Chokeberry is the popular name for chokeberry, a fruit shrub with medicinal properties. Since ancient times, people have used the berries and leaves of the plant to disinfect wounds.
The fruits of the plant were used to treat the stomach, as a sedative and diuretic. And now many recipes are known using black chokeberry raw materials.
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Description of chokeberry
chokeberry fruit
Rowan chokeberry belongs to the genus Aronievs, the Pink family. This is an unpretentious shrub about 3 m high. It was created by I. Michurin from wild North American varieties.
The crown is wide, the root system is shallow. The bush is decorative from spring to late autumn. It is easy to grow and does not require special care.
In spring, chokeberry is covered with white fragrant inflorescences-shields; in summer, small fruits are formed in their place, similar to small red apples. In autumn, its wide, rounded leaves turn red, cherry and orange, and the berries become almost black, covered with a bluish bloom.
Seed fruits ripen in August-September, they are harvested in September-October. If you pick them after the first frost, they will be much more aromatic and tastier. Aronia leaves and berries are used for treatment and prevention.
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chokeberry
Aronia fruits do not have high taste qualities. They are small, almost not sweet (with a low content of carbohydrates), tart. But these small apples contain vitamins, microelements and biologically active substances.
They are balanced in such a way that they have a beneficial effect on almost all systems of the human body. Therefore, they are used in folk medicine for the treatment and prevention of a wide range of diseases.
| Name | Beneficial features |
|---|---|
| Dietary fiber (pectins) | Improve bowel function, remove radionuclides, toxins |
| Vitamin A (beta-carotene) | Improve vision, skin condition, reproductive system |
| Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) | Strengthens blood vessels in hypovitaminosis, improves immunity, slows down the aging process |
| Vitamin B5 | Resists heart disease, allergies and arthritis |
| Vitamin K | Increases blood clotting, helps in the absorption of calcium |
| Vitamin E | Protects the skin from ultraviolet radiation, prevents cell aging, cancer |
| Potassium | Normalizes blood pressure, water-salt balance |
| Silicon | Strengthens bones, teeth, cartilage, hair |
| Iron | Fights anemia, depression, strengthens the thyroid gland |
| Cobalt | Takes part in metabolic processes, the formation of red blood cells |
| Selenium | Helps the thyroid gland in the production of thyroid hormones, strengthens the immune system, prevents cancer |
In addition to these elements, there is calcium, phosphorus, iodine, chromium, magnesium, molybdenum, manganese, but their amount is small.
Blackberry calorie content - 55 kcal per 100 g of raw materials.
Possess healing properties and blackberry leaves. Flavonoids and sorbic acid cause the outflow of bile and improve liver function.
Reduce blood pressure, strengthen blood vessels
Aronia chokeberry in the manufacture of tinctures and liqueurs
In the treatment of arterial hypertension (hypertension), the diuretic properties of chokeberry fruits and the ability to remove excess cholesterol from the body are used. As a result of the treatment of hypertension, vascular conductivity improves, the fluid level and total blood volume decrease. So the pressure goes down.
- Vitamins A, C, E and flavonoids strengthen the walls of blood vessels preventing the development of atherosclerosis
- Aronia extract relieves pain after injury, including sprained muscles and ligaments
- Juice makes capillaries more elastic, expands them
- Taking 50 g of fruits per day helps in the complex treatment of hemorrhagic vasculitis (a vascular disease that affects the internal organs, accompanied by bloody rashes)
- Aronia juice increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood. Therefore, it is indicated for anemia (anemia)
- Berries and juice increase blood clotting
We increase immunity
Fresh fruits and prepared juice
The presence of vitamins A, C, E helps to strengthen the immune system. Anthocyanins (plant pigments) of chokeberry have a tonic effect, help the body get rid of infectious diseases caused by bacteria. They serve as a barrier to the occurrence of cancer.
Most vitamins, antioxidants and anthocyanins are found in fresh rowan berries. It is they who need to be eaten raw or drink freshly prepared juice. They have a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, so they are used in cosmetology.
The benefits of chokeberry for women
Preparation of tinctures, liqueurs
- The presence of vitamin K helps to increase blood clotting and stops internal bleeding.. Therefore, its use is indicated for women suffering from heavy menstruation.
- Aronia preparations, due to the hepatoprotective effect, relieve pregnant women from nausea with toxicosis. Before treatment, you need to consult a doctor!
- Fruits in any form stabilize sleep, relieve stress, nervousness, fatigue, calm the nervous system, improve well-being
- When breastfeeding, you can start taking chokeberry from the second month of a child's life. First, mothers eat 2-3 berries, if there is no allergic reaction after feeding, continue to increase the dose to 50 g per day
We stabilize the state of the endocrine system
Aronia fruits
Aronia preparations help improve the state of the endocrine system. First of all, it concerns diabetes. The use of 100 g of berries per day reduces and normalizes blood sugar levels.
Chokeberry juice is used for insufficient thyroid function.
The benefits of chokeberry for men
If you take the fruits of chokeberry regularly, the risk of dysfunction of the adrenal cortex, pituitary gland, testicles will decrease.
The function of the hypothalamus is normalized. This will help maintain adequate levels of testosterone in the blood.
Reception of chokeberry can prevent the development of erectile dysfunction in men. Improves blood circulation, lymph flow to the pelvic organs. Therefore, taking fresh berries and a drink from chokeberry will help prevent the extinction of sexual desire. As a result, sexual arousal will become long lasting, which will improve the quality of life.
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
Taking aronia preparations will help eliminate digestive problems, stomach and liver diseases in patients with low acidity of gastric juice
Pectins (dietary fiber) normalize bowel function, smoothly increase bile secretion.
Berries and preparations from chokeberry:
- increase the acidity of the stomach
- prevent the formation of sand in the gallbladder
- juice, syrup and fresh fruits activate the liver
- improve appetite
- have a diuretic effect
- due to the presence of tannins, they have a strong astringent effect
- remove radioactive substances and heavy metals from the body during radiation sickness, eliminate their effect on the body, prevent the reproduction of pathogenic organisms
Due to the rich chemical composition, caloric content, the use of aronia berries and juice is indicated for people living in ecologically difficult regions.
Fruits grown in such an area should not be consumed.
Joint treatment
Calcium, silicon, phosphorus, which are contained in raw chokeberry, are needed to strengthen bones
Berries have anti-inflammatory properties, relieve pain, which is often used in traditional medicine recipes. Therefore, they will be useful for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other disorders and diseases of the joints.
Fighting eye diseases
Aronia is used in the treatment of high eye pressure
The high content of vitamin A in raw chokeberry helps to preserve eyesight. Its fruits are especially useful for the elderly, who have a high risk of developing cataracts and glaucoma.
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How to preserve the beneficial properties of berries
Black rowan syrup
Not everyone will be able to eat 50-100 g of raw fruits because of their specific taste. After use, the mouth may feel dry. Adding sugar and other fruits will help make them tastier (apples, Orange, sea buckthorn). You can make jams, jams, liqueurs from chokeberry berries.
There are many cooking recipes, but during the cooking process, most vitamins and other useful substances die, their value decreases. Therefore, for treatment it is better to use other, sparing methods of harvesting. They will allow you to be treated throughout the year.
Storing fresh berries
Storage of fresh fruits
If there is a room with a temperature of 0-10 ° C and a humidity of 75-85%, you can harvest the berries and keep them fresh for several months. For this, clusters with whole fruits are carefully selected. Arrange them in cardboard boxes or clean plastic boxes so that air can pass between them.
Drying berries and leaves
Dried berries ready for storage
The most common way to store fruits and leaves of chokeberry is drying. The finished raw material retains the main amount of vitamins and biologically active substances.
But they need to dry properly. There are several ways to dry:
- outdoors
- in the oven
- in a special dryer
- Can be dried outdoors, laying out in a thin layer on wooden pallets, hanging in bundles or strung on a thread
Aronia dried
The disadvantage of this method is a long time to bring to readiness. Given that the fruits ripen in autumn, when it is cold outside, you will have to dry indoors. It is necessary to ensure the flow of fresh air to the raw material, periodically mix it.
If it is possible to dry the berries in the fresh air, they are looking for a place where direct sunlight does not fall on them. Before storing raw materials for storage, it is better to dry them in the oven for 15 minutes. At night they are taken into the house, during the day they are taken out into the street.
- Drying in the oven will reduce processing timebut requires constant supervision
Using the oven, the berries are scattered in one row on clean, dry baking sheets.
- Set the minimum temperature (40 ° C). The doors are not completely closed so that the steam comes out and the berries are not very hot
- After half an hour raise the temperature to 60°C.Gently stir the fruits so that they warm up evenly and do not stick to the baking sheet.
- Prevent berries from changing color
From the finished berries, when pressed, no juice is released. Red or brown color indicates that they are overdried.
Drying chokeberry in an electric dryer
- Use of an electric dryer for vegetables and fruits - the easiest and safest way to harvest raw materials. Set the temperature to 50 degrees and leave for 3 hours. Then reduce it to 45 ° C, wait until the fruits become completely dry
Ready berries lose their astringency, become tastier.
Freezing
Freezing chokeberry
It is convenient to store chokeberry berries in the freezer. The main part of useful and medicinal substances is preserved in them.
The raw materials are sorted out, removing the stalks, leaves and damaged berries. It is not necessary to wash them, but you can if they are not collected in your garden. In this case, the fruits are dried so that they are not wet.
Arrange the berries in a thin layer in containers and place in the freezer. It is not necessary to close tightly at first, so that they do not become covered with ice. Freezing takes about 2 hours.
When the fruits are completely frozen, they are transferred to trays or bags with a sealed clasp. You can keep them frozen for a year or more.
gentle preservation
Aronia ground with sugar
If aronia berries no longer fit in the freezer, but you don’t want to dry them, you can use a well-known preservative - sugar.
Grind with sugar in a ratio of 1: 1, after grinding in a meat grinder or using a blender. Half the sugar is added, mixed and allowed to brew for about 15 minutes. Then the rest is added and mixed again.
Arranged in sterile jars. Top with a layer of sugar 1 cm thick. Store in the refrigerator until spring.
Compote
Banks with compote
For the winter, it is recommended to prepare a healthy and tasty tonic drink from large and healthy berries:
- The fruits are cut off, washed
- Insist 2-3 days, changing the water every 6-8 hours
- The berries are placed in sterile jars, poured with boiling water, closed with a lid and waited for 5 minutes.
- Drain the water, boil it and pour it again for 5 minutes
- Repeat the process a third time
- Roll up the jars tightly, turn over and wrap
- Stored in a day
soaked chokeberry
soaked chokeberry
Chokeberry harvested in a marinade retains all its healing properties, while acquiring an original refreshing taste. Use only glass jars or enamelware. To prepare the marinade, you need the following ingredients:
- 1 liter of water
- 1 st. a spoonful of sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- clove, cinnamon
All ingredients are mixed, brought to a boil. After the marinade has cooled completely, pour over the cooked berries and cover loosely. 3-4 days kept at room temperature.
Then tightly closed (jars - plastic covers) and transferred to the basement or other cool place. Keep until spring. Make sure the marinade covers the berries.
Tincture
Chokeberry tincture
For cooking, you need 2 kg of fresh fruits (it is advisable to harvest them after the first frost), 1 liter of alcohol or high-quality vodka.
- They take the berries, wash them, remove the damaged ones, put them in a jar for 2/3 of the volume
- Fill with alcohol, close tightly
- Set in a cool dark place for 30 days
- Then you need to strain the tincture through several layers of gauze
After that, it can be consumed, but only in small doses. It can be mixed with honey or sugar added. Used to treat the gastrointestinal tract, joints, inflammatory processes.
Juice
Chokeberry juice
To prepare juice, use a juicer or squeeze previously prepared puree through gauze. Dilute in equal parts with water.
Drink after eating. The first signs of improvement are noticeable after a week of regular use.
Infusion of chokeberry
Infusion of chokeberry
Indications for the use of infusion of fruits can serve as high blood pressure and weakened immunity.
For cooking:
- Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of dried berries
- Pour two cups of boiling water
- Insist day
Drink a decoction of half a glass 3 times a day for half an hour before meals.
leaf tea
chokeberry
Used as a choleretic, diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent. It perfectly strengthens the immune system, relieves swelling, heals the liver. Compresses are used for rashes and skin allergies.
To prepare 1 tablespoon of crushed leaves, pour a glass of boiling water. They insist up to an hour. You can use a thermos. For treatment, you need to drink 50 ml 3 times a day before meals.
Syrup
Chokeberry syrup
To quickly process the fruits, a delicious syrup is prepared from them. Use this recipe:
- Aronia berries - 2.5 kg
- Citric acid - 25 grams (2 teaspoons)
- Cherry or currant leaves - 500 g
- Water - 4 liters
- Sugar - 1 kg per liter of infusion
Berries are poured into a large container with boiling water, in which citric acid was previously diluted and cherry or currant leaves were boiled. Wrap up and wait for a day. Then you need to drain the infusion, add sugar and cook for 10 minutes, stirring. Pour chokeberry sugar syrup into jars, seal tightly.
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Chokeberry: medicinal properties and contraindications
Unfortunately, not all people can use this storehouse of useful substances, some of them are contraindicated.
Do not recommend them in the diet in large quantities for such diseases:
- stomach or duodenal ulcer
- chronic gastritis with high acidity
- frequent constipation, colitis
- low blood pressure (hypotension)
- increased blood clotting, thrombophlebitis
- weak tooth enamel (juice can destroy it)
As with any drug, chokeberry should be taken with caution. Instead of benefit, it can bring harm. So with an overdose of vitamin K, nausea, diarrhea are observed, the skin becomes dry, internal hemorrhages are possible.
VIDEO: Chokeberry is a useful berry!
Chokeberry is a useful berry!
Chokeberry (chokeberry): medicinal properties and contraindications for men and women, harvesting for the winter + recipes | (Photo & Video) +Reviews
