After Tet (Lunar New Year), my kumquat tree is still laden with fruit, which is large and ripe. Can I use them for decoration or to eat? (Thu, 22 years old, Hanoi ).
Reply:
Kumquats are fragrant, rich in nutrients, and good for health, making them suitable for everyone. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, kumquats have a sweet and slightly sour taste, a warm nature, and help to dissolve phlegm, reduce coughs, regulate qi, and strengthen the spleen. Eating kumquats with rock sugar can treat asthma. Candied kumquats stimulate appetite and regulate qi. This fruit is rich in vitamin C, has antioxidant properties, enhances the body's resistance, improves the immune system, helps relieve hangovers, and treats colds and fevers.
Before Tet (Lunar New Year), gardeners plant and care for ornamental kumquat trees to sell. According to folk beliefs, a kumquat tree laden with fruit symbolizes health, peace, longevity, good fortune, and family reunion in the new year. A beautiful ornamental kumquat tree brings wealth and success in work, and can be enjoyed throughout January or even longer.
Therefore, many places spray or inject pesticides or chemicals and chemical fertilizers to make the fruit look beautiful and large, keep the tree looking fresh longer, or make it bear fruit faster. As a result, eating this type of kumquat is not good for your health and can easily lead to poisoning. Even soaking or washing it is not safe.
If the kumquats are home-grown for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations, with a clear origin and without the use of fertilizers or chemicals, then you can rest assured they are safe to eat. However, these types of kumquats are usually not as beautiful, with smaller, less round, and less vibrant yellow fruits.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh
Institute of Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology
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