Xinjiang Figs

5 min read

In golden autumn, walking in the streets and alleyways of Urumqi, you will often see stalls selling golden figs. Figs are regarded as “holy fruit”by the Uygurs not only because of the luscious taste, but also because of their medical value. The “hidden”, mellow and sweet features of figs are more like the plain and enthusiastic characteristics of Xinjiang people. Thus, it is no wonder that people in Xin jiang have a special affection for figs.

Figs are also planted in other Chinese provinces except in northeast China, Tibet and Qinghai. Although figs are widely distributed, the large concentration fields of figs are rare and they are mostly scattered. Fig is one of the species of fruit trees which have the smallest cultivation areas in China. Thus, although the cultivation and use of figs has a long history, we can only classify fig into the third generation fruit because of their extremely small cultivation areas. However, they have extremely broad space for development.

Many people in inland China do not know figs very well and they may have heard of their medicinal value at most. Why is it called “fig”? Fig trees are not really non-flowering. In fact, the fig itself is a flower with stamen and pistil, receptacle and corolla.

Its flowers exist in the internal ovary. Properly speaking, the flowers are in the embryo of the fruit. Bees drill into it from the hole at the bottom, and then fertilize the flowers. The part we eat is the swollen rachis. Uygur call fig An jur which means “sweetened steamed bun borne on the tree”.

Artux, known as “hometown of figs”, produces figs of the best quality in China. Figs yield two crops a year, and July is the boom season of the summer fruit and October is the boom season of the autumn fruit. So it is the best season for tourism during July to October when fresh figs are mature. Tasting the sweet and delicious figs under the grape trellis of the fig orchard, you will get a delectable, refreshing and comfortable pleasant. One can imagine that when visitors enter the “immortal fruit”orchard, they feel entering into a land of idyllic beauty.

The reason why Uygur people like eating figs is that figs have high nutritional value.

The sugar content of Artux figs can reach 24%. The figs are sweet but not greasy and delicious. As long as you see them, you will be eager to eat them; and as long as you eatthem, you will not stop. Figs also have medical effects such as nourishing, strengthening spleen, expelling wind-damp and preventing cancer, which are indispensable herbs in theUygur medicine and known locally as the “valuables of big mansion”.”Such fruit should only exist in heaven and hardly can be found on earth.”Because the sugar concentrate in the core of figs, the locals have an unwritten customary to eat this delicacy in a way thatthey may firstly pat the figs by hand to make the sugar evenly spread out. In this way, figs taste more delicious. You may as well have a try.

In many places of Xinjiang, you can see the existence of figs. Carpets, buildings, knives and the clothing are often painted with patterns of figs. In fruit ripening season, orchardists and vendors fill wicker baskets and enamels with oval and golden figs to attract customers on markets and streets. In front of some Uygur restaurants, you canalways see pots of fig trees, with a few small green figs on the thin branches, shyly covered under the broad leaves. The restaurant owners would not forget to sprinkle some water on them pityingly during the busy work. It is the affection that Xinjiang people have for figs and it is also the charm of figs.

The medicinal value of figs should not be underestimated. Figs contain malic acid, citric acid, lipase, protease and hydrolytic enzymes and so on, which can help digestion and stimulate the appetite. They also have effect on relaxing bowels because they contain a variety of lipids. Lipase, hydrolytic enzyme and other constituents contained in figs have the function of reducing and decomposing flood fat by reducing the deposition of fat in the blood vessels, thus they play a role in lowering blood pressure and preventing coronary heart disease. Figs also have the effect of resisting heat and reducing swelling to relieve sore-throat. Psoralen, citrus lactone and other active ingredients contained in unripe fig whey and a kind of aromatic substance, benzaldehyde, extracted from ripe fig juice both play a role in cancer prevention, anti-cancer and enhancing the disease resistance of the organism. They can prevent cancer and delay the development of Transplanting Adenocarcinoma and Lymphosarcoma by promoting it to degrade without producing harm to normal cells.