name: Chinese Water Chestnut

flavor_db_name_variants: chinese water chestnut

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Chinese water chestnut

id: 332

name_scientific: Eleocharis dulcis

description: The Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis; synonyms E. equisetina, E. indica, E. plantaginea, E. plantaginoides, E. tuberosa, E. tumida), more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge grown for its edible corms. The water chestnut is actually not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, underwater in the mud. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres. The water caltrop, which is also referred to by the same name, is unrelated and often confused with the water chestnut. The small, rounded corms have a crisp white flesh and can be eaten raw, slightly boiled, or grilled, and are often pickled or tinned. They are a popular ingredient in Chinese dishes. In China, they are most often eaten raw, sometimes sweetened. They can also be ground into a flour form used for making water chestnut cake, which is common as part of dim sum cuisine. They are unusual among vegetables for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned, because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds, like oligomers of ferulic acid. This property is shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the tiger nut and lotus root. The corms are rich in carbohydrates (about 90 percent by dry weight), especially starch (about 60 percent by dry weight), and are also a good source of dietary fiber, riboflavin, vitamin B6, potassium, copper, and manganese. If eaten uncooked, the surface of the plants can transmit Fasciolopsiasis.

itis_id: 506699

wikipedia_id: Chinese_water_chestnut

picture_file_name: 337.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 93907

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:30:00.000Z

legacy_id: 364

food_group: Vegetables

food_subgroup: Other vegetables

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:35.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:23.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 110284

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00332