At the end of the potato and onion growing area there is a large pond, the pool is full of lotus leaves, and the white and pink lotus flowers are like works of art in the green ocean, dotted like pearls, or budding, or lute to cover the face, or graceful, like stars exuding jewel-like light, it looks very holy.

Kiki walked to the edge of the pool to admire the lotus flowers and marveled. Suddenly, she pointed to the plants on the water under the lotus leaves and exclaimed, "What's growing in the pool?" ”

Bin Bin ran over to take a look and said, "This is a water chestnut." See those red horn-like things under the water? ”

Yanyan also ran over, observed for a while, and asked, "Binbin, those that are covered by leaves are water chestnuts?" Find a branch and open it for us to see. ”

"Where are the branches here? I'll uncover the leaves with my hands and show you. ”

Grandpa Yuan hurriedly stopped Binbin, called the female employee who was digging potatoes next to her, and asked her to use a shovel to fish up a water chestnut and open it for the children to watch.

"Wow, it's really water chestnut, it turns out to be like this! Grandpa Yuan, can you tell us about Ling's knowledge? ”

Grandpa Yuan squatted down and explained with a smile: "People born in the south of our country can often be seen in lakes and weir ponds. Water chestnut is another name for the water chestnut family, the water chestnut in the genus Ulmonoids and the fine fruit wild water, also known as the wolf, the wind chestnut, the black chestnut, the water chestnut. It is native to Europe and southern China, especially in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Delta. Water chestnut is divided into wild water chestnut and home chestnut, with dense leaves and floating on water; The leaves are broadly diamond-shaped, the surface is dark bright green, very smooth, and there are stems under the leaves; The dorsal surface of the leaf is green or purplish-red, with concave shallow teeth in the middle and upper part of the margin, and the middle and upper part are inflated into spongy air sacs, covered with short hairs. Small white flowers bloom in May and June, bloom at night, close during the day, and shift with the waxing of the moon. There are several kinds of fruits: no horns, two horns, triangles, four horns. The horns are spiny, thin and brittle, and grow at the tips of the horns. Water chestnut is sweet, cool, non-toxic, it is the fruit of the annual herbaceous aquatic plant water chestnut, the water chestnut skin is crispy and the meat is beautiful, it is eaten after steaming and peeling the shell, and it can also be boiled porridge. When it is young, it can be eaten as a raw fruit, old ripe fruit can be cooked or processed into water chestnut powder, air-dried water chestnut can be stored to extend the supply, and water chestnut leaves can be used as green fodder or green manure. It helps to strengthen the stomach and stop dysentery, and fight cancer. Helps to treat gastric ulcers, dysentery, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer. Topical use of rhombus handle for the treatment of multiple warts on the skin; Rhombic shell ash is used externally to treat yellow water sores and hemorrhoids. It also has diuretic and lactation, thirst-quenching and anti-alcohol effects. ”

The children exclaimed: "Grandpa Yuan, your knowledge is really rich, like a treasure!" ”

Grandpa Yuan touched Yanyan's head, waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, Grandpa Yuan is studying these, you will definitely be better than me in the future!" ”

Grandpa Yuan said, got up and led the children to continue the visit, and after seeing the vegetable greenhouse, he proposed: "Let's go, let's go see the fungus greenhouse." Do you know what kinds of mushrooms are eaten every day? ”

Yeon-yeon said: "Shiitake mushrooms, my mother often uses them to make shiitake mushroom seaweed soup, as well as stewed chicken soup. ”

Kiki said: "Casserole tea tree mushroom, I ate not long ago, and white fungus soup, which is white fungus. ”

Ding Xuecheng: "Black fungus, one of the main materials of fish-flavored shredded meat. ”

Binbin said: "Lion's mane mushroom, it's delicious!" There are also oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, etc. ”

"Well, what you're talking about are all members of the big family of edible mushrooms, do you know the difference between them and ordinary vegetables?"

"The protein contained in edible mushrooms is better than that of ordinary vegetables in terms of content and quality." Yeon-yeon replied.

"Edible mushrooms are rich in micronutrients such as vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin K, vitamin D, calcium, potassium, iron, zinc and selenium. One of the most unique is vitamin D, which other vegetables never provide. The main function of vitamin D is to promote calcium absorption, regulate calcium metabolism, and is essential for bone health. In recent years, studies have also found that vitamin D is related to the prevention and treatment of common chronic diseases such as arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Binbin replied.

Ding Xuecheng read a little edible mushroom information, and hurriedly said: "And most importantly, edible mushrooms contain a class of ingredients with special health value - mushroom polysaccharides. Fungal polysaccharides exist in the cell wall of edible fungi and have been proven to improve immunity, regulate blood lipids, anti-cancer, anti-thrombosis and other effects. Some of these mushroom polysaccharides, such as lentinan and fungus polysaccharide, have been developed as drugs and applied in clinical practice. ”

"Edible mushrooms contain more umami substances, so they are delicious, suitable for soup, stewing, stir-frying, and even seasoning." Kiki finally found a sense of presence.

"You guys are such a great group, you always solve problems when you work together, it's good, it's good! Let's go and see where they grow. ”

Grandpa Yuan led the group to another greenhouse, and explained: "Edible mushrooms refer to mushrooms (large fungi) with large fruiting bodies and edible mushrooms, commonly known as mushrooms. There are more than 350 kinds of edible fungi known in China, most of which belong to the subphylum Basidiomycetes, and the common ones are: shiitake, straw mushroom, mushroom, fungus, white fungus, Hericium erinaceus, Bamboo sunflower, Matsumouth mushroom (matsutake mushroom), mouth mushroom, red mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps, truffle, white spirit mushroom and porcini mushroom, etc.; A few belong to the subphylum Ascomycetes, among them: morels, saddle mushrooms, truffles, etc. The above-mentioned fungi grow in different regions and different ecological environments. ”

When Ding Xuecheng heard "Ganoderma lucidum" and "truffle", his heart moved, and he hurriedly asked, "Grandpa Yuan, do you grow Ganoderma lucidum and truffles here?" ”

"Hehe, Ganoderma lucidum can be artificially cultivated, but the medicinal effect is not as good as that of wild ones, but the artificial cultivation of truffles has not yet been realized, and we are researching it."

Ding Xuecheng was half disappointed and half delighted, thinking of the next second ring of practical activities, he was very excited, and asked: "Oh~ Do you have any rare and expensive vegetables in your research institute?" If so, do they have seeds? Like Ganoderma lucidum! ”

Grandpa Yuan said with a smile: "Ganoderma lucidum is different from ordinary plants, there are no seeds. In nature, the mycelium of Ganoderma lucidum grows on rotten wood, and does not die in that year, and the mycelium continues to grow and spread under suitable conditions in the second year, and grows into a fruiting body. As long as the conditions here remain unchanged and there is abundant nutrition, new fruiting bodies can grow every year, which is the asexual reproduction of Ganoderma lucidum. The basis of this reproduction is to use the characteristics of isolated mycelium to regenerate in vitro in a suitable external environment. People take advantage of this characteristic to cut a small piece of mycelium on the living fruiting body and cultivate it on the culture medium through aseptic operation, giving suitable growth conditions for Ganoderma lucidum, at this time the mycelium begins to differentiate and regenerate, grow new mycelium, expand to the depth of the medium, and grow new fruiting bodies. The mycelium thus obtained can be stored at low temperatures for a long time in a special medium. At present, artificial cultivation of Ganoderma lucidum is carried out by asexual reproduction. This vegetative reproduction is called fission, and we mainly cultivate it in this way here, which has a higher yield. Another cultivation method is sexual reproduction, which is achieved by the cooperation of cells of different sexes to produce a certain form of spores. As mentioned above, spores are formed in the reishi mushroom tube, and after the spores mature, they are ejected from the tube, flutter in the wind, and can germinate when they fall in a suitable environment, forming mycelium, and finally developing into fruiting bodies, thus giving rise to new individuals. The sexual reproduction of Ganoderma lucidum not only reproduces offspring in nature, but also can be propagated through artificial cultivation. In artificial culture, sexual reproduction is generally not used to directly obtain the fruiting body, but to renew the strain, cultivate excellent mother species, and achieve the purpose of rejuvenation. ”

After saying this, Grandpa Yuan said mysteriously to Ding Xuecheng: "As for the 'rare and expensive vegetables' you just said, after visiting the fungus greenhouse, I will show you another area, and then you will understand!" ”

Then Grandpa Yuan went on to explain the knowledge of edible fungi: "All edible fungi belong to heterotrophs. According to the type of nutrition, it can be divided into saprophytic type, parasitic type, symbiotic type, etc. Among the edible fungi, the saprophytic type is the mainstay, with the largest number and the most extensive distribution. Among the saprophytic edible fungi, we can further divide them into woody fungi, grass fungi, fecal fungi, and native fungi. At present, it is known that the vast majority of edible fungi that have been artificially produced on a large scale belong to saprophytic bacteria. ”