Peak season has arrived! "Sugarcane during the Qingming Festival is more poisonous than snakes", urgent reminder: don't eat it!

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi

Postdoctoral fellow in Nutrition and Food Safety, China Agricultural University

Speaking of sugarcane , one can't help but think of the sweet juice that fills your mouth after biting it. It is fragrant, sweet and very delicious.

When I was a kid, I often ate sugar cane without waiting for my mother to peel and cut it into pieces. Now, to save trouble, I tend to buy freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

However, recently, we often see news about people being poisoned by drinking "red sugarcane juice" on the Internet. This inevitably makes people worry whether the sugarcane juice they drink is "moldy".

It is said that “sugarcane during Qingming Festival is more poisonous than snakes”. Is sugarcane poisoning really that serious?

Is sugarcane a fruit?

In many people's minds, sugarcane is sold at fruit stalls and eaten as fruit.

From a botanical point of view, fruit means edible plant fruit , and the edible part of sugarcane is its stem, so strictly speaking it is not a fruit.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Although sugarcane is not a fruit, it is an edible plant. In the "Book of Han·Suburban Sacrifice Songs", it is recorded that "taking ganzhe as a drink". Ganzhe is sugarcane, which was eaten as early as the Han Dynasty and has a long history of consumption from ancient times to the present.

Sugarcane is an annual or perennial herb of the Poaceae family. The plant height is 3-5 meters. It likes warmth and light. It grows all year round and matures in autumn and winter and is ready for the market.

According to its use, sugarcane is divided into sugar cane and fruit cane .

Sugar cane, also known as sugarcane, is the main raw material for making sucrose. It is widely grown in Guangxi and Yunnan regions of my country. It has a high sugar content, coarse and hard fibers, and a green-yellow skin. It is generally not eaten fresh. Unlike sugar cane, fruit cane is called fruit sugarcane because it has a crisp taste, less fiber, rich juice, and moderate sugar content, making it suitable for direct consumption. The skin is usually black and purple.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia Whether sugarcane is a fruit or not, there is actually no need to make a strict distinction. The only thing we can come into contact with and eat directly in our daily life is fruit cane. As for sugar cane, it can usually only be eaten occasionally in the producing areas.

"Sugarcane during Qingming Festival is more poisonous than snakes", why?

Sugarcane is delicious and nutritious, but there is a saying among the people that "sugarcane during the Qingming Festival is more poisonous than snakes." Does this mean that all sugarcane during the Qingming Festival is poisonous?

The answer is no. It’s just that sugarcane during the Qingming Festival tends to be “toxic” .

Sugarcane is mainly grown in southern my country and is harvested once a year. It is usually put on the market after it matures in October and is out of season around Qingming Festival the following year. Since sugarcane has a long edible period, cuts are created during harvesting. The cuts are not protected by the epidermis and are exposed to the air. They are easily contaminated by mold due to the transportation environment and storage conditions. Once moldy, toxins will gradually accumulate as the storage time increases.

Source: News Photo

As the weather gets warmer towards the end of the season, which is during the Qingming Festival every year, the temperature becomes suitable for the growth and reproduction of mold, and the risk of sugarcane moldiness increases. The number of poisoning cases due to accidentally eating moldy sugarcane also increases in February and March every year.

Moldy sugarcane should not be underestimated. When sugarcane becomes moldy, it will produce a neurotoxin, 3-nitropropionic acid , which is extremely toxic and can damage the central nervous system.

Eating moldy sugarcane will generally cause poisoning within 2-8 hours, but sometimes it will take only a dozen minutes. Mild symptoms of poisoning usually include vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, headache, and hallucinations; severe cases may cause convulsions, confusion, limb rigidity, white pupils, suffocation, and even coma. The nerve damage caused by poisoning is irreversible, and patients who survive will also suffer from serious sequelae.

So the correct statement should be "moldy sugarcane is more poisonous than snakes". As long as it is moldy sugarcane, it cannot be eaten.

Source: News Photo

Sugarcane is generally best eaten in winter, but in spring, you should be careful when eating sugarcane. It is best not to drink the sugarcane juice sold. Once the sugarcane becomes soft, grows hair, has a red heart, or has a wine or odor, it means it has become moldy and cannot be eaten.

Some people worry about waste and think that they can eat the moldy parts after cutting them off. This is absolutely not allowed. When mold invades sugarcane, in addition to the obviously moldy parts, the remaining parts also contain a large amount of toxins that cannot be observed by the naked eye and should all be thrown away .

Sugarcane causes internal heat? Why should we eat sugarcane in moderation?

Avoid moldy sugarcane. Eating fresh sugarcane has many benefits to the human body.

Sugarcane juice is abundant and sweet, and is rich in sucrose, glucose, fructose, vitamin C, and trace elements such as potassium, calcium, and iron.

However, many people will experience blisters at the corners of their mouths and sores in their mouths and tongues after eating a lot of sugarcane, and they think that they are "getting hot".

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

In fact, sugarcane will not cause internal heat, but rather reduce it. Li Shizhen wrote in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Sugarcane is the fruit of the spleen. Its juice is sweet and cold, and can relieve heat."

Sugarcane can clear away heat and detoxify, nourish yin and moisten dryness, promote salivation and quench thirst, etc. At the same time, sugarcane also contains a large amount of fiber, which is mainly used to treat dry mouth, difficulty urinating, indigestion, and has the effect of regulating the spleen and stomach; chewing sugarcane also has the effect of strengthening teeth and exercising facial muscles.

Sugarcane is good, but it has a high sugar content, so it should be consumed in moderation. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommends that residents consume 200 to 350 grams of fruit per day, which is equivalent to eating no more than two sections of sugarcane a day, or drinking 200 ml of sugarcane juice; "daily intake of added sugar should not exceed 50 grams, and 25 grams or less is best." However, the sugar content of sugarcane is 18%-20%, which is not suitable for regular consumption. People with high blood sugar should avoid eating it.

Source: China Dietary Guidelines 2022

Secondly, sugar cane is a cold food, so people with weak spleen and stomach should not eat it, as it can easily cause abdominal pain and bloating. Sugar cane has a lot of fiber and is coarse and hard. Excessive chewing will rub against the tongue and the inner wall of the mouth, causing pain; the salivary enzymes in the mouth convert the sugar in the sugar cane into maltose, and this reaction will cause blisters on the tongue.

Source of sugarcane juice | Wikipedia/Food Trails

In short, no matter what kind of food, moderation is always right. As long as it is fresh sugarcane, whether it is eaten directly or squeezed into juice, it is natural and healthy. You can choose the way to eat it according to your own physical condition and preferences.