Pantang Water Chestnuts

Pantang Water Chestnuts

　　Pantang water chestnuts (eleocharis dulcis) are mainly grown in water. Typically planted at the Beginning of Autumn and harvested after 120 days, the high-quality Pantang water chestnut starch produced from them was once widely exported to Southeast Asia and North America. The popularity of water chestnut cake as a Cantonese delicacy also owes much to the historical role of Pantang water chestnuts. The flowers of the water chestnut plant are white. "Water chestnut" is the common name for eleocharis dulcis, a perennial herbaceous plant that grows in paddy fields. What we eat is its flat, round underground stem. According to historical records, water chestnuts have a long history of medicinal use. For instance, the dietetic classic "Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu" summarizes their health benefits in just 26 characters: “Sweet and cold in nature, water chestnuts clear heat, aid digestion, relieve drunkenness, treat chest congestion, eliminate malnutrition, neutralize copper toxins, repel parasites, reduce jaundice, relieve bloating, cure dysentery, and regulate menstrual bleeding.” Modern scientific research has also found that water chestnuts are rich in starch, protein, crude fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins A, B1, B2, and C. They also contain an effective anti-cancer and blood pressure-lowering compound called eleocin. In traditional Chinese medicine, water chestnuts are often used in the “Snow Soup” decoction to clear heat, remove phlegm, lower blood pressure, and treat constipation. TCM practitioners believe that drinking fresh water chestnuts with reed rhizome and fresh lotus root juice makes an ideal beverage for clearing heat and quenching thirst.