''Platostoma palustre'', commonly known as Chinese mesona, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of plant belonging to the genus '' Platostoma'' of the mint family. The species grows extensively in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

such as south east

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

preferring ravines, grassy, dry, and sandy areas. The plants are from 15 to 100 cm high with hairy stems and leaves. The leaves are tear-drop shaped and serrated. The plants are referred to as (), (), () or () in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

, () in Taiwanese, () in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, in

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

, and () in Thai. "本品加水與少許鹹共同煎汁，添加少許澱粉漿可製成仙草凍，是夏天常吃的清涼飲品" GrassJellySpoon

Use, cultivation and processing

Mesona is primarily used in making

grass jelly Grass jelly, also known as leaf jelly or herbal jelly, is a Gelatin, jelly-like dessert originating in China. It is commonly consumed in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is created by using Platostoma palustre, Chinese mesona (a member of the ...

. The leaves and stems of the plant are dried and oxidized, much like tea, then processed into a jelly. The plant extracts of the black variant of grass jelly (''Mesona palustris'') have been reported to induce anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and anti-diarrhea effects in pre-clinical research, all of which are possible due to the strong antioxidant nature of the extracts. ''P. palustre'' is cultivated on flat ground or areas with a slight slope. In Taiwan, this plant is often grown under fruit trees in fruit orchards as a secondary crop. The plant is processed by harvesting all the aerial portions above the root. The portions are then partially dried and piled up in order to allow them to oxidize until they have darkened. After the oxidation, they are then thoroughly dried for sale.

References

External links

Asian grass jelly
* Indonesia Black Jelly Instant Powder] Lamiaceae Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Taiwan Plants described in 1997 Grass jelly plants {{Lamiaceae-stub