Rare Wenguan fruit: edible and can be used in medicine

Wenguan fruit, which has both edible and medicinal value, as well as ornamental value and ecological value, is increasingly valued and favored
by the Chinese people.
Recently, in an interview with the media, Guo Hongxia, member of the Community Nursing Professional Committee of the Chinese Nursing Association, national third-level nutritionist and third-level health manager, director and chief nurse of Liushun Community Health Service Center of Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital, made a comprehensive introduction to the knowledge of Wenguan fruit, aiming to make this magical fruit can better enrich people's material life and play a greater role
in daily health care.

Wenguan fruit, also known as civil official fruit, wenguang fruit, wen lantern fruit, cliff papaya, mountain papaya, etc.
, is a unique woody oil tree species in China, belonging to deciduous shrubs or small trees, up to 5 meters, capsule about 6 cm, black and shiny seeds, spring flowering, early autumn fruiting
.
This tree species originated from the Jurassic to Cretaceous period and has a history of more than 65 million years, known as the "Oriental Divine Tree"
.
Guo Hongxia commented that judging from the name, Wenguan fruit seems to be delicate and delicate, weak and windy, but it is spicy by nature, and its vitality is very tenacious, most of which are rooted in the loess hills, the northeast plain, the northwest Gobi Desert and cold, desertification, salinity or arid areas, which are regarded as the wonders of gardens and gardens, and are also the preferred tree species for barren mountain greening, which can adapt to and grow
vigorously under various conditions.
Wenguan fruit has dense flowers and bright colors, and the flowering period is about 30 days, and after entering the peak fruiting period, it is fruitful, which can beautify the environment
well.

Wenguan fruit has a long history of medicinal use, and its medical value is highly affirmed in the "Saving the Famine Materia Medica" and "Compendium of Materia Medica" in the Ming Dynasty; Among them, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" recorded: "Wenguan fruit is sweet, non-toxic, dry yellow water and thrombosis
.
The meat tastes like chestnut, invigorates qi, moisturizes the five internal organs, calms the nerves and nourishes the blood and muscles, takes light and healthy for a long time, and is not old for a hundred years; Branches torment plaster, dispel rheumatism, strengthen muscles and bones
.
The "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine" also recorded the medicinal properties of Wenguan fruit wood, branches, stems and leaves, believing that its nature is sweet, flat, non-toxic, and can treat rheumatoid arthritis
.
Wenguan fruit has also been included in the "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines in the North" and the 1977 edition of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" and the former Ministry of Health's "Drug Standard Mongolian Medicine Volume", which can be attributed to the liver meridian, dispel wind and dehumidification, reduce swelling and relieve pain, and treat musculoskeletal pain and rheumatic fever
.
Because of its remarkable effect in treating enuresis in children, Wenguan fruit is still a traditional medicinal variety
of Mongolian and Tibetan medicine.

Modern medical research results show that Wenguan fruit shell mainly contains flavonoids, saponins and other active substances, these active ingredients can antioxidant, protect cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and improve memory
.
Frying the wood of Wenguan fruit, or using the branches and leaves of Wenguan fruit to make a paste and apply to the affected area, it is ideal
for the conditioning of rheumatoid arthritis.

As the king of edible oil, Wenguan fruit is known as the "Northern Camellia oleifera tree"
.
Guo Hongxia explained that the advantages and disadvantages of edible vegetable oil mainly depend on the content of unsaturated fatty
acids.
The test data showed that the oil content of Wenguan fruit seeds was as high as 40%, the oil content of seed kernels was 66.
8%, and the content of unsaturated fatty acids was as high as 94%, which was beyond the reach of other edible oils.
And the unsaturated fat contained in it is relatively stable, 3-8% higher than camellia oil, peony seed oil, olive oil, etc.
, which can be called a high-grade nutritional health care product
.

On the other hand, the content of saturated fatty acids in Wenguan fruit is 1.
78 times and 1.
9 times lower than olive oil and peanut oil, respectively, and its quality is far better than peanut oil and sesame oil, and its health care effect is also incomparable with salad oil and olive oil
.
In fact, the higher the content of unsaturated fatty acids, the easier it is to be absorbed and digested by the body, and the better
the effect of lowering cholesterol, lowering blood lipids, and softening blood vessels.
The vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of Wenguan fruit is regarded as a high-grade edible oil on the table, and the oil residue after the seeds are pressed can also turn waste into treasure, from which valuable proteins or amino acids
can be extracted.

Guo Hongxia also introduced that Xu Guangqi, a scientist in the Ming Dynasty, described in the "Complete Book of Agricultural Politics": "Wenguan fruit, which bears a fruit like a citrus valley with three petals, has more than 20 seeds, such as soap horns
.
The leaves are like chestnuts, the leaves are faint, and they are like rice noodles, and the leaves are edible
.
Its petals are sweet and its leaves are slightly bitter
.
"Materia Medica" believes that "all medicines are the medicine of each disease, and tea is the medicine of all diseases"; It is no wonder that the "Compendium of Materia Medica" regards tea made from Wenguan fruit leaves as "the most precious treasure of health"
.
At the same time, Zhu Xuan of the Ming Dynasty completely recorded the various ways
of eating Wen Guanguo in "Saving the Famine Materia Medica".
In addition, Wenguan fruit has a long flowering period and a large amount of honey, and has become an important nectar source plant
in the northern region.
People in many places like to boil the ripe fruits of Wenguan fruit with honey and pickle them to make a unique flavor of "preserves", which are mixed with water and used as a drink for guests during the New Year, which is quite popular
among people.

With the development of the times and the advancement of science and technology, people have more understanding
of the mystery of Wenguanguo.
Using advanced chromatographs, scientists identified and analyzed pure extracts of Wenguan fruit essential oil and found 20 new polyphenolic compounds, plus 37 phytochemicals previously known, or as many as
57.
Guo Hongxia explained that polyphenolic compounds are recognized as a natural antioxidant substance that has a strong scavenging ability to free radicals, can effectively prevent a variety of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and cancer, and has the magical function
of anti-aging.
From a nutritional point of view, the less free radicals the body produces, the stronger the antioxidant capacity, the more it can achieve the purpose of promoting health and delaying aging, and vice versa
.

Fortunately, Wenguan fruit oil is also full of precious and rich nerve acid
.
Guo Hongxia introduced that nerve acid is an essential nutrient for brain development and function maintenance, and it is also recognized by scientists in various countries as a dual-effect substance
that can repair and dredge damaged brains and promote nerve cell regeneration.
Clinically, the lack of this ingredient is easy to cause brain diseases such as stroke sequelae, Alzheimer's disease, cerebral palsy, brain atrophy, memory loss, insomnia, depression, anxiety and psychosis, and even death
due to brain failure.
It is difficult for the human body to produce nerve acid itself, and in the past, it could only be ingested
in vitro.
Looking forward to the future, people have reason to believe that on the road of clinical transformation, polyphenolic compounds, nerve acids and other substances in Wenguan fruit are fully expected to play an important "role"
in the development of new food additives and new drugs.

(Yi Xiaofeng)

Responsible Editor: Zhang Jiazhen Review: Ouyang Meihua