Peach gum has become the new favorite of Internet celebrity sweet soup, will it become milk tea 2.0?

Have you ever seen translucent colloids like "QQ candy" on trees?

Image from Wikipedia

It is a gum, a hardened resin or exudate from various trees and shrubs, some of which dissolve in water, while others absorb water and swell greatly when soaked in water.

There are many kinds of gum, the most common ones are gum arabic, peach gum, karaya gum, etc. In recent years, people have become more and more aware of the value of gum. Different gums have their own special uses and are widely used in pharmaceutical, food, papermaking and other industries.

For example, there are many sharings of peach gum syrup and peach gum drinks on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, which are refreshing and delicious in the hot summer.

Image from Xiaohongshu

Image from Weibo

What exactly is peach gum? Can we eat it safely?

In a broad sense, "peach gum" is the secretion from the trunks of peach trees, mountain peaches, cherries, apricots, etc., which is often used as an adhesive. In a narrow sense, it only refers to peach gum, also known as peach blossom tears. Peach gum can be said to be multifaceted and plays different roles in the eyes of different people.

In the eyes of fruit farmers, peach gum is a sign that the peach trees are sick.

When peach trees are damaged by external factors or infected by fungi, they will secrete liquid , which will turn into a translucent colloid under the action of light, namely peach gum. The older the peach tree, the greater the probability of peach gum appearing.

If there is more and more peach gum on the peach tree bark, it means that the peach tree is on the verge of death. This is similar to when humans have too many wounds and too much damage, they are more likely to decline.

Image from Xiaohongshu

If a peach tree produces peach gum, it can be determined that the peach tree is sick, also known as "peach gum disease", which often leads to a reduction in peach yields. In severe cases, it may even cause the peach tree to wither and die, resulting in a decrease in fruit farmers' income .

In recent years, as the value of peach gum has been discovered, some people have deceived fruit farmers by saying that the economic benefits of cultivating peach gum are higher than planting peach trees to produce peaches. Although this method of exhausting the resources may yield good benefits in the first few years, it will inevitably damage the tree's vigor and affect the quality of the fruit in the long run.

In the eyes of doctors, peach gum is a good medicine for treating diseases. It contains a variety of nutrients such as vitamins, amino acids, proteins, polysaccharides, etc. It has the effects of promoting blood circulation and invigorating qi, moistening the intestines and relieving constipation, clearing away heat and relieving cough, and relieving stress. Eating it can improve the body's immunity.

At the same time, peach gum has certain therapeutic effects on the treatment of urinary stones, hematuria, infantile malnutrition, chyluria, diabetes and other diseases.

The medical value of peach gum has been discovered in ancient times. In ancient Chinese medicine, peach gum is an important medicine. Many medical books describe peach gum. "Tang Materia Medica" records that it "tastes sweet and bitter, is neutral in nature, and is non-toxic." "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that it "regulates blood and replenishes qi, treats dysentery, and relieves pain." "Ben Jing Feng Yuan" says that "peach gum is the best for promoting body fluids, and can treat hematuria and stranguria. For black stuffing in smallpox, use Bi Sheng ointment."

In the eyes of craftsmen, it is a good assistant to make the product more perfect.

Peach gum has good viscosity and unique fragrance. It is often used as an adhesive for filling seams or bonding. It is very useful in the production process of blue and white porcelain, as it can make the blue and white material firmly adhere to the embryo.

At the same time, peach gum is also useful in the painting process of blue and white porcelain . When drawing patterns on blue and white porcelain, craftsmen will soak the blue and white material in black tea water, and then add peach gum to ensure smoother painting. If there is no peach gum, the brush will easily absorb the embryo during painting, causing the pattern to pause and become unsmooth.

In the eyes of those who love beauty, it is a good assistant for beauty and skin care, and peach gum has already joined the ranks of health products.

Since peach gum is relatively common, many people call it the commoner's bird's nest. The common way to eat it is to wash it and stew it with white fungus, black fungus, etc. It has the effects of skin rejuvenation, anti-wrinkle, and acne removal.

However, although peach gum has certain beauty value, it cannot be eaten every day. After all, peach gum is not easy to digest, and women during pregnancy and menstruation should not eat too much. There are also rumors that peach gum can supplement collagen, which is actually a hype. Peach gum does not contain collagen, which only exists in animal foods .

However, although the value of peach gum is widely sought after by people, the safety factor of eating peach gum picked from the tree directly is not high, because no matter whether the peach gum is produced by external factors or fungal infection, it is easy to be contaminated by external pathogens and harmful pollutants in the air.

In addition, since peach trees are susceptible to diseases and insect pests, fruit farmers often use pesticides to increase peach yields, so peach gum is also easily contaminated with pesticides.

Peach gum for sale

Image source: screenshot from Taobao

Peach gum has many applications. In the process of food processing, it can play a role in thickening, emulsification, and coagulation. It is often used in the production of desserts, candies, and cakes. It is also commonly used in printing and pesticide production.

It seems that peach gum is really a multifaceted hero! Although it is regarded as gum disease by fruit farmers, it has indeed made great contributions to human medicine and industry.

References

[1] Cheng Linyao, Chen Liping. On the inheritance of blue and white porcelain art[J]. Ceramics Research, 2017, 32(S4): 29-32

[2] Peach gum does have efficacy, but it should not be exaggerated [J]. Hunan Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2020, 36(01): 87.

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Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo