Introduction: Winter melon, formerly known as shuizhi or dizhi, and because of its long, round shape, similar to past pillows, it is also called "pillow melon."
Winter melon is native to China and East India, and our country's cultivation history has been more than 2,000 years. Due to its good adaptability, easy cultivation, high yield, easy storage and transportation, and good cooking properties, it is widely cultivated in the north and south, becoming a very popular summer vegetable in the market.
【How to Choose】
In the vegetable market, winter melons are divided into three types: green skin, black skin, and white skin. White-skinned winter melon has thin flesh, a loose texture, and absorbs flavor easily; black-skinned winter melon has thick flesh, a dense texture, and the best eating quality. Green-skinned winter melon is in between. It is best for consumers to choose black-skinned winter melon. This type of winter melon is shaped like a cannonball (long and rod-shaped). Choose one with uniform shape and no sun spots (sunburn spots). Since the price is the same, it is more cost-effective to buy this type than other types of winter melon.
It is especially pointed out: you should press the winter melon pulp with your finger and choose one with dense flesh, because this type of winter melon tastes good; the flesh is loose and soft, and after cooking, it becomes "a puddle of water," which tastes bad. The best consumption period is July and August, the peak of summer. Although winter melon is resistant to storage, its eating quality is still best when fresh.
【Nutritional Value】
Every 100 grams of winter melon flesh contains 0.4 grams of protein, 2.4 grams of carbohydrates, 19 milligrams of calcium, 12 milligrams of phosphorus, 0.3 milligrams of iron, and various vitamins, especially a high content of vitamin C, with 16 milligrams per 100 grams, which is 1.2 times that of tomatoes.
Winter melon contains almost no fat (0.2%) and has a low carbohydrate content (1.9%), so it has a low caloric value and belongs to light food.
【Medicinal Effects】
Winter melon is the vegetable with the highest water content (over 96%). Because winter melon is cool in nature, it can clear heat and relieve summer heat, promote urination and bowel movements, help the body eliminate waste and detoxify, and is suitable for treating edema, bloating, phlegm wheezing, carbuncles, hemorrhoids, etc.
Because winter melon contains malonic acid, it can inhibit the process of converting carbohydrates into fat in the body, thus it has the effect of losing weight. This just provides scientific evidence for the view in "Shiliao Bencao" (Materia Medica for Diet Therapy): "Those who want to be slim and light can eat it often."
Li Shizhen, a famous ancient Chinese physician, said in "Bencao Gangmu" (Compendium of Materia Medica): using winter melon pulp to decoct for washing the face and bathing can make the skin fair and shiny.
Folk remedies often mash winter melon seeds, mix them with honey, and apply them to the face to moisturize the skin. This method can also be used to treat freckles.
【Appropriate and Inappropriate Consumption】
Winter melon is a cooling food, suitable for people with a "heat" body type, but not suitable for people with a "cold" body type. "Shiliao Bencao" says: "It is good for those with heat to eat it, but it makes those with cold thinner." "Bencao Jing Shu" says: "Those with deficiency-cold in the kidneys and chronic diarrhea should not eat it."