Does loquat paste contain fruit pulp? Uncovering the true cough relieving ingredients of loquat paste

June 05, 2024

"Autumn pregnancy and winter flowers, spring fruiting and summer ripening" refers to the current seasonal fruit loquat. May to June is the season when Tangqi loquat ripens. Tangqi loquat is famous worldwide for its tender flesh, easy melting, abundant juice, and sweet taste. Tangqi was also awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Loquat" in 2021.
In addition to Tangqi in Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Fujian, loquat is also produced. It is precisely the rapid development of logistics that allows northerners to enjoy fresh loquats, but a long time ago, the impression of loquats among northerners was mostly limited to loquat paste. But in fact, loquat paste does not add loquat pulp, but loquat leaves. Loquat can be considered a precious fruit, and in 2014 and 2019, the National Health Commission approved loquat leaves and flowers as new food ingredients.

01
Loquat leaves

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Loquat leaves are a widely used traditional Chinese medicine in China, with a wide range of pharmacological effects. The triterpenoid acids in loquat leaves have various pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, antitussive, hypoglycemic, and hepatoprotective effects.
1) The cough relieving effect of loquat leaves is mainly used for cough relief in clinical practice, with triterpenoids playing a major role. The triterpenoid compounds in loquat leaves are mainly composed of pentacyclic triterpenoid acids of the ursane and oleanolane types. Some scholars found that loquat glycoside, ursolic acid and total triterpene acid in loquat leaves can significantly prolong the incubation period of cough in guinea pigs caused by sulfur dioxide gas and citric acid spray, and significantly reduce the number of coughs.
2) The antioxidant effect of loquat leaves is rich in flavonoids, which are derivatives of chromogens or ketones, mainly including quercetin and kaempferol. The flavonoids and chlorogenic acid in loquat leaves have a significant inhibitory effect on oxygen free radicals induced by the dichlorofluorescein method. Experiments have shown that loquat leaf extract has strong antioxidant activity and can significantly reduce the conversion of DPPH free radicals. When mouse liver homogenate is exposed to air at 37 ℃, the lipid peroxidation reaction caused by the use of malonylthiourea has a significant antioxidant effect.

3) It has been reported that triterpenoid acids and sesquiterpenes isolated from methanol extract have obvious hypoglycemic effect on diabetes mice. Its mechanism may be to stimulate pancreatic B cells, increase insulin release level, and thus achieve hypoglycemic effect.

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4) Antibacterial effects: Loquat leaf extracts, especially ethanol extracts, such as ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, saponins, terpenoids, and flavonoids, have strong antioxidant or antibacterial effects. At present, loquat leaves are mainly used in two forms. One is loquat leaf tea, which is only made of loquat leaves or mixed with other kinds of materials, such as siraitia grosvenorii, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, liquorice, etc. It is mainly used for health care. Applicable scenes include throat discomfort, hoarseness, haze, dust, etc.
Another form of loquat paste is made, such as Chuanbei loquat paste from Kyoto Nianchi An and Guanpinyuan loquat paste.
In fact, loquat trees not only have functional loquat leaves, but their flowers also have a series of unique health benefits. Compared to loquat leaves, the application of loquat flowers may not be as well-known, but their functions should not be underestimated.

02
Loquat flower

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Eating loquat flower has a wide application foundation in China. For example, people in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and other places often eat loquat flower in a variety of ways, such as stewing, soup, drinking, porridge, etc. The reason behind this is that loquat flowers contain multiple nutrients and have extremely high nutritional value. In 2019, loquat flowers were included in the list of new food ingredients by the National Health Commission, with a recommended consumption of dry products ≤ 8 g/d.

1) Antioxidant effect

Loquat flowers contain abundant bioactive components such as phenolic acids. The structural characteristic of phenolic substances is that they have one or more hydroxyl groups on the benzene ring, usually present in plant tissues in the form of esterification or glycosylation. It is this special structure that gives them the ability to quench singlet oxygen and scavenge free radicals. After the flowering of loquat, with the change of growth time, the content of total flavonoids and total phenols in the flowers showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. The DPPH, ABTS free radical scavenging rate, and antioxidant activity measured under the FRAP test system also showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing [7].

2) Cough relieving and anti-inflammatory effects

Cough relieving and phlegm resolving are the main medicinal effects of loquat flowers. Research has shown that both high-dose alcohol extracts of loquat flowers and high-dose water extracts of loquat flowers have good cough relieving, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, loquat flowers also have hepatoprotective effects. As a new food ingredient, loquat flowers have the advantages of low pollution and high biomass, making them a rare resource. In recent years, research on the food development and utilization of loquat flowers has gradually heated up, and related invention patents and listed products have also emerged. Products such as loquat flower tea, loquat flower drink, loquat flower wine, and loquat flower vinegar that have been put on the market are mainly loquat flower tea. Loquat flower tea can be processed into loquat flower tea for brewing and drinking due to its rich and long-lasting fragrance. At present, there is a loquat flower tea industry in Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan and other places. The research on loquat flower tea mainly focuses on the production process and quality evaluation. There are two main forms of loquat flower tea: direct tea making and blended flower tea. The application of loquat flower tea has been quite extensive, and there are currently multiple brands of flower tea listed on the market.

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There are two main types of loquat flower beverages:
1) Directly using loquat flowers with seasoning is relatively rare;
2) Mix loquat flowers with other ingredients and add seasoning. Such as loquat leaf flower drinks, lung clearing and lung nourishing plant drinks, loquat flower mint drinks, Zhejiang Beimu flower Ninghai white loquat flower health drinks, and tomorrow leaf loquat flower drinks, as well as loquat flower soybean drinks and loquat flower milk tea drinks. The Xiashou brand has a loquat flower warm plant beverage that is brewed using ancient methods. It is suitable for seasonal care of the throat, smoking mulberry, and working people who talk for long periods of time.

03
Summary

Although loquat is a treasure all over its body, there is still a lot of room for in-depth research in the future. The taste of loquat fruit is delicious, but it has a short ripening period and is not resistant to storage. Further research is needed on the preservation and storage of loquat that can be applied in production. The loquat leaf preparation has the characteristics of high efficiency and low toxicity in clinical application. The study of its active ingredients, mechanism of action, and pharmacological effects has attracted widespread attention, and is worthy of in-depth research by medical technology and health food workers. In addition, the products of loquat flowers are mainly in the middle and low grades, and their added value is not high. Continuous research and innovation are needed to generate more economic value.

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2024-06-05

Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd.

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Ms. Anne

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