Flower Mountain Water Shield

Flower Mountain Water Shield

　　Flower Mountain Water Shield is a specialty of Huashan Reservoir in Guangshui City, Suizhou, Hubei Province. Water shield, an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant of the Nymphaeaceae family, has been regarded as a delicacy among vegetables since ancient times, with its tender stems and leaves used for consumption. Every 100 grams of fresh water shield contains 745 milligrams of protein, along with various vitamins, minerals, pectin, and amino acids.

　　The water shield abundantly produced in Guangshui’s Huashan Reservoir can be preserved after deep processing by the Huashan Reservoir Water Shield Factory in Guangshui City. It is one of the city’s important vegetable varieties for export and foreign exchange earnings, enjoying a good reputation both domestically and internationally.

　　Water shield is cool in nature and has heat-clearing and detoxifying effects. Cooking it into a soup can help clear internal heat and eliminate prickly heat or boils. Mashing its stems and leaves for external application can treat all types of abscesses, sores, and carbuncles. Reports indicate that the heteropolysaccharides contained in water shield are a good immunopotentiator. They not only increase the weight of the spleen — an immune organ — but also significantly enhance the phagocytic function of macrophages in ingesting foreign substances. Clinically, the phagocytic function of macrophages is markedly reduced in most patients with malignant tumors. The polysaccharides in water shield can strengthen the body’s immune system through human intermediary action, enhance immune function, and thus help prevent and treat cancer.