely and easy state.
So why do you have to squeeze yourself into sugar?Not only is watermelon, oranges, bananas, grapes (Note: Industry generally uses starch as glucose raw materials). The reason why they are not made into sugar is that they choose the easier track: go directly to the supermarket fruit area to report.Reference materials:
[1] Li Mutian. Chinese Sugar made three thousand years [M]. South China University of Technology Press, 2016.
[2] Liu Qizhen, Wang Siming. Discussing the spread and development of watermelon in ancient China [J]. Chinese wild plant resources, 2017, 36 (2): 5.
[3] Zhang Zhongyi, Bai Guiying, Xu Ping. Discussion on the History of Watermelon in China [J]. Journal of Zhengzhou Light Industry College: Natural Science Edition, 1995, 000 (004): 15-18.
[4] Zhang Xining, Hu Baogui. China Watermelon Culture Exploration [J]. Journal of Agricultural Studies, 2020.
[5] Wang Xinxi. "Watermelon Culture" with Chinese characteristics [J]. Journal of Hangzhou Education College, 1998 (01): 56-60.
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