1. Appearance. High-quality lotus seeds have larger particles, uniform size, neat surface without impurities, light yellow color, and obvious luster. Some inferior lotus seeds are usually a bit small, and the particle size is not particularly uniform. They are generally large and small, with a white surface and no obvious luster.

2. Taste. Generally, lotus seeds with better quality are easier to cook and have a fragrant taste. If you put one in your mouth and chew it, you will hear a crunching sound, and the mouth will be full of fragrance after eating. Some of the poorer quality white lotus on the market usually stick to one piece after being cooked. The aroma is not very obvious when put in the mouth, and there is no crisp sound. They usually break into pieces when put in the mouth.

3. High-quality lotus seeds are peeled by hand without using any machines. There will be some more natural wrinkles on the surface after the hand-made lotus seeds are dried. The white lotus peeled by machine on the market is usually because the lotus seeds are picked too late, causing the lotus pods to be too mature and cannot be peeled manually. Just choose the machine to peel. There will be residual red skin on the surface of lotus seeds that have been machine-peeled, while lotus seeds that have been chemically peeled will have swelling at the knife marks. Most of these lotus seeds are pure white.

Extended information:

Lotus seeds are perennial aquatic herbs; the rhizomes are horizontal and thick, with enlarged internodes, many longitudinal ventilation pores, the nodes are constricted, and the upper parts are black. Scale leaves, undergrowth of whisker-like adventitious roots.

The leaves are round, shield-shaped, 25-90 cm in diameter, the entire edge is slightly wavy, the upper surface is smooth, with white powder, the lower leaf veins shoot out from the center, with 1-2 forked branches; the petiole is thick , cylindrical, 1-2 meters long, hollow, with scattered small spines on the outside.

Lotus seeds are produced in various provinces in the north and south of my country. It grows spontaneously or is cultivated in ponds or paddy fields. It is distributed in the Soviet Union, North Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam, southern Asia and Oceania.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia--Lotus seeds