Hawthorn varieties

Although many foods have the same name, in the final analysis the same food is divided into many different varieties. Hawthorn is a very appetizing fruit. Hawthorn is divided into many varieties. There is a detailed breakdown on the complete list of hawthorn varieties. If we distinguish hawthorns by their types, there are several types for people to choose from. Of course, people can also distinguish them according to the taste of hawthorns. Let’s learn about them in detail.

1. Species classification

Hawthorn can be divided into two types according to its taste: sweet and sour, among which sour hawthorn is the most popular.

1. Sweet Hawthorn

It is pink in appearance, small in size, smooth in surface, and slightly sweet in taste.

2. Sour Hawthorn

It is divided into several varieties including crooked red, big golden star, big cotton ball and ordinary hawthorn (the earliest hawthorn variety).

As the name suggests, the fruit stalk of "Waibahong" is slightly raised, which makes it look like the stalk is crooked, hence the name. The single fruit is larger than the normal hawthorn. It is the main raw material for candied haws on the market.

Big Venus, the single fruit is slightly larger than the Waibahong, and there are small dots on the mature ones, hence the name Big Venus. It has the heaviest taste and is particularly sour.

The big cotton ball has the largest single fruit. It is soft when ripe and has moderate acidity. It is basically not processed when eaten and has a short shelf life.

Common hawthorn, the earliest variety of hawthorn, is small in size and has hard flesh, making it suitable for use as medicine. It is the main raw material for canned hawthorn on the market.

2. Efficacy and Function

1. Aids Digestion

Hawthorn contains a variety of organic acids. After oral administration, it enhances the acidity of gastric juice, increases the activity of pepsin, and promotes the digestion of protein; hawthorn tastes sour, stimulates the gastric mucosa and promotes the secretion of gastric juice; hawthorn contains lipase, which can promote the digestion of fat; hawthorn contains vitamin C and other ingredients, which can increase appetite when taken orally; hawthorn has a regulating effect on gastrointestinal motility, inhibits the gastrointestinal smooth muscle in spasm, and excites the smooth muscle in relaxation. [2]

2. Lowering blood lipids and preventing atherosclerosis

Hawthorn flavonoids can significantly reduce the concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (IDL-C) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) in experimental hyperlipidemia animals, and significantly increase the concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A (ApoA), but have little effect on triglycerides (TG). Hawthorn's lipid-lowering effect is achieved by inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver and promoting the liver's uptake of plasma cholesterol. Hawthorn flavonoids can also reduce the risk of atherosclerosis (AS) and play a role in preventing the occurrence and development of AS.

3. Effects on the cardiovascular system

Anti-myocardial ischemia Hawthorn has a protective effect on acute experimental myocardial ischemia. Hawthorn flavonoids and hydrolyzates increase the nutritional blood flow to the ischemic myocardium, among which hawthorn hydrolyzate has the strongest effect. While increasing coronary blood flow, hawthorn can also reduce myocardial oxygen consumption and improve oxygen utilization. Hawthorn flavonoids can improve the ischemic electrocardiogram of animals. Hawthorn flavonoids can reduce the size of experimental myocardial infarction in rabbits.

The cardiotonic hawthorn has the effect of enhancing myocardial contractility and increasing cardiac output. Hawthorn extract can enhance the myocardial contractility of toad hearts in vivo and in vitro, and the effect lasts for a long time. The active ingredients currently identified are 3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone-7-glucoside and rutin.

Antihypertensive hawthorn flavonoids and triterpene acids have shown a certain antihypertensive effect when administered intravenously, intraperitoneally or intraduodenally, and their mechanism of action is mainly related to the dilation of peripheral blood vessels.

Antioxidant Hawthorn and hawthorn flavonoids have antioxidant effects, which can significantly reduce the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and liver, enhance the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in red blood cells and liver, and enhance the activity of plasma glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px).

4. Antibacterial

Hawthorn has a strong antibacterial effect on Shigella, Proteus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, etc.

[Other pharmacological effects] Hawthorn can promote both nonspecific and specific immune functions. Hawthorn can significantly increase the weight of the thymus and spleen, the content of serum lysozyme, the titer of serum hemagglutination antibody, the transformation rate of T lymphocytes and the percentage of peripheral blood T lymphocytes in mice. Hawthorn also promotes the immune adhesion function of red blood cells in mice.

The effects of hawthorn in helping digestion and strengthening the stomach are mainly related to its pharmacological effects such as aiding digestion and inhibiting bacteria, which provide a pharmacological basis for the treatment of meat stagnation, stomach distension, diarrhea and abdominal pain; the effects of promoting qi and dispersing blood stasis are also mainly related to its pharmacological effects such as lowering blood lipids, anti-atherosclerosis, and anti-myocardial ischemia. The effective ingredients of hawthorn, organic acids and hawthorn flavonoids, are the important material basis for its pharmacological effects.

[Clinical application] Commonly used for indigestion, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, hyperlipidemia, etc.