alright, (tell me if i should move this thread to like camping/outdoor living or the environment)well i was wondering, does anyone know anything on these berries? all i know is that they are around my cottage (niagara) and they make your throat close up and the best way to open your throat is to put milk in your mouth.... or so i think.... SO does anyone know anything about these? any sites? much appreciated -kim
Aronia... More than Meets the Eye Commonly known as chokeberry, "aronia" is a lesser-known berry variety native to North America that is gaining popularity for its coloring and antioxidant properties. Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) originated in the northeast region of North America, making its way to Russia and, eventually, to other northern European countries such as Denmark and Poland. Other varieties include red and purple chokeberries. The aronia plant tolerates mixed climates and adapts well to all seasons. It has soft white flowers that produce shiny, deep colored berries similar to blueberries. However, chokeberries have a vibrant red flesh not present in blueberries, which is why they are used as natural food colorants and produce a strong, stable colorant for many foods and beverages. The natural color hues derived from the aronia plant range from a bright red-orange to a strawberry red, at pH 3.0. Aronia can impart brighter red-oranges in higher acidity and even reach redder notes at pH 4.0. Given its high citric acid and tannin content, the name "chokeberry" stems from the fruit’s strong, tart, and astringent taste. In fact, birds are known to stay away from aronia berries because they can’t tolerate the bitterness of the fresh fruit. This astringency, however, is due to the high concentration of flavonoids and polyphenols. The aronia berry has all the health properties of a cranberry, but with even higher amounts of anthocyanins and polyphenols, which fight urinary tract infections, stimulate circulation, lower cholesterol levels, and are beneficial to cardiac health. Additionally, aronia contains vitamin C, niacin, folic acid, and is believed to be important to the permeability and fortitude of capillaries. As with most foods, the health benefits of chokeberries are even greater if eaten raw. i would still advise you not to eat it
alrighty one more question lmfao columbo anyways ok: I want the juice, kept in an airtight bottle. If i was to get these berries at their pre-ripened state, and squeeze the juice out of them, and pour it into a little bottle, would the juices just stay the same? like, could I keep the sour juice? or would it like, age and loose its nastiness? thnx
chokecherries are mostly seed, with very little "meat" around them. best used to make a jelly or jam. juicing would be hard unless you had a press, as the seeds would destroy any type of juicer you'd use. natural bottled juices last about a month at most, unless frozen. you would not want the juice from an unripened berry.
well put backtothelab, Aronia arbutifolia and Aronia melanocarpa are very popular with birds. You can propagate them from seed or cuttings and when established, cut the old stems to the ground to establish new growth. The foliage is prone to destruction from the pear and cherry slug though.
I like making wine from choke cherries... it turns out really well! (my gramma has a tree of them growing in her back yard)
Wine and Jelly. Choke cherries are great for both. They won't harm you to eat them in the least, and birds do all the time. Thus there are chokecherry bushes growing on every fence-row. But to my opinion, they aren't very good, without all the sugar in jelly or wine.
We had a choke cherry tree, but it died a couple years ago because it there was little rain for a few years straight. It was a nice tree, and the birds certainly loved the berries. I tried them once because I thought of making something with them, but decided that it wasn't worth the effort.
