Basic Introduction to Taixing White Fruit
Taixing White Fruit is a specialty of Taixing City, Jiangsu Province, and a Chinese national geographical indication product. The product is rich in nutrients and suitable for both medicinal and culinary uses. Regular consumption of Taixing White Fruit can help prevent and treat various diseases such as senile dementia, asthma, phlegm cough, spermatorrhea, leukorrhea, frequent urination, and more. Due to its superior quality, Taixing White Fruit has received numerous accolades.
Nutritional Value
Taixing White Fruit is rich in nutrients and suitable for both medicinal and culinary uses, and has traditionally been a prestigious dish for hosting guests and a top gift for friends and relatives by the people of Taixing. Taixing White Fruit contains abundant starch, protein, fat, flavonoids, terpenoids, and particularly noteworthy are the various amino acids essential for the human body, including leucine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, valine, arginine, and histidine which is essential for infants.
According to the results of the determination conducted by East China Normal University on the white fruit essential oil developed by Jiangsu River Sea Nano Company using Taixing White Fruit, the unsaturated fatty acid content in Taixing White Fruit essential oil is the highest among similar products, accounting for approximately 80%. Unsaturated fatty acids can eliminate free radicals and promote longevity.
Product Characteristics
Taixing White Fruit is widely recognized as an excellent variety for fruit use. Compared with other varieties, it features large fruit size, thin shell, high kernel yield rate, high kernel extraction rate, plump kernels, ample pulp, fine and dense seed coat structure, strong glutinous texture, and a long storage period (conventionally up to five months). Its quality ranks first in China.
History and Folklore
Ginkgo biloba emerged around 250 to 350 million years ago and is one of the oldest tree species still existing in the world today, earning it the title of “living fossil” from the scientific community. Given its long and complex history, the origin and evolution of ginkgo are not yet fully understood. Existing discussions are largely based on fossil imprints and the geological eras in which they appear, leading to preliminary conclusions. Additionally, most fossils of ginkgo plants only preserve leaf morphology, with reproductive organs, except for pollen, rarely preserved. Therefore, the origin and evolution of ginkgo can only be generally understood at present.
Academician Zhou Zhiyan used comprehensive paleobotanical reconstruction, cladistics, heterochrony, transmission electron microscopy, and ultrathin sectioning methods to conduct in-depth research on the Jurassic Ginkgoales plant fossils from Yima. He discovered the oldest and most complete Ginkgo fossil known to date – Yima Ginkgo and Yima fruit, elucidated the ultrastructural changes in the megaspore membrane during later development of Ginkgoales, explored the origin, phylogeny, and evolutionary trends of Ginkgoales, and proposed a new classification scheme for Ginkgoales.
From the late Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era to the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era (approximately 80 to 120 million years ago), there were significant changes in Earth's climate (primarily a substantial drop in temperature and glacial incursions), causing ginkgo plants to decline, with decreasing numbers and species, ultimately almost completely disappearing. Only Ginkgo biloba, as an outstanding representative of ginkgo plants, survived against all odds, overcoming harsh environments and continuing to thrive to this day, expanding its distribution worldwide once again.
The study of fossil materials indicates that there are five genera closely related to modern Ginkgo: Ginkgo, Ginkgoites, Baiera, Triacoditys, and Dichophyllum. There are also other genera that share striking similarities in morphology with Ginkgo, such as Phoenicopsis. These genera are classified within the Ginkgoales primarily due to their forked venation and the evident elongation of vein cells, indicating a certain relationship between these extinct Ginkgoales and modern Ginkgo in their evolutionary process.
Looking at the entire history and series of changes in traits of Ginkgoales, like other plants, they have evolved from lower to higher forms, from primitive to advanced stages.
Awards and Honors for Taixing White Fruit
Taixing White Fruit has won numerous honors due to its superior quality. In July 2002, it was certified as a “Jiangsu Province Pollution-Free Agricultural Product” by the Jiangsu Province Pollution-Free Agricultural Products Certification Committee. In April 2003, the “Taixing White Fruit” certification trademark was approved for registration by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce Trademark Office. In August 2004, it received protection as a national origin product by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine. In September 2004, it was certified as AA-grade green food and organic food by the China Green Development Center.
Cooking Methods and Recipes
White fruit is a premium dried fruit. It can be prepared using various cooking methods such as stir-frying, steaming, stewing, braising, roasting, and frying to create dishes like Chicken with White Fruit, Chicken with White Fruit Pieces, Steamed Duck with White Fruit, Chicken Stewed with White Fruit, White Fruit with Silver Ear Mushrooms, Honey-glazed White Fruit with Tomato, Sweet and Sour White Fruit, Eight-treasure Rice with White Fruit, White Fruit Laba Porridge, Salted Pepper White Fruit, and many other delicious delicacies, satisfying your taste buds while promoting longevity.