桃胶是一种浅黄色透明固体天然树脂，由桃树树皮中分泌而来，于夏秋采收，其成分与阿拉伯树胶大致相同。性味甘苦，平，无毒。桃胶又名桃油，桃脂，桃树胶，桃花泪，日常生活中并不多见，但它是一款具有良好养生保健的食材及中药。

桃胶主要由半乳糖、鼠李糖、α-葡萄糖醛酸、碳水化合物、脂肪和蛋白质等物资组成，具有清热止渴，缓解压力，养颜抗衰老，润肠道等功效。桃胶在古代是一味中药，用于治疗石淋，血淋，痢疾。如今桃胶因具有保养颜功效，与燕窝类似，为嫩肤养颜保健之佳品。

Peach gum is a light yellow transparent solid natural resin secreted from the bark of peach trees and harvested in summer and autumn. Its composition is roughly the same as gum arabic.

Peach gum, also known as peach oil, peach fat, peach tree gum, and peach blossom tears, is rare in daily life, but it is an ingredient in Chinese medicine and nowadays usually served as desert.

Peach gum is mainly composed of galactose, rhamnose, α-glucuronic acid, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It has the effects of clearing body heat and thirst, relieving stress, nourishing skin and anti-aging, and moisturizing the intestinal tract. Nowadays, peach gum is a good product for skin rejuvenation, beauty and health care because of its beauty-maintaining effect, similar to bird's nest.

一般来说，桃胶需要泡发10-12个小时左右。 品质较好、颗粒较大的桃胶，泡发时间可能会更长一些，有时甚至需要24小时。 此外，水温也会影响泡发速度，温水比冷水泡发的速度要快一些。 判断桃胶是否泡发好，可以观察它的体积是否明显膨胀，用手捏一捏，感觉整体比较软糯，内部没有明显的硬芯，就说明泡发好了。

泡发桃胶看似简单，但也有一些小细节需要注意。 一是建议使用纯净水或者凉白开来泡发，这样泡出来的桃胶口感更好。 二是泡发过程中可以换1-2次水，有助于去除桃胶中的杂质。 三是桃胶泡发好后，还需要仔细地清洗，将附着在表面的杂质去除干净。

Generally speaking, peach gum needs to be soaked for about 10-12 hours. For peach gum with better quality and larger particles, the soaking time may be longer, sometimes it even takes 24 hours.

To judge whether the peach gum is soaked well, you can observe whether its volume is significantly expanded. Pinch it with your hand to feel that the whole is relatively soft and waxy, and there is no obvious hard core inside, which means that the peach gum is soaked well.

Soaking peach gum may seem simple, but there are some small details that need to be paid attention to. First, it is recommended to use pure water or cool clean water to soak. Second is that the water can be changed 1-2 times during the soaking process, which helps to remove impurities from the peach gum. Third, after the peach gum is ready, it needs to be cleaned carefully to remove the impurities attached to the surface.