Aronia is black-fruited, it is black-fruited rowan, - it is a shrub or tree with fragrant sweet and sour berries, extremely useful for its properties.
The wide popularity of the Chernoplodka, despite its amazing beneficial properties, was relatively recent, only about a hundred years ago, and owes this plant to the great Russian breeder Ivan Michurin. This article will tell you about the chokeberry, its medicinal properties and contraindications.
Did you know? The Latin name for chokeberry is aronia melanocarpa, literally translated as "useful black berry".
Chemical composition and caloric content of black chokeberry berries
The composition Aroni includes natural sugars (glucose, sucrose, fructose), pectin and tannins, malic, folic and other organic acids, tocopherols, phylloquinone, pyrodoxin, niacin, thiamine, anthocyanins, flavonoids, sorbitol, rutin, amygdalin, coumarins, cyanidine and other chemical compounds .
The vitamin complex of this amazing berry is also represented in all its diversity. There is ascorbic acid (vitamin C), citrine (vitamin P), vitamins A (beta-carotene), nicotinic acid (vitamin B3, or PP), vitamins E, B1, B2, B6, C, K.
Among the mineral components with which aronia is especially rich, first of all it is worth remembering iodine, iron, boron, calcium, manganese, fluorine, copper, molybdenum.
Did you know? Organic acids in chokeberry significantly more than in red currants, raspberries, strawberries and mandarins. By the amount of vitamin P, this plant is twenty times larger than apples and oranges and twice the fruits of black currant. Gooseberry, raspberry and strawberry contain four times less iodine than the black wolf. But beta-carotene more in red rowan berries.
The benefits of chokeberry for the body
The healing properties of chokeberry are determined by the huge number of biologically active substances that are balanced by the nature itself in the fruits of chokeberry.
The fruits of chokeberry Aronia are widely used in both traditional and traditional medicine. for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis and hypertension.
Berries and black chokeberry juice have properties remove spasms, expand blood vessels, stop and restore blood. Thanks to these qualities, the use of berries shown with radiation sickness and bleeding, vascular diseases, especially with increased permeability and fragility of the walls of blood vessels - to improve their elasticity, as well as gastritis.
Pectins, which are part of chokeberry, contribute to the removal from the body of radioactive substances, heavy metals, as well as harmful bacteria; Pectins, on the other hand, improve the activity of the intestines and kidneys, have a good bile and diuretic effect.
Chokeberry, used in food, is able to lower the level of bad cholesterol and stabilize blood pressure. Good effect shows choke with rheumatism and various types of allergies.
Treatment of chokeberry is indicated for people suffering from disorders of the endocrine system, since a large amount of iodine in chokeberry juice is a truly invaluable quality in violation of thyroid functions.
In addition, the fallopet helps to improve the functioning of the liver, the regulation of the digestive system, especially with low acidity.
It is surprising that black chokeberry treats (of course, as an aid) even diseases such as measles, typhus and scarlet fever, and capillary damage in diabetes mellitus is also an indication for the use of this berry.
Anthocyanins contained in chokeberry chokeberry have the property of inhibiting the development of malignant tumors, and therefore the berry is included in the diet of cancer patients.
Even a completely healthy person will benefit from eating fruits and black chokeberry juice, since It improves appetite and general well-being, and also strengthens the immune system.
Benefits aronia during pregnancy
Chokeberry is useful for women during pregnancy, primarily because at this stage the body of the expectant mother especially needs constant replenishment of vitamins and trace elements. Of course, it is much better that the source of such nutrients are not pills of dubious origin, but natural products.
As mentioned, the black wolf has properties prevent the development of anemia, strengthen blood vessels, stabilize blood pressure, improve liver function and help strengthen the immune system as a whole. The use of this berry can be very useful for the stressful state in which the female body is during pregnancy.
In addition, the beneficial effects of aronium on the digestive system will help get rid of unpleasant attacks of toxicosis, prevent heartburn, constipation and other negative phenomena that are completely undesirable during pregnancy.
Important! Before using chokeberry during pregnancy it is imperative to consult with your doctor.If the reception of chokeberry during the pregnancy was successful, it is most likely that it should not be stopped even after the birth of the child - until the end of breastfeeding, because during this period the beneficial properties of chokeberry along with the mother’s milk will be transferred to the infant, improving the performance of his digestive system and intestines, as well as strengthening the immune system.
Recipes of traditional medicine: treatment of diseases of Aronia
The use of chokeberry is associated primarily with its fruits, but leaves and even the bark of the plant also have medicinal properties.
Vitamin tea
Delicious vitamin drink can be prepared from fruits or leaves of black chokeberry, as well as from both. Raw materials for tea can be prepared independently, however, if there is no such possibility, there is always an opportunity to go to a pharmacy or ask the market for herbalists in the market.
Several tablespoons of fruits (either leaves or a mixture of fruits and leaves) of chokeberry - depending on taste preferences - pour 0.5 liters of purified water with a temperature of 70 degrees and infuse for at least 10 minutes, or better - half an hour.
You can add to the tea leaves and dried berries of other fruit plants - raspberries, cherries or currants.
Special chic - cook Vitamin tea with the addition of black fruit. To do this, water is mixed with juice in a 5: 1 ratio, brought to a boil, and black tea (to taste), sugar and cinnamon are added to the finished mixture. The drink is infused and filtered, after which it is ready for use.
Chokeberry juice
Juice of chokeberry can be consumed fresh or prepared for the winter: it is very useful to use it regularly for pressure disorders, atherosclerosis, diarrhea, urolithiasis, etc.
For immediate use of juice Blackfruit berries are carefully picked, crushed and mixed with sugar to taste.
To prepare juice for later storage, the fruit should first be washed, then dried and sorted.
Then the berries are placed in an enamel bowl, water is added at the rate of 100 g per 1 kg of fruit, the mixture is stewed over low heat for about half an hour. The temperature of the berries should be no more than 60 ° C, it will preserve all the useful properties of mountain ash.
After the time has elapsed, mass should be cooled, whipped with a blender, filtered (for example, through cheesecloth) and sugar or honey should be added to taste. Such juice is stored in a dry dark place, taken 0.5 minutes before meals a couple of times 2-3 times a day.
If planned harvesting juice for the winter, prepared berries should be kneaded and squeezed out of them juice (through gauze or linen bag). In the remaining cake, water is added at a ratio of 10: 1, after an hour they are squeezed out again and mixed with the previously pressed juice (the procedure can be repeated several times, all the while reducing the amount of water).
The finished drink is poured into clean, dry cans or bottles (up to about 3-4 cm to the top) and sterilized for 10-15 minutes (depending on the volume of the dish). Then the bottles are closed with stoppers, the cans with the caps. The cork must be tied with a rope and, after cooling, sealed, its paraffin.
If used, sugar or honey can be added to the juice if desired. Very tasty mix it with blackcurrant juice or dogrose infusion.
Aronia juice, in addition to internal use, is also used as an anti-burn remedy for treating the affected skin.
Tonic Drink
On the basis of chokeberry, you can also cook countless fortifying vitamin drinks. Recipes depend only on the available ingredients, their own taste and imagination.
As an example, we can offer this option: we cut several fresh plums and a couple of apples, add 100 g of chokeberry fruits, mix, pour 1 l of water, add black currant leaves, raspberries, cherries, bring to a boil, strain. Add sugar to taste. Eat hot or chilled.
Fresh berries can be replaced with frozen or dried.
The wolfberry also serves as a raw material for cooking. various liqueurs and spirit tinctures, which in small doses also have a restorative effect. In addition, high-quality cooked tincture of chokeberry has such useful properties as removing puffiness, pain relief, improving appetite, and normalizing digestion.
Important! Abuse of spirit tinctures of chokeberry leads to severe withdrawal, headaches and an increase in heart rate. Therefore, these drinks as a drug should be taken no more than one teaspoon. Overdose is especially dangerous for the elderly due to the increased risk of stroke and heart attack.
Atherosclerosis Prevention
For the prevention of vascular atherosclerosis, it is recommended to use decoction of Aronia bark. To prepare the drink, carefully remove the bark of the tree, chop it, pass it through a meat grinder or smash it with a blender, dry it and grind it again.
At 0.5 liters of water should be taken 5 full (with a slide) tablespoons of bark prepared in this way, boil for two hours, allow to cool, drain. Take this broth three times a day before meals for 20-30 mg.
With hypertension
When hypertension is recommended to take a decoction of the fruits of chokeberry 0.5 cups 3-4 times.
It is also good to eat 100 g of dried black currant fruit per day, ground with a small amount of sugar and citric acid.
Apply the iris to treat hypertension and in composition medicinal herbal. For example, skullcap root, leaves of small periwinkle, grass of dried marshwood and chokeberry fruits are mixed in 4: 3: 2: 1, poured with a small amount of water, boiled for several minutes, cooled and taken before meals with 0.5 cups 3-4 times a day.
Similarly, you can brew in equal parts hawthorn fruits and flowers, peppermint leaves, arnica flowers and black fruit.
One more decoction for the treatment of hypertension prepared from chokeberry, the fruits of carrot seed, fennel, valerian root, horsetail grass, blue cornflower flowers, hawthorn fruit, skullcap roots. The ratio is 3: 2: 2: 3: 2: 2: 3: 3. The mixture is poured with boiling water (for 200 ml of water - 20 g of herbs), it is heated in a water bath for half an hour, infused, filtered. The broth is diluted with one part of boiled water and taken 3 times a day, 0.3 st.
Also chokeberry is brewed with walnut membranes (the latter are stewed in hot water for 40 minutes, after which a similar part of black fruit is added to the broth, the mixture is brought to a boil and infused for several hours. Then it is filtered and taken in 0.5 cups (you can add lemon juice to the broth).
Important! An overdose of chokeberry in hypertension can be dangerous by a critical decrease in blood pressure. At one time you should eat fruits at the rate of no more than 3-4 tablespoons of juice, and a week - no more than half a cup.
With anemia (anemia)
For the treatment and prevention of anemia is recommended to use black chokeberry infusion, where it is also useful to add rosehips (fruits should be poured into a thermos, pour boiling water and leave overnight).
The drink begins to take from the first day of the menstrual cycle and continue to drink during the week after the end of menstruation.
To improve the effect of infusion alternated with infusion of yarrow herb (2.5 tablespoons per 1 liter of boiling water - prepared in a similar way). At the end of the cycle, infusions of fruits and herbs are mixed in a ratio of 3: 2 and drunk 3-4 times a day half an hour before meals, if you wish, you can add honey to the drink.
You can also alternate the reception of the infusion of fruits with the use of the fruits themselves - dried or fresh.
Preparation of raw chokeberry
Aronia berries begin to turn black in August, however, it should be harvested much later, as the fullness of the beneficial properties of the berries are gathered by the end of autumn, literally before the onset of frost. To determine the readiness of the berries, it is necessary to slightly press. If dark red juice is extracted from the fruit, - it's time to harvest.
Berries can be picked manually or cut. Freshly picked berries, laid out in baskets or boxes, can be stored in a cool place for several days, although it is better, of course, to be used for drying or freezing immediately.
To dry the fruits you need, spreading them on a horizontal surface in one layer. You can speed up the process using a dryer or oven, but the temperature should not be above 60 ° C.
After complete drying, the berries are laid out in paper bags and stored in a dry place. Useful properties of the fruit can save with this a year or two. The same applies to the leaves of black insects.
Aronia fruits can be stored without freezing, but the temperature in the room should not exceed 1 ° C and at the same time be unchanged. The cellar is ideally suited for this purpose; berries can lie there until the next spring.
Contraindications and harm from black chokeberry
Like any medicinal plant with a pronounced effect, chokeberry has certain contraindications to use. It is quite expected that since the berry has the property of increasing acidity, lowering blood pressure and improving blood clotting, chokeberry should not be used by hypotonic persons, people prone to thrombosis and thrombophlebitis or who have increased blood clotting. Aronia is also contraindicated in case of high acidity, gastric and duodenal ulcers.
If we take into account these precautions, it is safe to say that the regular use of chokeberry has the most beneficial effect on the human body.
The fruits of this plant have a pleasant taste and can be used in a variety of forms, in addition to fresh. A variety of ways of harvesting black insects will allow anyone to choose for themselves the dish, as a part of which aronia will best reveal its taste and unique beneficial properties.
