What are the differences between sika deer antler and red deer antler?

Deer antler is a valuable Chinese medicinal material, but deer antler is divided into different types. The more common ones are sika deer antler and red deer antler. However, of these two types of antler, sika deer antler is the most valuable and has the highest nutritional value. It is mainly the antlers of young deer. However, research has found that no matter which type of antler it is, as long as it is used for the right symptoms, the method and efficacy are good.

Sika deer, also known as spotted deer, is distributed in Northeast China, Anhui, Jiangxi and Sichuan. It is a national first-class protected animal. Sika deer is a medium-sized deer with a body length of 140-170 cm, shoulder height of 85-100 cm and adult weight of 100-150 kg. Female deer are smaller. Male deer have horns, usually four-pronged. There is a dark brown dorsal line in the middle of the back. It has a short tail, black back and white belly. Its summer fur is brown-yellow with bright white plum blossom spots all over, hence the name "Sika Deer".

Elaphe deer, also known as red deer, eight-forked deer and white-butt deer, belongs to the family Cervidae of the order Even-toed ungulate. It is a large deer with a body length of about 180 cm and a shoulder height of 110-130 cm. Adult males weigh about 200 kg and females about 150 kg. The male has horns, which are usually divided into 6 forks and up to 8 forks. The summer fur is short and reddish brown all over, while the winter fur is gray-brown. Distributed in Northeast, Northwest, Sichuan, Tibet and other areas.

Both can be used as nourishing food, and sika deer antler is the most precious. Deer antler is the young antler of male deer that has not yet ossified and is densely covered with hair. Depending on the species, it is divided into two categories: sika deer antler (yellow hair antler) and red deer antler (green hair antler). The harvesting methods are divided into two types: sawing and chopping. Sawing is to saw off the two thin horns, which are cylindrical, with a saw mouth diameter of about 3 cm, with honeycomb-like holes, and the epidermis is brown or brown, covered with gray-yellow hairs. Chopping is to chop off the front end of the skull flatly. After the thin horns are harvested, they are processed and cut into thin slices, and then dried.

During the slicing process of velvet antler, its shape, name and quality will be different due to the different parts of the slices. The outer skin of the top of the young horn is thicker but very tender, so it is brown-yellow and shiny. The inside of the skin is translucent yellow-white, oily and waxy, and can be planed into thin slices called blood slices; the middle and lower parts of the horn are yellow or white, and the planed slices are called head sand slices; the next part is the second sand slice; the end of the horn has been ossified and cannot be used as medicine. Deer antler is soft and flexible, light in weight, slightly fishy and slightly salty in taste.