□ Hubei Daily all media reporter Wang Xun, former correspondent Zhang Xianzhong, Xiao Sha
In the middle of winter, a bowl of fragrant lotus root soup is unforgettable.
Recently, in Wanquan Town, Honghu City, bags of lotus root soup in the production workshop of Hubei Huagui Food Co., Ltd. were loaded and transported to all parts of the country as soon as they got off the assembly line. “With intelligent and digital production equipment, lotus root soup realizes industrialized and standardized production, which is convenient for diners.” Yang Fuyuan, general manager of Huagui food company, said that the sales of bagged lotus root soup will reach more than 10 million bags this year, with an output value of 300 million yuan.
Not only bagged lotus root soup, but also soaked lotus root belt, lotus root clip, wild lotus root juice, wild lotus root juice… There are a wide range of lotus root products in the exhibition hall of Huagui food company. Yang Fuyuan introduced that the company has invested more than 500 million yuan to build 29 cold storages, 3 standardized workshops and 6 lotus root finishing production lines, with an annual processing capacity of 80000 tons of lotus roots. At present, we have developed four series of products with an annual sales of 1.8 billion yuan.
“The fish of the Yangtze River, the lotus root of the Honghu Lake, talented people and beautiful women don\’t want to go after eating.” Honghu lotus root, a natural beauty, has been processed and packaged into thousands of households.
Intensive processing is the only way to develop modern agriculture. In the past, the processing of Honghu lotus root was mainly soaked lotus root belt, with short board. In recent years, Honghu City has established the aquatic vegetable industry research association, introduced and cultivated processing enterprises, and cooperated with scientific research institutions such as Huazhong Agricultural University and Hubei University of technology to develop food processing equipment and product technology.
A small lotus seed can also make patterns. The reporter saw in Honghu Liancheng Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd. that the lotus seeds with shells are put into the machine and become peeled white lotus after shell breaking, threading, skin grinding, color selection and other processes.
Yang Jun, general manager of Liancheng company, introduced that Fujian merchants invested more than 70 million yuan to build a modern chemical plant in Honghu Economic Development Zone, mainly producing lotus seed series products. In addition to providing lotus seed raw materials to Babao porridge manufacturers, the company has also developed more than 20 products such as peeled white lotus, instant lotus seeds and lotus seed wine, with an annual output value of 120 million yuan.
In midsummer, lotus leaves are in the field. In addition to being appreciated, lotus leaves can also be made into lotus leaf tea. In yihetang Lotus Industry Development (Hubei) Co., Ltd., a cup of tea is full of light lotus leaf fragrance, which makes people have endless aftertaste. It is reported that after the lotus leaves open for seven days, the company selects the young and strong lotus leaves, which are made into lotus leaf tea by microwave technology through the processes of killing, baking, rolling, fragrance and so on. “Lotus leaf tea is sold by gram, one yuan per gram.” The company’s salesperson said.
Honghu has made great achievements in lotus root processing, and enterprises have poured in to form a relatively complete processing chain. “At present, it has 32 lotus root processing enterprises, including national and provincial key agricultural leading enterprises, and has developed nearly 100 kinds of Lotus products.” Li xianqiong, director of Honghu agricultural and rural Bureau, said that last year, the processing output value of the city’s lotus root industry was 2.5 billion yuan and the comprehensive output value was more than 5 billion yuan.
“Not only develop food, but also develop skin care products and health care products. For example, lotus leaf alkali can soften blood vessels, and lotus root mucus is a degradable ultra-high polymer, which can be used in skin care products.” Li xianqiong said that the lotus root is full of treasure and has great potential for intensive processing.
