
"The combination of NIR spectroscopy and HPLC chromatography for differentiating lotus seed cultivars and quantitative prediction of four main constituents in lotus with the aid of chemometrics".

The seeds are high in B vitamins, particularly thiamin at 43% of the Daily Value (DV), and numerous dietary minerals, such as manganese (116% DV) and phosphorus (63% DV). In a 100 gram reference amount, dried lotus seeds contain 332 calories and consist of 64% carbohydrates, 2% fat, 15% protein, and 14% water. However, some sellers of dried lotus seeds bleach their products with hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, or other chemicals. The germ of these hard seeds is removed by cracking the seeds in half.ĭried lotus seeds past their prime oxidize to a yellow brown color. Brown peel lotus seeds are brown because the ripened seed has adhered to its membrane. At harvest, the bitter-tasting germ of most seeds is removed using a hollow needle. White lotus seeds are de-shelled and de-membraned. The former is harvested when the seed head of the lotus is ripe or nearly ripe and the latter is harvested when the seed head is still fully green but with almost fully developed seeds. Two types of dried lotus seeds can be found commercially brown peel and white. (And if you’re looking for some strong tea or fine china to serve with your moon cake, check out our list of AAPI-owned businesses to support.Dried lotus seeds snack for sale in Thailand (When they brought home anything with dates or nuts, however, I was completely uninterested.) If you don’t have the good fortune of living near an Asian bakery or grocery store, we’ve chatted with various cool people about their favorite moon cakes that are available to purchase online. I have a personal fondness for the lotus-paste moon cakes containing as many eggs as possible, and when I was growing up, my parents would slip me extra yolk from their own slices.

Moon-cake variations are endless, and everyone has their own fiercely held opinion on which styles and flavors are the best. The cakes are often stuffed with salted egg yolks, which symbolize the moon - the more yolks inside the cake, the greater the prosperity. As a gesture of auspiciousness, moon cakes are commonly exchanged and enjoyed among friends and family.

In the weeks leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, stocking up on moon cakes - petite, dense pastries packed with sweet or savory fillings - is a tradition synonymous with the festival itself.įalling on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (which takes place on September 21 this year), the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important Asian holidays, celebrating the bounty of the autumn harvest when the moon is at its brightest and most beautiful. Walk into any Asian grocery store right now, and you can’t miss it: rows and rows of red-and-gold boxes, bearing labels like lotus seed, red bean, mixed nuts, and egg yolk.
