In many gardens and summer cottages, you can find this unpretentious, light-loving, frost-resistant plant. Although it has a relationship with the classic rowan, it is very distant. It is more correct to call it black chokeberry. It is important to know about the medicinal properties of its berries and leaves, their correct collection, storage and use for health improvement, as well as contraindications for all those who decide to cultivate it on the site.
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Aronia melanocarpa - black berries with a rich history
Chokeberry fruits in appearance somewhat resemble blueberries
This is how you can literally translate the Latin name of the plant. His homeland is North America. In horticultural culture, this branchy shrub with a smooth gray bark reaches a height of two or more meters. Initially, black chokeberry was grown as an ornamental plant, the leaves of which turn dark red and purple in autumn. She is not demanding on the soil. Exceptions to this are rocky, saline or waterlogged areas.
The timing of the flowering of chokeberry is greatly influenced by the weather. Its medium-sized white or slightly pinkish flowers, collected in complex inflorescences, appear by the end of spring or early summer, when the foliage is fully revealed. Black chokeberry is a good honey plant.
Aronia is a fast-growing plant. She will give the first berries in the third or fourth year. They are harvested in late autumn after the first frost.
Useful properties of the fruits and leaves of chokeberry
Regular feeding of chokeberry fruits helps to strengthen the nervous system, gives vigor and improves mood
These black shimmery dense berries, in addition to amygdalin glycoside, anthocyanins, tannins and pectins, a wide range of vitamins and elements necessary for the human body, contain up to 10% monosaccharides, as well as sorbitol, which can be a sugar substitute for diabetics.
- Chokeberry berries can be an excellent source of vitamins and can effectively lower blood pressure in the early stages of hypertension.
- For rheumatic diseases, typhus, measles, scarlet fever, allergies can be an effective addition to other therapeutic agents.
- Blackberry pectins cleanse the body of heavy metals and radioactive substances, stimulate the secretion and excretion of bile, and the functioning of the digestive tract.
- Aronium juice has a positive effect on strengthening the walls of blood vessels.
- Blackberry leaves are rich in substances that improve the quality of the liver, the processes of bile formation and its outflow.
- As a prophylactic agent, chokeberry berries containing antioxidants and epicatichins are recommended for the prevention of diabetes, cancer, allergies.
- Chokeberry berries are considered low-allergenic, as a source of trace elements and vitamins necessary for a person, they can be recommended to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, children over one year old. Usually they are recommended for low hemoglobin levels, reduced blood clotting, to strengthen the immune system. Given the intense impact of black chokeberries on blood pressure levels, one should not get carried away and absorb them in large portions. When introducing berries into the diet during pregnancy, breastfeeding and in the nutrition of young children, it is better to consult with your doctor.
Contraindications and possible harm
Remember: chokeberry does not thin, but, on the contrary, thickens the blood!
It should be remembered about cases when doctors recommend completely excluding the use of fruits and leaves of chokeberry, so as not to harm yourself:
- low blood pressure;
- frequent or chronic constipation;
- exacerbation of gastrointestinal ulcers;
- pancreatitis;
- chronic gastritis with high acidity;
- angina pectoris;
- thrombophlebitis;
- individual rejection of the substances contained in chokeberry.
Recipes for the use of chokeberry for medicinal purposes
Blackberry berries or their juice, tinctures, decoctions from the pods, prepared according to the recipes below, are consumed three times throughout the day, 30 minutes before meals.
For hypertension (high blood pressure)
They also reduce the pressure of rosehip decoctions
- for two weeks, eat 100 grams of fresh or frozen berries daily, you can drink 0.25 glasses of freshly squeezed juice;
- mix 2-3 tablespoons of chokeberry juice with a tablespoon of honey, course - 30-45 days;
- Warm a kilogram of berries and a glass of water on the stove for 30 minutes, stirring continuously, strain and squeeze, drink half a glass.
Another good folk remedy for lowering blood pressure is cranberry. You can read the recipes in the article https://flowers.bigbadmole.com/en/yagody/klyukva-poleznyie-svoystva-i-protivopokazaniya.html#i-4
From atherosclerosis
- Wash down 100 g of blackberry fruit with rosehip broth or
- rub 1 kg of chokeberry berries and 700 g of sugar, take 100 g each, washed down with a decoction of rose hips.
From anemia, hypovitaminosis, asthenia
Mix 250 grams of fresh chokeberry with black currant or take ascorbic acid or rosehip decoction in parallel.
With diabetes
With diabetes, you can also use blueberries that are very similar in appearance to chokeberry, especially in the form of tea made from dried berries
- eat a glass of berries in small portions per day;
- fortifying broth: boil for 5 minutes in 500 ml of water 4–5 tablespoons of dry chokeberry berries, cool under the lid, drink a day;
- chop two tablespoons of dried blackberry and rosehip berries, place them in a thermos, pour two glasses of boiled water, leave for 2-3 hours to infuse, strain, drink in portions half an hour before meals throughout the day.
From diseases of the thyroid gland
4 tablespoons of chokeberry fruits in 2 cups of boiling water to insist for at least two hours, strain, drink a glass half an hour before meals for 10-30 days. After a break of 1-2 months, the thyroid gland treatment can be repeated.
In order to prevent diseases and strengthen immunity
Cook 20 grams of dry berries over low heat for 10 minutes in 200 ml of boiling water, filter after cooling, drink half a glass of broth.
Cooking applications
The pleasant sourness of the black chokeberry makes it a desirable ingredient in many desserts and pastries.
In addition to the fortifying properties, chokeberry has an excellent taste, thanks to which its fruits are used to prepare such dishes:
- preparations for the winter (jam, jams, jam, compotes);
- alcoholic beverages (wine, liqueurs, liqueurs, liqueurs, moonshine and home brew);
- drinks "no degree" (jelly, fruit drink, tea);
- pastries (pies, charlotte, muffins, pies, burgers);
- other desserts (marshmallow, marmalade, jelly, candied fruits);
- sauces and seasonings (chokeberry vinegar, meat sauces).
We made a complete guide to recipes from this healthy berry here:https://flowers.bigbadmole.com/en/kustarniki/chernoplodnaya-ryabina-retseptyi.html
The benefits of berries and chokeberry juice for beauty: simple recipes
The rich vitamin and mineral composition of chokeberry berries can be successfully used to cleanse and nourish the skin of the face. The preparation of a blackberry scrub and masks for various skin types is described below. The process of processing and nourishing the skin, as usual, takes place in stages:
- steaming the skin in the bathroom or by applying a damp hot wipe;
- removal of dead cells with a scrub;
- applying a mask by skin type;
- removing the mask and applying a cream (nourishing or moisturizing).
Blackberry scrub
Before use, fruits are mashed or squeezed out of juice
To prepare it, half a glass of chokeberry berries is crushed with a blender or passed through a meat grinder. Stir the berry pulp with fine salt until a thick gruel is obtained, which is applied to the face with the fingers of both hands with gentle massaging movements.
Masks for normal skin
- chokeberry milk: mix 2 tablespoons of the pulp of chokeberry berries, one and a half tablespoons of milk and a teaspoon of honey, abundantly saturate the shape cut from gauze with the mixture and put it on your face, hold for 15–20 minutes, wash with warm water, apply a nourishing cream;
- chokeberry-apple: chop three tablespoons of blackberry berries, add half an apple, crushed with a blender or grated, apply the gruel using a gauze mold or with your hands to your face, rinse with warm water after 15–20 minutes and apply a nourishing cream.
Masks for dry skin
Sea buckthorn masks are also suitable for dry skin.
- chokeberry oil: mix 2 tablespoons of chopped chokeberry berries and 1 teaspoon of butter, melting it, apply the mask on the face for 20 minutes, remove with a cotton swab and rinse with warm water, apply a moisturizer;
- chokeberry honey: mix 2 tablespoons of chopped chokeberry berries, a teaspoon of melted honey and 0.5 tablespoon of sour cream, apply on face for 20 minutes, rinse with warm water, apply a nourishing cream.
Masks for oily skin
- chokeberry-dill: mix 2 tablespoons of chokeberry pulp with a bunch of chopped dill, apply on face for 15–20 minutes, rinse with cool water, apply moisturizer;
- chokeberry-currant (for acne): chop 2 tablespoons of chokeberry and black currant berries, wet the gauze base for the mask in juice and apply on the face for 20 minutes, wash with cool water, apply a nourishing cream appropriate for the skin type;
- chokeberry: mix 2 tablespoons of chopped blackberry berries with 2 tablespoons of cucumber grated with the skin, apply the mixture on the face for 20 minutes, rinse with cool water, apply a cream according to the skin type.
The rich arsenal of nutrients contained in chokeberry can be effectively used to strengthen the health of your body and beauty of your face. Use the advice on its use outlined in the article and the existing contraindications, be sure to take into account the advice of your doctor.
