Lotus seed prevents the occurrence of senile dementia

What is lotus seed(Lotus Nut, Lian Zi)?
As the name implies, it refers to the mature seeds of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., which is a plant in the family nymphaeaceae. Its scientific name is Semen Nelumbinis. In China place of origin include Hunan, Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Habitats are ponds and lakes. The lotus seed pods are harvested in autumn when the fruits are ripe. And then take the seeds out, remove the peel, dry, and use raw. And nowadays on the market people can find many lotus flower seeds products, such as lotus seed tea, oil, tincture, mooncake, kheer, flour, congee, dessert, curry, candy, drink, extract, paste, and so on.

Lotus nut is slightly elliptical or spherical, 1.2 to 1.8cm long, and 0.8 to 1.4cm wide. Surface is from yellowish brown to reddish brown, with fine vertical stripes and wide veins. The center of one end looks like papillae, dark brown, with a few gaps and slight subsidence around. It is hard and with thin peel that is hard to remove. Embryo has 2 Cotyledons. They are yellow-white, fleshy, with gaps in the middle that contains green lotus plumule. It is odorless, sweet, and slightly astringent. And lotus plumule is bitter.

Lotus seed benefits
First of all, let’s take a close look at its nutrition facts. It contains large amounts of starch and raffinose, 16.6% protein, 2.0% fat, 62% carbohydrate, 0.089% calcium, 0.285% phosphorus, and 0.0064% Fe. In addition, it also contains β-Sitosterol, β-Sitosterol fatty ester, vitamin C, glucose, chlorophyll, palmitic acid and glutathione.

It is rich in calcium, phosphorus and potassium, which are the main components that form bones and teeth. Besides, they promote blood clotting, activate some certain enzymes, maintain nerve conduction, calm nerves, and maintain muscle flexibility and heartbeat rhythm, and so on. As a major component of nuclear protein, phosphorus can helps the body metabolize the protein, fat, and carbohydrate, maintain the acid-base balance, and play an important role on the formation of the sperm.

Lotus seeds have sedative effect, which can be of great help for the middle-aged and elderly, especially mental workers, since it can improve brain function, enhance memory, improve work efficiency, and prevent the occurrence of senile dementia. Lotus plumule tastes really bitter but has a significant cardiac effect, which can expand peripheral vessel and thus lower blood pressure. In addition, it is good at clearing heart-fire, treating mouth sores, and helping sleep.