Posted 2017/3/26
Cangzhou small red dates have thin skin, small kernel, and thick soft pulp with "honey thread". They are also known as "golden thread dates". They are one of the noted export goods from Hebei as well as China.
Red dates are produced in China as early as 12 million years ago. There were wild date trees growing in North China. The working people managed to cultivate them about 3 millennia ago. Red date, chestnut, apricot, peach and plum were considered as five valuable fruits in ancient China. Of them, red date comes first.
Red dates were a kind of food during a famine. They were utilized as a gift to pregnant women, an offering to forefathers and a medicine for weak people. Although date trees are widely distributed in China and there are various kinds of them, the most famous kind is the one growing in Hebei.
Cangzhou small red dates have rich nutrients, with sugar content of 65.9%. One hundred grams of fresh red dates contain vitamin C up to 600mg, 77 times higher than apricot, 90 times higher than peach and banana, 135 times higher than pear, etc.. They also contain protein, fat, crude fiber, inorganic salt, calcium phosphorus, iron, potassium, sodium, etc.. Moreover, red dates are a tonic for all organs and have an effect on recuperating bodily functions, nourishing the spleen and soothing the stomach.
Red dates are used to cure the patients suffering diseases like weak stomach, anemia, cough, insomnia, weariness, high blood pressure, hepatitis, etc.. A British physician called red dates "living Vitamin pills." He carried out clinical tests on 163 weak patients and found that those who ate red dates made a quicker recovery than those who took vitamin pills. Red dates can be eaten fresh, boiled, simmered into soup, or made into paste as cake fillings.
