Hello dear reader!

July, and especially August, is the season for a wide variety of wild berries. Strawberries and blueberries, currants, bird cherry, raspberries, and closer to autumn - lingonberries. Yes, and others ... You just need to remember that there are poisonous berries in our forest! Although there are not many of them, you need to know the poisonous berries. And it is especially important that children know them well!

All sorts of ratings and TOPs are now in vogue. Well, I will also present a kind of TOP of poisonous berries. The criteria are simple - the poisonousness of the plant and its prevalence and accessibility for those who can, most often accidentally, out of ignorance, poison them. Well, let's get started...

It is a common inhabitant of deciduous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. Occurs very often. The appearance of the plant is peculiar, it is almost impossible to confuse it with another. A whorled arrangement of leaves, a single flower, and then a fruit, which is alone at the top of the stem.

The whole plant is poisonous - both leaves and rhizome. But the berries of the crow's eye are especially poisonous. Large, black, shiny, it really resembles the eye of a crow. And very attractive, especially for children. But the crow's eye berry is deadly! The substance paristifin from the group of saponins causes convulsions, disrupts the work of the heart. Which can stop!

IN folk medicine there are a number of recipes using the crow's eye for the treatment of certain diseases. However, you need to know:
Due to its extreme danger, the use of the crow's eye for any medical purposes forbidden!

Out of curiosity, "berries" can be enjoyed by children. In case of poisoning, urgent medical attention is required! Children from an early age need to be introduced to this plant and explained that in no case should it be touched.

Wolf's bast (wolfberry)

about this interesting bush forest. Very beautiful in spring, wolf's bast is very attractive in August, when its large red berries ripen. However, the whole plant - and leaves, and bark, and fruits - is poisonous!

It should not even be picked up in order to avoid skin burns. Especially - to taste the berries. The result will be severe damage to the gastrointestinal tract.

Wolfberry, or wolf's bast

Wolfberry is a medicinal plant. It is widely used in folk medicine. Yes, and the modern pharmacopoeia is interested in this plant! But this does not mean at all that nature lovers should be “interested” in them (only through the camera!). And even more so, children should be warned about the danger of a wolf's bark!

May lily of the valley

Dangerous and such a very beloved plant, like lily of the valley!

May lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) is the only representative of the lily-of-the-valley genus of the lily family (however, taxonomy issues here are also quite controversial and are constantly being refined).

Lily of the valley is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, but especially in Europe. True, due to immoderate fees, the natural habitats of this beautiful plant are constantly shrinking. However, lily of the valley has long been a garden plant.

It is a perennial with a thin creeping rhizome. There are several leaves in the rosette, but the lower ones are very small and inconspicuous, similar to scales. But two large broadly lanceolate leaves with arcuate venation are hard to miss (and confuse with the leaves of another plant). A flower-bearing stem grows between the leaves, bearing a brush of graceful fragrant flowers.

Many years ago, the author came across a small clearing (ten by fifteen meters) in the forest, the grass cover of which consisted almost entirely of lily of the valley leaves! True, it was already the second half of July, and flowering had long ended. it is not for nothing that it is called May, it blooms in May - early June.

Lily of the valley is not only an excellent ornamental, but also a recognized medicinal plant. Recognized not only by folk, but also by official medicine. Preparations from lily of the valley treat the cardiovascular system. The main active ingredients are glycosides convalatoxin, convallotoxol, convalloside. They are obtained from the leaves and flowers of the plant.

But an overdose of the drug can lead to disruption of the heart! Therefore, you should never self-medicate - it is very dangerous!

You can get poisoned just out of curiosity - by tasting beautiful red berries! Especially often this happens again with children! But for the fruits of the lily of the valley it is not necessary to go to the forest. And yes, it's rare! They are common in our flower beds!

Lily of the valley berries (photo from the Internet)

By the way, it’s also not worth collecting large bouquets of lily of the valley in the spring, putting them in a vase in a room is also not worth it - a large amount of substances released into the air is by no means safe for health.

Voronets spiked. Voronet krasnoplodny

Voronets spiky is a perennial herbaceous plant from the buttercup family. As you can see in the photo, it has large compound leaves with leaflets serrated along the edges. It grows in shady forests - broad-leaved, mixed, coniferous-small-leaved. In such a secondary spruce-birch-aspen forest with an undergrowth of currants and raspberries. With a developed grass cover, I discovered it. The range of the black crow is almost all of Europe, the south of the forest zone of Western Siberia and Altai.

The whole plant is poisonous! After all, his organs contain a whole set of alkaloids and transaconitic acid. Even juice that gets on the skin can cause burning and blisters. Berries are no exception. Adults can use them out of curiosity and out of ignorance. But above all, children suffer again! But even two or three berries for a child is a significant dose!

True, the plant itself warns of its danger. Its smell is very unpleasant!

Like many poisonous plants, it is used in traditional medicine. Official medicine does not recognize him!

From the berries of the crow, black dye was obtained for dyeing wool.

A close relative of the spiked crow is the red-fruited crow. But if he is an inhabitant of Europe, and in Siberia it is already becoming rare, then the red-fruited raven widely populates the forest zone in the Far East, in Eastern and Western Siberia. It is also found in the north of the European part.

Voronets krasnoplodny (photo from the Internet)

By appearance similar to a relative, differing primarily in the color of the fruits - they are red.

Also a highly poisonous plant! The high amount of alkaloids found in all organs of the plant make it potentially dangerous for the curious berry lover!

Although this crow "nobly" warns about itself with a smell so characteristic that it was named "skunk".

The plant is widely used in folk medicine. However, remember:

You need to be treated by specialists! Self-treatment is dangerous, because it can very easily turn into its direct opposite. And such a “treatment” is especially dangerous. poisonous plants!

The fruits of the black crow were also used to obtain black paint. Hence, by the way, the name. After all, “crow” just means “black”.

The whole plant is highly poisonous. Its constituent alkaloids of the atropine group can cause very severe poisoning. The result can even be fatal due to paralysis of the respiratory system and cardiac arrest.

Belladonna (photo from the Internet)

Its range is beech and hornbeam forests of Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Crimea, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, North Africa. In the Krasnodar Territory, it is grown on plantations (for medical purposes). Although the plant is very poisonous, it is unlikely that most Russians will have to meet it in natural conditions. Although, of course, you need to know it! Therefore, in my rating of poisonous berries, its place is by no means the highest.

By the way, “Belladonna” in Italian means “beautiful woman”. Yes, and the Russian name is consonant. And this is due to the fact that the juice of the plant was instilled into the eyes to dilate the pupils and rubbed their cheeks to enhance the blush. Beauty truly requires sacrifice!

In thickets of shrubs, along the banks of water bodies, along wastelands in the European part of Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia, in Ukraine and Belarus, bittersweet nightshade is often found.

Its flowers are similar to those of other nightshades, especially potatoes. Oblong red berries are very reminiscent of small tomatoes.

Medicinal plant, very widely used in folk medicine and homeopathy. However, nightshade leaves and berries are poisonous! They should be treated by a specialist!

You should not eat berries (for the sake of curiosity). The glycoside dulcamarine contained in them acts like atropine, causing disorders of the central nervous system, respiration and heart function.

In addition to very poisonous berries, carrying great danger even if they are accidentally consumed, there are berries in our forests ... not that poisonous, but simply inedible. There will be no severe poisoning when using them. But trouble is almost certainly guaranteed! In my TOP of poisonous berries, these plants, of course, will occupy the last places.

The fruits ripen in August. These are black drupes, sitting on cuttings in the axils of the leaves. Buckthorn fruits and bark are medicinal raw materials. They are used by traditional medicine as an emetic and laxative (official medicine recognizes only the bark).

The fruits are readily eaten by birds. In humans, their use can cause unpleasant consequences caused precisely by their medical properties - that is, vomiting and diarrhea (diarrhea).

Widespread forest shrub with very attractive-looking red berries, sitting mostly in pairs (that's how - in pairs - its flowers sit on the plant). Forest honeysuckle is widely used in landscaping as an ornamental shrub.

Berries are eagerly pecked by birds. For humans, they are inedible, and the consequences can be similar to the consequences of eating buckthorn.

In Eastern Siberia, in the Far East, forest honeysuckle is replaced in nature by a similar species, but already with oblong blue berries covered with a wax coating. These fruits are edible. And the shrub was called edible honeysuckle. It is widely cultivated, often planted in gardens and parks. Sometimes it can get wild. bird-dispersed seeds edible honeysuckle they can also make an “escape to nature”!

In general, you need to remember a simple rule. In nature, you should never "taste" anything you are not familiar with! This applies to plants almost more than anything else. After all, they contain many substances, the presence of which in your body, and even in significant concentrations, can be very undesirable! So poisonous berries may well get caught.

You should also not self-medicate. I would especially not recommend using recipes from the Internet! If you want to turn to traditional medicine, then it's better to find a grandmother who "knows".

That's about all I have for today. And without that, I am writing a short post ... the third day. Not in a blogging way...

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59 comments on “ Poisonous berries. TOP dangerous berries of our forest”

1. Alexander Ivanovich

   Hello, Alexander!
   I read the article with interest. I know almost all these plants by sight. Yes, and I do not neglect the rule
   But I will definitely show these dangerous inhabitants of the forests to my grandchildren. They often go to forest areas with their parents.
   Thanks for the great article!

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2. blacksmiths

   Alexander, I once foolishly ate bearberry in the Kich-Gorodets region. It even seemed delicious to me. Then he vomited all evening.

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3. Alexander

   @ : Alexander Ivanovich, hello! Glad to see you on my blog! Absolutely right, it must be shown.

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4. Alexander

   @ : Alexander, hello! You are, of course, absolutely right. Bearberry is a berry, although not poisonous, but not edible. So she will find a place in my TOP ...
   Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me. There is a lot of it in the Ostashevsk forests. But you won’t turn back there quickly ... Bearberry is a very good medicinal plant. Yes, and its features are very interesting. I just don’t really want to write an article with “borrowed” photographs. Maybe we'll meet again in the woods.

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5. Olga Bogach

   A much needed article! Children who grew up in the city do not know what can and cannot be eaten in the forest. Yes, and in cities there are bushes with pretty berries, from which there are poisonings. As a child, my daughter tried berries from a bush, it’s good that she didn’t get poisoned much, she didn’t have to go to the doctor.

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6. Natabul

   I didn’t even know that so many poisonous berries exist. But I know one rule: There is nothing in the forest!

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7. Igor

   Alexander, thank you very much for the article. As an avid mushroom picker and berry picker, such an article will be very useful to me. In nature, we often met the raven eye, honeysuckle. Lily of the valley in the south.
   So we have one poisonous berry in the forest, which everyone bypasses. Honestly, I did not find it in your TOP. We call her "wolf's bast"
   Here is the image
   or here
   What is this berry?
   We have one friend she was very poisoned. Went to the forest. Well, there is nothing, he says: no lingonberries, no blueberries ... nothing. She take and eat these berries. In general, it was great food poisoning. Fell into a coma. But then somehow she got out.
   Now I don't go to the forest at all. Honestly, I don’t understand why, it’s so cool there!

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8. Alexander

   @ : Hello Olga! That's right, in childhood, adults explained such things to us in passing - you can’t eat this, this ...
   As for the various berries in the city, nothing should be eaten there. Even obviously edible. After all, plants absorb a large amount of harmful substances from the air. And even they accumulate. The main goal of landscaping is to purify the air. And plants select those that can withstand this polluted air.

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9. Alexander

   @ : Well, there aren't many poisonous berries in the forest... But they are. And why not eat in the forest, say, strawberries, blueberries or raspberries? Yes to health! You can not taste unfamiliar berries!

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10. Alexander

    @ : Hello, Igor! I had to tinker a little with the publication of your comment, and still only one link passed, and that was changed (closed from indexing). The second, even closed, turns out to be a bat. Therefore, removed. Although both were opened from the admin panel.
    Essentially. Not quite, however, I understood how your friend could be poisoned at the same time by two completely different plants? In the first picture, undoubtedly, arctous is a plant of the heather family, close to bearberry, common in the tundra. Judging by the information that I found - inedible or inedible, but not poisonous. Like our forest bearberry.
    I haven't been able to pinpoint the plant in the second picture yet. This photo roams the Internet from site to site, one and the same, apparently. With signatures like "wolf's bast", "wolfberry". But this is not a wolf's bast (it is also a wolfberry)! The only thing these plants have in common is the color of the berries! Agree, this is not enough! Thus, it turns out that in the language of the military is called "disinformation" (that is, disinformation). In the case of poisonous plants - and the wolf's bark is very poisonous! — such disinformation is not safe, alas. That's why I wanted to post that picture.
    Perhaps I will do this when I can still accurately identify the plant.
    It is difficult to judge from a photograph what the life form of a plant is - what it is: a herbaceous plant, a lingonberry-type shrub or a shrub. If you have seen him in nature, please write.
    But most of all it looks like some kind of honeysuckle. And by the leaves, by their location. And by fruit.

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11. Alexander

    By the way, it is possible to fall into a coma after eating berries. Provided that a person is allergic to them. Unfortunately, sometimes he may not be aware of it! There are people who have an allergic reaction to raspberries, strawberries, etc. But, alas, it can take place not only in the form of red spots on the skin ... Maybe even anaphylactic shock, but this is fraught with the most serious consequences. So your friend, Igor, should probably consult an allergist.

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12. Svetlana

    Why do some people eat nightshade? I know those. We have a lot of it. Maybe it can be of several types?

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13. Alexander

    @ : Hello Svetlana! There is another nightshade - black. Here you can eat its berries, they are also used as a filling for pies. But only ripe berries, black, are suitable for food. The unripe, as well as the leaves, stems of the plant contain the poisonous alkaloid soladinin. Black nightshade has white flowers, not the purple ones of bittersweet.

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14. Igor

    @ :
    I don’t know, but this berry grows everywhere with us. People call it that. Unfortunately, I'm not a biologist, so I can't argue with you.
    Low growing shrub. Grows in the forest everywhere. It grows on the hills 50 meters from my house. Often comes across with lingonberries. But it is easy to distinguish - the berries are soft. Not like a strong lingonberry. You press these - they will immediately crush. They will come out with white pulp. The size of a lingonberry. The shape is imperfectly spherical.
    What else…
    And as for the coma... You may be right - an allergy. It was a long time ago, it is difficult to verify this fact.

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15. Alexander

    @ : Igor, thanks for the description. I'll try to find something in the literature. But I say that it looks like some kind of honeysuckle. And of our honeysuckles, only one is edible - with blue oblong berries, it is from the Far East, but very widely settled by humans. The rest are inedible.
    And the plants in the photographs are really different ... I am writing about the second picture, the link to which I had to delete (it opens from the admin panel, after publication - “not found”). But this is definitely not a wolf's bast! There are a number of plants that have a local name " wolf berries"(By the way, the forest honeysuckle - too!). And since the country is large, it is still difficult to deal with all the wolfberries. Yes, it's not the name. Just don't take a berry you don't know for sure is edible! There are many perfectly edible mushrooms that we call grebes and never pick. And nothing bad happens to us. As they say, in this case it is better to overdo it ...

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16. Alexander

    @ : If you mean the first picture (the link from your first comment opens) - this is arctous. Creeping shrub, common throughout the Arctic. Close to bearberry. And apparently, like her, inedible. However, I read that the Eskimos eat ... But it was still not an Eskimo who wrote it. Yes, and many plants that we will never eat now were often eaten by our grandparents (and my parents, too), for example, during the hungry war years

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17. Igor

    Alexander, and you can make tree-like comments. Probably not only I get confused in the comments. Where is the answer, and where is the question, I understand only by meaning. It's very difficult to have a discussion.
    Thank you.

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18. Alexandra Polina

    I haven’t seen many of the listed berries - but you need to take note, you never know? In general, we try to follow the rule with the children - in the forest, don’t collect or eat anything you don’t know - for one edible berry - five dangerous ones come across.

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19. Alla

    And we ate nightshade in childhood, only black. And alive, thank God. But belladonna... now I will know what it is, otherwise I only heard and read it.
    In the forest, in general, I try not to take anything unfamiliar.

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20. Alexei

    Interesting article! As a child, my father often showed me which berries were poisonous and which were not. Most often in the forests of the Tyumen region there is a crow's eye, less often - a wolfberry.

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21. Vadar

    Nothing, there are so many poisonous berries in the forest! Thank you for introducing us to them!

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22. Anatoly

    My parents took me with my brother of sizmalism to the forest. So in practice we have mastered the basic rule - If there is even a slight doubt, then it is better not to touch the plant. Be it berries, mushrooms, or flowers.

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23. Galina

    Good night =)
    Interesting article, yes. I planned to open a similar topic at my place, and tell there that in our forests it’s not worth pulling into your mouth (and indeed, touching it once again), but so far I don’t have time, and here the summer is already running out, now, if if I meet something dangerous in the forests, then I’ll write =) if, of course, I recognize plants =) because I’m still a botanist =)) and sometimes attentiveness is lame

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24. Alexei

    The information is very instructive and the photos are a good visual accompaniment. Many have become very detached from nature. Therefore, poisoning occurs, because some poisonous berries look so appetizing.

    Reply ↓

25. Dmitriy

    Familiar berries. From childhood, taught to pass by.

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26. Alexander

    As a child, my friend and I ate some wolfberries, 10-15 pieces each, and nothing happened to us.
    It was we who then thought that these were wolf berries, but now from the article with pictures I realized that it was “forest honeysuckle”))
    We have a lot of crow's eye in the Urals, but as far as I remember, nightshade was dark in color. Toli blue or black. I also tried it))

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    1. Alexander

How much just grows in the forest - and, and, and. We all know from childhood that mushrooms can be deadly, but not everyone knows that beautiful bright berries can be poisonous. Today we will figure out which forest berries you can enjoy and which should be avoided, and find out how these forest treasures grow, when they are harvested, how and why they are used for food.

Barberry

Small red sweet and sour berries of barberry are not only edible, but also. They grow on a thorny shrub that reaches a height of no more than 2 m. The trunk of the bush is covered with brown or brown-gray bark. The shape of the leaf plate can be spherical or ovoid. Fruits can also be elongated ovoid or more rounded spherical. The length of the berries varies from 0.8 to 1.2 cm.
The barberry shrub is found both in the wild and in cultivation. It grows in South and Central Europe, North America, Persia, in the North of Russia, in the Caucasus, in Siberia, Central Asia and the Crimea.

The fruits on the shrub ripen in autumn, and it is best to start harvesting around mid-September - early October. After frost, the berries become more palatable.
The composition of these berries is really impressive.: they contain vitamins and, organic acids, pectins and natural sugars. Barberry is used both in folk and traditional medicine for the manufacture of various medicines.
The berry is considered a fairly common seasoning in the cuisines of different nationalities, it is also used to make jams and compotes or added to tea in dried form.

Lush and tall shrub, which can most often be found on the edges of the forest. The plant is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, is unpretentious to soils and is highly resistant to frost. It has a spreading crown, the trunk is covered with cracked bark, and the foliage is distinguished by a glossy sheen.
Hawthorn berries look like miniature apples, and their size can be either tiny or quite large, depending on the variety. The color range of fruits is quite diverse: they can be yellow, red, orange or almost black.

Edible, they are used both for table purposes and in traditional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry.

Important! Hawthorn is successfully used in cosmetology: it helps to prevent aging, improve skin quality and fight rashes.

Hawthorn fruits are harvested in the middle or even late autumn - by this time they become incredibly helpful. The berries contain a lot (carotene,) and minerals, tannins, pectins and much more. They are good for the heart and nervous system, help in the fight against insomnia and increase brain activity. Also one of the indisputable advantages of hawthorn fruit is the prevention of cancer.
Berries are eaten fresh or used to prepare various preparations, ground with sugar, jams and marmalades are prepared, and added to compotes.

Common lingonberry

Edible forest berries grow on miniature evergreen shrubs, whose height rarely exceeds 30 cm. They are found in the Northern and Central parts of Russia, the Urals, the Caucasus and Siberia.
The fruits of lingonberry are red multi-seeded glossy berries of spherical shape. It is harvested in late August - early September.

Important! After frost, lingonberry fruits become watery and soft, burst from one touch, and therefore are not suitable for transportation.

Forest and tundra zones, dry and damp coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, alpine meadows, tundra plains and peat bogs are all typical habitats for lingonberries.
Due to the high content of vitamins, minerals, sugars and organic acids, berries have been used in folk and traditional medicine. Cowberry fruits have antiseptic, bactericidal, anthelmintic, choleretic and diuretic properties.

In cooking, lingonberries are used for cooking fruit drinks, fillings for sweets and pies, preserves, marinades and jams. Berries are ground with sugar or soaked in water so that they are stored all winter.

A branched tree-like shrub, the height of which can reach 4 m. The plant is widespread in forests, parks, squares and on summer cottages. Its popularity is due to its decorative qualities and unpretentiousness to the soil and climatic conditions. The bush during flowering is not only very beautiful, but also exudes a pleasant intoxicating aroma. By the end of August, small black edible berries ripen on the shrub.
The fruits of black elderberry are distinguished by a rich chemical composition: they contain organic acids, mucus, aldrin, a routine-like glycoside, tannins, choline, carotene, fructose, resins, and much more. Therefore, the scope of berries is quite wide - they are used in medicine, cosmetology, cooking and winemaking.

Important! Traditional healers use for medicinal purposes not only the fruits of elderberry, but also the bark and foliage of this shrub. The bark and leaves are dried to make decoctions and infusions, and the berries are used both fresh and dried.

The plant is common in the forests of the Northern Hemisphere, in temperate and cold climatic conditions. Blueberries are found on forest edges, along rivers, streams and swamps, as well as in the mountains.
The shrub is quite branched, it grows up to a maximum of 50 cm in height. During the flowering period, it is covered with white or pinkish buds. Berries in the ripening period are painted blue and covered with a bluish bloom. Their shape can be round or slightly elongated, and the length is about 1.2 cm. The crop is harvested in late autumn.
The composition of the berries includes vitamins, K and, as well as ascorbic acid, organic and essential amino acids, pectins, tannins and minerals.
Blueberries are delicious and healthy - both fresh and processed. Jams, preserves, juices and wines are made from it. It is definitely worth including these berries in the diet, because it will have a positive effect on health, as they are able to normalize the digestive tract and intestines, improve the outflow of bile, and are a good anti-inflammatory and cardiotonic agent.

A perennial shrub found in coniferous and mixed forests, forest-steppe zones and floodplains, in the north and in temperate latitudes of the Eurasian continent.
Blackberries are similar in shape to raspberries, but at the same time they differ in a dark, almost black color during the ripening period. Not everyone will like blackberries, as sourness prevails in it. But at the same time, berries are very useful for the body, they include sucrose, glucose, fructose, organic acids, vitamins C, K, P and group B. Also included in the composition are pectins, tannins and aromatic compounds. With the help of blackberries, you can strengthen the body and fill it with vitamins.
Berry helps to normalize blood sugar levels therefore incredibly beneficial for diabetics. Also in folk medicine, it is used to treat acute respiratory viral infections, tonsillitis, neurosis and diarrhea.
Jams and preserves, juices and compotes are prepared from blackberries, they are used as a filling and decoration for pastries and cakes.

Honeysuckle

The shrub is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in the undergrowth of coniferous and mixed forests. Refers to deciduous plants. The height of the bush varies between 2–2.5 m. There are more than 100 types of honeysuckle, many of which are successfully grown in culture.
The berries of the forest honeysuckle, or real, are inedible. Its fruits have a spherical shape and by the time of ripening, which occurs in July, acquire a dark red hue.

Wild strawberry

This plant is found in the forest and forest-steppe zones of Eurasia. It grows on edges, clearings, between bushes, that is, in clarified forests. The plant belongs to the rose family.
Strawberry fruits are polynuts, they are edible, and they are often called strawberries. Such multi-nuts are rich in chemical composition, they contain vitamins and minerals, organic acids, pectins, flavonoids, sugars, essential oils and tannins.
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins, and therefore they are most often consumed fresh. Jams, preserves, compotes are also prepared from it, dried, ground with sugar. For medicinal purposes, the leaves of this plant are often used.
Strawberries can be harvested from late June to late July, as the fruits ripen gradually.

viburnum

Deciduous or evergreen shrubs that are found in the Northern Hemisphere, in the subtropics and temperate latitudes. Grows in dense forests and clearings, along rivers and lakes. Viburnum blooms in late May - early June, and ripe red berries are harvested in late summer - early autumn. The fruits of viburnum have a lot of useful properties, so they are willingly harvested for the winter. The berries are dried, ground with sugar, used to make jams and jams, jelly, wine, sauces, and also frozen.
The composition of the berries includes vitamins C and P, organic acids, carotenes, pectins and tannins, so they are often used in folk medicine. They help strengthen the immune system, normalize the work of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, heart and urinary system.

Did you know? Any fresh berries will be stored much longer if placed in a wooden container, and for freezing it is better to use enamel or glassware.

The plant belongs to the genus Rubus, the Rosaceae family. It grows in moist coniferous forests of the European continent. Bone fruits are large prefabricated drupes of red or orange color. Very juicy and sweet and sour in taste, somewhat reminiscent of pomegranate. The berries are harvested in late July - early August. They are distinguished by a rich chemical composition - they contain pectins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, rutin and vitamin C.
The berry is used in folk medicine for the treatment anemia and colds. Bone fruits have also found their use in cooking: jams, fruit drinks, compotes, jellies, all kinds of sauces, vinegar, wine are prepared from them, and teas are made from dried ones.

These small trees or shrubs are common in the warm temperate zones of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, clearings and edges, along rivers and marshes, as well as in ravines. Fruits - drupes of spherical shape are inedible.
They ripen in late August - early September, and become almost black by this time. Buckthorn is not eaten due to the high content of alkaloids.

Did you know? Many poisonous berries can be recognized by their aroma - their smell is almost always very spicy and sugary. You should also be wary if the fruits have a sticky consistency, and upon contact with boiling water they become bluish.

Semi-shrub, which belongs to the Pink family, grows in dense forests, in clearings, among shrubs and along river banks. The plant grows densely and forms thickets, which are called raspberries.
Raspberries are small, hairy drupes that grow together on the receptacle to form a complex fruit. During the ripening period, the berries of the forest raspberry are painted in a rich red color. The plant has long been successfully grown in culture, but the fruits of wild raspberries are considered more useful and fragrant.
Forest raspberries ripen in mid - late July. It is very tasty fresh, and if you have the opportunity to collect a lot of these berries, you can make jams, jams, liqueurs and liqueurs, compotes and syrups from them, or just freeze it. Raspberry is good diaphoretic and anti-inflammatory agent, it is used in the treatment of colds and viral diseases.
The composition of the berries includes vitamins A, C and PP, minerals, sugars and organic acids, so it is an excellent general tonic and has a beneficial effect on all body systems.

Another edible berry that grows in the Northern Hemisphere mainly in swampy forests, moss and shrub tundra, in the Arctic and northern forest belts. bears fruit in drupes 1.5 cm in diameter. Ripe berries are transparent and colored orange, very similar to amber. Cloudberries are harvested in mid-July - early August.
These berries contain a lot of vitamin C, as well as carotene, tannins, organic acids and pectins. Fresh cloudberries are very healthy, but not too tasty - it is worth noting that they have a lot of coarse seeds that can irritate the intestines.
Therefore, it is better to use the berry for various preparations, for example, jam, jam, fruit drink, compote, juice and jelly. Cloudberries are used for colds and. It has tonic, anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic properties.

A small thorny shrub, sea buckthorn is often found in the forests of the European part of Russia, Siberia, Altai, Transbaikalia and Buryatia. The height of the bushes does not exceed 3 m. The fruits of sea buckthorn are small orange round-oval berries with a small bone inside. There are so many of them that they literally stick around the entire shrub, which is where the name of the plant comes from - sea buckthorn.
Sea buckthorn ripens in late August - early September. The taste and smell of these berries is quite specific, but they have many admirers, especially since they are very useful. They are eaten fresh and made in various preparations.

The berry is recommended for use in diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastritis and ulcers, as well as a tonic for the whole body.
Sea buckthorn preparations can be varied, for example, jams, juices, syrups, sauces, etc.

Important!In no case should you use sea buckthorn for urolithiasis.

Rowan

It is a common plant in the forests of Europe, Asia and North America. The woody plant is characterized by high frost resistance and absolute unpretentiousness to soils. Rowan bears fruit with rounded or oval berries, which at the time of ripening (in September) are painted bright red.
Berries contain vitamins and minerals, carotenes, glycosides, dietary fiber and organic acids. They are actively used in folk medicine, as they are able to reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, help cleanse the intestines and remove toxins from the body, and are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.
Rowan fruits are dried, used to make juice and jam, as well as various tinctures.

Important!Rowan is a fairly strong contraceptive, so it is not recommended for women who are planning a pregnancy.

These trees grow in moist forests, mainly on the banks of rivers and lakes, as well as among shrubs, on forest edges and clearings. Bird cherry looks incredibly decorative during the flowering period, when the whole tree is covered with small snow-white flowers. In July-August, fruits ripen - small black drupes of spherical shape. They taste sweet and astringent at the same time.
The chemical composition of the berries is very rich, so they are widely used in folk medicine. Bird cherry has antibacterial and astringent properties, and is also used as a diuretic.
From it you can prepare juices, tinctures, liqueurs, grind berries with sugar, and also dry them and then use them as a filling for baking or add to compotes, jelly and teas.

Did you know?In the course of scientific research, lingonberries have been found to be the only berry on the planet that helps prevent blood clots. Another of its unique properties is that 100 g of fruits act on the body in the same way as a cup of coffee or a can of energy drink, that is, lingonberries perfectly tones and invigorates.
This berry is an excellent antioxidant. Its presence in the diet will help to improve the functioning of organs and body systems. Blueberries are used for treatment of colds, eye diseases, cough, sore throat, to improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, with diseases of the liver, gallbladder and kidneys. Also, the berry helps to normalize blood sugar levels, so it is recommended to eat it for diabetics.
Preserves and jams, liqueurs, tinctures, compotes are prepared from blueberries, they are added as a filling to pies, and they are also frozen or ground with sugar. In addition, berries are used as a natural dye.

The range of this thorny shrub is very wide - this is due to the presence of more than 400 species of this plant. Rose hips are very common in the forests of the European continent.
Rose hips are multi-nutlets 1–1.5 cm in diameter. Their color at the time of ripening can be orange, red, purple or even almost black. The harvest is received by the end of August - the beginning of September.
Rosehip promotes strengthening immunity and the body as a whole, helps to normalize blood pressure, favorably affects the cardiovascular system, kidneys, liver and gallbladder.

Most often they are dried, they are also prepared, infusions and. And various preparations are made from fresh berries - for example, juices, syrups, compotes, jelly, jams, marshmallows, marmalade, sweets and jam.

Now you know how many tasty and healthy berries you can pick up in the forest. Of course, among them there are also non-edible and even very poisonous ones, so never pick or eat fruits unless you are 100% sure that they are safe for health.

" Garden

Wild berries are a tasty and healthy product. Chefs use them to prepare masterpieces, and housewives find berries used in all spheres of life.

You can pick berries during summer, autumn and even winter. Strawberries and strawberries are the first to appear. They are best harvested in early summer, when the berries are ripe and full of flavor. For lingonberries, blueberries, stone berries and blueberries, they go to coniferous forests. Berries such as cranberries and cloudberries grow near damp places. Most often in swamps or near streams or rivers. An excellent dessert will be raspberries and blackberries. However, when going to the forest, you need to pay attention that not all berries are edible. Poisonous berries are life-threatening! The names of the most popular edible berries are listed below.

Cowberry

Saturated gustatory qualities of lingonberries growing in dry areas of pine forests. These are small bushes with bright scarlet berries. It is necessary to collect lingonberries by the end of summer - in the fall, when the berries have poured and become dark coral in color. The fruits contain a lot of sugar, so lingonberries make good jams and jams.. Not only berries are used, but also leaves. They have disinfectant and other useful properties.

A plant with shoots creeping along the ground, only 30 cm high. Bone fruits are very similar in appearance to raspberries, both in shape and color. In each drupe of the fruit, there is one bone. The taste of the berry resembles a ripe pomegranate.. The berry finds a wide scope. It is often used for drinks and desserts. Tea is brewed with leaves. It turns out fragrant, but slightly viscous. Homemade wine is made from berries and is even added to the production of vinegar and shampoos.

These large berries, dark blue in color, are easily confused with blueberries. You can tell them apart by the size of the bush. The blueberry bush is 30 cm high, while the blueberry grows on a shrub reaching a height of 90 cm. The flesh of the blueberry is a watery structure with a greenish tint. You can pick berries in various types of forests. Most often, the berry grows on hills and in the mountains. When picking blueberries, care must be taken to ensure that rosemary leaves do not get into the basket along with the berries. The leaves are poisonous. Cause drowsiness, dizziness and fainting. But blueberry leaves, on the contrary, contain a lot of useful properties. On their basis, teas are brewed, infusions are made and used in cooking.

It is not recommended to give blueberries to children under 1.5 years old, to use by lactating and pregnant women. The use of berries is dangerous with the risk of developing diathesis.

One of the healthiest berries. It has a blue-black color. Blueberries are a strong dye. After eating a handful, a colored tongue can be observed for a long time. Grows on small bushes in moist and shaded areas. The berry has wide application in medicine. Blueberries contain many useful properties that help fight the formation of tumors, scurvy, improve vision. Berry is useful for losing weight. Substances contained in blueberries contribute to the process of accelerating metabolism. It is better to use fresh berries, but for the winter you can dry or freeze blueberries.

Due to a one-time use of berries in large quantities, digestive problems may occur.

Black medium-sized berry, in appearance resembles a blackcurrant. You can find it both in the shady and warmed by the sun. Grows on shrubs or low trees. Best time for collecting elderberry - late summer - early autumn. At this time, the berries ripen and become the most useful for humans.

Be sure to pay attention to the fact that black elderberries contain only useful substances, and red ones are poisonous to humans.

Dangerous are unripe elderberry fruits, foliage and flowers. For medicinal purposes, the berry is used in dried and processed form.. To save elderberry for the winter, you need to pay attention to storage conditions. The berry is quite susceptible to temperature and humidity.

Cranberry

Small evergreen shrubs creeping along the ground. Berries are common in all corners of the globe, but the best climatic conditions for wild cranberries are high humidity and low temperatures. The fruits have a dense skin and a fiery red color. The berry has a specific, sour, taste. Usually, the collection of cranberries begins in August, but the fruits can hold out on the plant until the beginning of spring, while retaining all the nutrients, and there are quite a few of them in cranberries. It is of great value as a medicinal plant, used in cooking for preparing drinks and various dishes. It tends to be stored for a long time in frozen and dried forms.

Berries are contraindicated for people with intestinal diseases and acid-sensitive tooth enamel.

Advantages and disadvantages

All varieties and types of garden berries were bred on the basis of their forest ancestors. However, garden-grown berries do not get the same unique set of elements as forest-grown berries. It has long been known that wild berries are tastier and healthier. They are often used in pharmacology and medicine.

The main useful properties of wild berries are:

1. Berries growing in wild forests are not polluted by civilization. They absorb those useful substances that nature and the plants around them give, without the admixture of chemicals or fertilizers.

Wild berries are an environmentally friendly product

1. Fruit contain large amounts of antioxidants, which remove toxins from the body, help maintain a figure in good shape, slow down aging, prevent diseases of the cardiovascular system, deterioration in general well-being, apathy, and sleep disturbances.
2. Berries do not accumulate heavy metals. All harmful substances are retained in the roots, stems, leaves of plants. Therefore, when collecting foliage, you should pay attention to whether there are industrial enterprises or highways nearby.
3. The use of wild berries, allows you to save consumed vitamins for long term . What is the key to good health in winter.
4. Many berries are reduce the risk of developing malignant tumors.
5. Antiseptic properties of fruits useful for those who suffer from diseases of the bladder and kidneys.
6. Blueberry contains substances that reduce the likelihood of blood clots in vessels and the development of atherosclerosis.
7. When using wild berries visual acuity improves. Researchers have proven that with the daily use of wild natural berries, in the conditions of a modern lifestyle, good vision is maintained up to 55-60 years.
8. A berry such as raspberries is often used as an antipyretic.. When sweat is released, the body is cleansed of substances accumulated due to improper lifestyle. Raspberries strengthen the immune system, which allows you to more effectively fight colds and other viral diseases.

Raspberry is a good antipyretic

1. Not only berries have medicinal properties, but also foliage, flowers, and sometimes plant roots. On their basis, infusions are made and teas are brewed. Plant parts can be used fresh or dried.. The leaves have the ability to lower blood sugar.
2. The use of red berries, increases hemoglobin in the blood. This is especially helpful for the elderly. Before use, you need to pay attention to contraindications, if any.
3. Of course, wild berries have a real rich smell and taste. They absorb the aromas of the forest: needles, herbs and others. Can be used to make desserts, sauces, drinks. Useful berry treats will be for children. They will help strengthen and protect the child's body from harm.

Wild berries have a small number of disadvantages, which are lost against the background of the list of advantages. But still it is worth paying attention to them.

Berries should be consumed in moderation. The fanatical use of berries in all areas of life can lead to health problems:

1. Disruption of the gastrointestinal tract
2. The appearance of rashes, redness, and the subsequent development of allergies
3. The occurrence of dental problems: the destruction of tooth enamel, the development of caries, increased sensitivity.

Caution should be taken when eating berries for people with diseases of the pancreas and liver, since an excess of certain substances can adversely affect the organs.

Forest berries - a storehouse useful substances and taste qualities. Their moderate use can give long life, reduce the risk of diseases and simply strengthen the body. And of course, fragrant forest berries will be a good addition to culinary masterpieces.

Berry plants have numerous healing properties, as they contain many biologically active substances: vitamins, minerals, trace elements, chemicals, proteins, amino acids, fats, sugars, carbohydrates, etc. The therapeutic and prophylactic effect of berries is determined by the biological effect on the body active substances, their combination and percentage. Some substances (vitamins, trace elements, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, etc.) are actively involved in metabolism, others (phytoncides, triterpenoids, alkaloids, etc.) have a pharmacological effect.

The healing properties of plants are widely used in medicine. Their advantage over medicines is that plants, especially berries, rarely cause adverse reactions in the body, are rarely toxic, and are well tolerated by patients regardless of age.

Berries are used both for the treatment and for the prevention of many diseases. Such treatment is especially valuable for chronic diseases requiring long-term use of drugs, as well as for sluggish and difficult to treat diseases. Such diseases are chronic diseases of the digestive system, liver, cardiovascular system, respiratory tract, etc.

Berry plants occupy a special place among medicinal plants. They can be included in the daily diet of a person, preventing many diseases. Many useful combinations of biologically active substances contained in berries are very difficult to recreate artificially.

It is not safe to buy berries from hands in markets or along roads, since it is not known where these plants were collected (within the city, near industrial enterprises that pollute environment etc.), whether pesticides and nitrites were used in their cultivation, etc.

Actinidia

This climbing plant, a liana that grows in the forests of the Far East and Southeast Asia. Actinidia can reach a length of 25 m.

Wrapping around trees or other supports, it reaches the very top and begins to branch there, forming a lush crown of young long shoots with large bright green leaves.

On open places(forest edges or clearings) actinidia spreads along the ground, forming dense bushes that can reach a height of human growth. Thickets of plants can create impenetrable thickets.

Actinidia fruits are multi-celled berries, round and slightly oblong - 2–3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. They are green with longitudinal stripes of a darker shade. The berries have a tender juicy pulp, very fragrant. Actinidia tastes like pineapple or gooseberry. From one bush you can collect up to 20 kg of berries.

There are many varieties of actinidia: Arguta, Kolomikta, Polygama, Clara Zetkin, Pineapple, Michurina, Productive, Early, Late, Matte, Decent, “faceted”, “September”, “VIR-1”, “victory”, etc. The most famous of them are: “arguta”, “kolomikta” and “polygam”. The berries of actinidia "polygama" differ from other actinidia in a sharply burning taste. This plant in the Far East is called pepper.

Actinidia "arguta" is a photophilous and moisture-loving plant. Actinidia "kolomikta" shade-tolerant, it may well grow and bear fruit in partial shade. Actinidia "polygama" is very demanding on heat. She doesn't branch out that much. The core of the branches is white, very dense, while in other types of actinidia the core is brown, loose, with many voids.

Actinidia has a very strong trunk.

This plant has long been used in the countries of East Asia as ropes for the construction of suspension bridges.

According to an old Japanese legend, the healing properties of actinidia "polygamy" were accidentally discovered by a lone traveler. He got a stomach ache along the way. But as soon as a person ate a few berries of this plant, the pain immediately disappeared, and he was able to continue on his way.

To satisfy the daily need for ascorbic acid, a person needs to eat 240 g of cherries, or 200 g of apples, or 150 g of raspberries, or 20 g of blackcurrant and only 3–5 g of actinidia. 1 bush of actinidia for the whole year will provide a family of 3-4 people with ascorbic acid.

Chemical composition

Actinidia is rich in vitamins. Its berries contain 0.9–1.4% ascorbic acid (more only in rose hips), 4.2–9.8% sugar, 0.8–2.55% organic acids, as well as pectins, coloring and tanning substances.

Healing properties

Actinidia berries have a tonic, laxative and antihelminthic effect, and also produce a calming effect, like valerian.

Eating

Actinidia berries, eaten raw, quench thirst well. They are also eaten in dried form, they are boiled from berries compotes, kissels, they make a delicious filling for pies. Actinidia is an excellent dietary product rich in vitamins, very useful for nutrition, especially for children.

Recipes

Actinidia compote

For its preparation, actinidia berries are placed in jars, then poured with syrup made from 300 g of sugar and 1 liter of water. Half-liter jars are heated for 10 minutes at 80 °C.

Actinidia jam

It is best prepared from actinidia "kolomikta". For 1 kg of berries take 1 kg of sugar and 1 glass of water.

The syrup is prepared, after which the berries are lowered into it and left for 5-6 hours. Then the berries in the syrup are boiled 2-3 times for 5 minutes and closed in prepared jars.

Application in medicine

In medicine, actinidia berries are prescribed in the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, leading to chronic and spastic constipation, as well as functional neuroses of the stomach, metabolic disorders in the body, lung diseases and anemia.

In folk medicine, actinidia is used in the treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis, whooping cough, bronchitis and caries. In addition, actinidia berries are used to treat helminthic diseases.

In folk medicine, actinidia is used in the treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis, whooping cough, bronchitis and caries.

Aralia Manchurian

This is a fast growing tree. It can reach a height of 1.5 to 6 m. Under very favorable conditions, it grows up to 12 m. The trunk of the aralia is covered with thorns, there are few branches. The leaves are located close together at the ends of the shoots. At the top of the plant, large dense inflorescences of white flowers are formed.

The berries of the Manchurian Aralia are blue-black, round, 3-5 mm in diameter, very juicy with 5 small seeds. About 12 thousand berries ripen on one tree.

Aralia Manchurian grows in the Far East, in the Primorsky Territory, as well as Korea and Northern China. The plant can grow as single trees or undergrowth in mixed forests.

In folk medicine, in addition to the Manchurian aralia, other types of it are also used: high, continental, Schmidt, etc.

The plant lives no longer than 25 years. It is highly frost-resistant and practically not susceptible to fungal diseases, and it is not affected by any pests except slugs.

Thanks to him, the thickets of the plant will recover.

Despite its healing properties, the people often call this plant a devil's tree.

The reason lies in its long spines.

The dried roots of the Manchurian aralia are also used as a medicine, as well as to obtain tincture and saparal.

Contraindications. Preparations of Manchurian aralia berries are contraindicated in epilepsy, hyperkinesis, hypertension, insomnia and increased excitability.

In folk and scientific medicine, aralia began to be used relatively recently. Its medicinal properties were discovered as a result of the search for a substitute for ginseng among plants of the Araliaceae family.

Chemical composition

Aralia Manchurian contains from 6 to 11.5% glycosides.

Healing properties

Aralia Manchurian has the same medicinal properties as ginseng, since both plants belong to the same family. Preparations prepared from this plant have a tonic effect on the nervous system and heart, increase reflex excitability and motor activity, relieve fatigue, improve sleep, increase efficiency, accelerate the recovery of patients after influenza and other infectious diseases, increase potency and help reduce blood sugar.

Eating

A tonic non-alcoholic drink Aralman is prepared from the plant, similar to Coca-Cola or the Sayany drink.

Application in medicine

Preparations prepared on the basis of Manchurian aralia are used for physical and mental overwork, neurasthenia, impotence and hypotension.

Manchurian aralia tincture is prescribed for headaches, weakness, pain in the heart area.

In addition, the tincture has a beneficial effect on patients with asthenic syndrome that occurs after the flu. In this case, the effect is achieved 2-3 times faster than when using drug treatment.

This is an annual herbaceous plant. The fruits are large berries with juicy pink or red flesh and seeds. Individual fruits reach 65 cm in diameter and weigh 20 kg.

The shape of a watermelon can be spherical, elongated, flattened and pear-shaped. The color of watermelon can be monophonic or variegated, from white and pale green to black-green.

Watermelons are widely distributed on the territory of Russia - in the regions of the European part and the Central Black Earth regions. Their homeland is South Africa.

Watermelon juice provides the liver tissue with easily digestible sugars, vitamins, amino acids, trace elements and minerals.

Folic acid (vitamin B 6) is involved in the synthesis of enzymes in the body, the metabolism of fatty acids and iron, regulates the activity of the nervous system, and prevents fatty infiltration of the liver. The daily requirement for this vitamin is 2-3 mg.

Important! Riboflavin (vitamin B 2) plays important role in the internal metabolic processes of the body. Vitamin deficiency leads to conjunctivitis, photophobia, anemia, disruption of tissue regenerative processes, cracking of the lips, inflammation of the mucous membranes (stomatitis, glossitis), stunting in children, changes in the nervous system and liver.

From the dry peel of watermelon, a powder is prepared, which is used to treat acute and chronic inflammation of the colon, especially in children.

Chemical composition

Watermelon pulp contains 80% water, 5.5-13% sugars (1.4-4.6% fructose, 1.1-2.8% glucose and 0.5-5.4% sucrose), 0.68% pectin, 0.54% fiber, 0.004-0.008% ascorbic acid, 0.072-.0132% bioflavonoids, as well as thiamine, riboflavin, nicotine acid, folic acid and carotene.

In addition to these substances, watermelon contains amino acids (valine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, threonine, oxylysine, citrulline), salts of potassium, iron, magnesium and calcium. The kernels of watermelon seeds contain up to 50% fatty oil.

Healing properties

Watermelon pulp has a beneficial effect on digestion and vital activity of beneficial intestinal microflora and helps to eliminate cholesterol from the body.

Watermelon has a diuretic effect, which increases the excretion of salts from the body, increases the alkalinity of urine. It also has a choleretic effect. Watermelon provides the liver tissue with easily digestible sugars, vitamins, trace elements and minerals and amino acids.

Eating

Watermelons are used mainly in their raw form as a dietary and dessert product. The so-called watermelon honey is prepared from them by evaporating the juice from the pulp. Watermelon honey contains 60 to 80% sugars. Jam and jam are also made from watermelons. They can be salted and marinated.

Recipes

candied watermelon

To make candied fruits, the top green hard part is cut off from a thick watermelon peel, after which the peel is cut into pieces using a knife or cookie cutters. Watermelon slices are poured with water and boiled for 10–15 minutes, then cooled in cold water.

Boiled crusts are thrown into a colander, allowed to drain and dipped in boiling sugar syrup, which is prepared at the rate of 1.2 kg of sugar and 2 cups of water per 1 kg of watermelon peels. The crusts are boiled in 4–5 doses for 5–7 minutes with standing for 10–12 hours. When the cooking comes to an end, citric acid is added to the syrup. Ready candied fruits are thrown into a colander, the syrup is allowed to drain from them and laid out on plates or a dish, where they are left to dry.

For long-term storage, candied fruits are placed in jars or left in sugar syrup, and dried before serving.

watermelon honey

It is prepared only from ripe watermelons with sweet pulp. The watermelon is washed and cut into pieces. Then the pulp is taken from it with a spoon, crushed and rubbed through a sieve or colander. After that, the pulp is filtered through 2 layers of gauze and put on fire.

When the watermelon juice boils, the reddish foam is removed from it, and the juice is again filtered through a sieve or cheesecloth and put on a slow fire to evaporate. At the same time, the watermelon liquid is constantly stirred so that it does not burn. The volume of watermelon juice should decrease by 5-6 times. Then the finished product is checked for a drop.

Watermelon honey is packaged in glass jars and rolled up. It can also be stored in an airtight container.

Application in medicine

Watermelon is recommended for use in diseases of the cardiovascular system and kidneys to relieve swelling that occurs. Watermelon juice is also useful for violations of water-salt metabolism, in which calcium salts, urates, oxalates and uric acid are excreted in the urine.

Watermelons are used for kidney stone disease.

Watermelon juice is used for diseases of the liver and gallbladder, as well as a refreshing remedy for fever. Watermelon juice is used to make tonic masks that prevent aging of dry and oily skin.

In folk medicine, in addition to watermelon pulp and juice, watermelon "milk" is also used, which is prepared from seeds ground in water in a ratio of 1: 10. Honey, fruit syrup, fructose or sugar are added to the drink to improve the taste. It is used as an antihelminthic and diuretic, as well as for fevers.

Contraindications. Watermelon is contraindicated in kidney stones formed from phosphates and tripelphosphates.

Important! Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) plays an important role in all internal processes. Its deficiency leads to weakness, apathy, fatigue, decreased performance, impaired cardiac activity.

Dry and fresh watermelon rinds are also used as a diuretic. A powder is prepared from dry crusts, which is used for acute and chronic inflammation of the colon, especially in children.

Aronia (chokeberry)

This is a shrub plant, reaching a height of 1.5–2.5 m. At the age of 3-4 years, chokeberry begins to bear fruit. The fruits are apple-shaped berries, up to 1 cm in diameter, black in color with a bluish bloom.

The skin of the fruit is quite dense, the ripe pulp has an almost black color. Aronia berries are juicy, sour-sweet and tart in taste, slightly astringent.

The chokeberry was brought from North America. In Russia, it was bred as a culture by Michurin, who recommended it for northern fruit growing. Currently, chokeberry is widely distributed in Russia. Large industrial arrays of chokeberry are located in the Altai Territory.

Important! According to the content of organic acids, chokeberry is superior to tangerines, strawberries, raspberries and red currants.

Chemical composition

Aronia berries contain 3% sugars, vitamins and organic acids, 1.5-5% P-vitamin bioflavonoids - catechins (especially a lot of epicatechin - the most physiologically active component of tea catechins), flavonols and anthocyanins.

The composition of the berries also includes carotene, nicotinic and ascorbic acids, phylloquinone, folic acid, riboflavin, amygdalin, various trace elements and minerals - phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese, cobalt, iodine.

Healing properties

Aronia berries have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Medicinal properties retain even dried fruits.

Eating

The fruits of chokeberry are eaten fresh. They can be stored for a long time at temperatures up to 10 °C. If at the same time they are in a suspended state and packaged in plastic bags of 5–6 kg, the shelf life will double.

Aronia berries are also ground with sugar in a ratio of 1: 1.5. The fruits can be frozen. Jam, marmalade, jelly, marmalade, juice, etc. are made from chokeberry. Fruit pomace is used as food coloring.

Application in medicine

Aronia is used as a vitamin remedy. To do this, the fruits of chokeberry are harvested in late August - early September, when the content of vitamin C in them is maximum.

Aronia fruits and fresh juice from them are an effective remedy in the treatment of hypertension and the prevention of atherosclerosis. Tablets are prepared from dry berry pomace, which are prescribed in the treatment of vascular diseases and hypertension.

Important! Iodine in chokeberry contains 2-3 times more than in other berries. The same amount of iodine is found only in persimmon and red currant - 0.005-1.01 mg / 100 g.

Indications Vitamin P obtained from aronia chokeberry, chokeberry juice and infusion of dry fruits are used for the prevention and treatment of hypo- and avitaminosis P, as well as in diseases accompanied by impaired capillary permeability.

Barberry

It is a perennial thorny shrub. It can reach a height of 3 m. It has a fan-shaped crown formed by numerous thin stems. Barberry berries have an oblong elliptical shape and dark red color. They are sour with a characteristic aftertaste. The mass of berries is no more than 0.4 g. Barberry grows in the European part of Russia, as well as in the Caucasus and Crimea.

Important! Barberry roots are a good hemostatic and choleretic agent. Of these, in scientific medicine, the preparation "Berberine bisulfate" is prepared, which is prescribed for chronic hepatitis, hepatocholecystitis, cholecystitis and cholelithiasis as a choleretic agent.

Chemical composition

Barberry berries contain 6–7% sugars, 2.6–6.6% acids, 0.6% pectin and 0.172% ascorbic acid. The bark of the plant contains 0.46-0.53% alkaloids, 1.48% tannins and 1.12% resinous substances. The composition of the leaves includes 0.08–0.18 mg/100 g of alacloids, 2.1–2.9% tannins, 5.2% resinous substances, and 0.6 mg/100 g of phylloquinone.

Healing properties

The alkaloid berberine contained in the plant stimulates bile secretion, lowers the tone of the gallbladder, lowers blood pressure, causes a rapid rhythm and increases the amplitude of heart contractions. In addition, berberine has a hemostatic and antimicrobial effect, stimulates contraction of the muscles of the uterus.

Another alkaloid contained in barberry, serotonin, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, improving the emotional state of a person. In addition, this substance is involved in the regulation of body temperature, has a high radioprotective activity and antitumor effect.

Eating

Barberry fruits are eaten both fresh and dried. Berries are also added to soups, which gives the food a sour taste. Fruits are used to make jam and compotes. A good refreshing drink with a pleasant, slightly sour taste is an aqueous infusion of barberry berries.

Recipes

Morse from barberry

Pour 1 glass of barberry puree with 1 glass of water and boil for 5-6 minutes. Then add 2-3 tbsp. l. sugar or honey. The drink is cooled and served to the table.

Salted barberry

Berries on small branches are placed in tanks and poured with salted chilled boiled water so that the berries are completely covered.

For 1 liter of water use 200 g of salt.

Barberry puree jam

1 liter of puree rubbed through a sieve is poured with 1 kg of sugar and left until it is completely dissolved for 3-4 hours in an enameled container. Then it is put on fire and boiled until tender.

Application in medicine

Jam from barberry berries is useful for diseases of the gallbladder and liver. Preparations prepared on the basis of barberry have a beneficial effect on the outflow of bile, reduce pain and inflammation. Berries and fruits of barberry are used in the treatment of diabetes.

The leaves of the plant are used for hypotension of the uterus in the postpartum period, as well as for postpartum endometritis and subinvolution of the uterus.

In medicine, the astringent and hemostatic properties of the plant are also used. Barberry is used in dentistry in the treatment of catarrhal stomatitis.

The healing properties of barberry have been known for a very long time. This plant was used as a medicine by the ancient Babylonians and Hindus.

Clay tablets dating back to 650 BC were found in the library of King Assurbanipal. BC, which describe the use of barberry berries as a blood purifier. The plant was also widely used by the doctors of the Arab Caliphate.

In Europe about medicinal properties barberry started talking in the 11th century. after the description of this plant by the medical scientist Konstantinus Africanus. His books have been translated into many languages ​​and the advice given in them has been used throughout Europe.

From the 16th century barberry began to grow in England, and in the XVII century. this plant has already been bred in all European countries, then in America. Barberry was used in the treatment of scurvy, jaundice and fever. It was prescribed for diseases of the liver, intestines, kidneys, malaria and birth hemorrhages. Barberry tincture was used as a choleretic agent.

Hawthorn

This plant belongs to the rose family. It is a tall shrub or small tree that reaches a height of 4 m and has large spines 2.5–4 cm long. The hawthorn lives for a very long time. Its age can reach 300-400 years. It has very strong wood.

The fruits are blood-red berries, apple-shaped, almost spherical. At the top, the berries have an annular rim and 5 cloves of sepals. The berry itself is very fleshy, with mealy pulp, edible. Inside the berries are seeds. Fruits begin to appear from 10-14 years of age.

Hawthorn is mainly found as a garden crop. It is very common in the middle zone of the European part of Russia, as well as in Ukraine, the Baltic states and the Caucasus. The homeland of the plant is considered Western Europe.

Hawthorn is also grown in Siberia and eastern European Russia.

The leaves of the plant are used in the preparation of a dietary salad, and are also added to green borscht instead of sorrel.

The use of an alcoholic extract of the plant increases the body's tolerance to carbohydrates.

Hawthorn fruits are dried in the sun or in dryers at temperatures up to 70 ° C. For drying in the sun, the berries are scattered at 4–5 kg per 1 m 2. Drying lasts 7-8 days.

Healing tinctures are also prepared from dried inflorescences or individual flowers with pedicels. In this case, the length of the pedicel should be no more than 3.5 cm.

Chemical composition

Hawthorn fruits contain up to 10% sugars, organic acids, 0.5 mg / 100 g of carotene, up to 30 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 0.75% essential oil, and berries contain 15 flavonoids, the main of which is hyperoside. Hawthorn fruits also contain triterpene acids (krategic, oleanolic, ursolic), tannins, phytosterol-like substances, choline, fatty oil, etc.

Hawthorn flowers contain up to 12 bioflavonoids, phenol carboxylic acids and triterpenes.

Healing properties

Hawthorn fruit extract has a stimulating effect on the heart and reduces the excitability of the heart muscle. The use of the drug in large quantities leads to the expansion of peripheral vessels and vessels of internal organs.

Hawthorn fruits have an antispasmodic effect, have a beneficial effect on the level of venous pressure and the elasticity of the walls of small vessels, and increase blood circulation.

Hawthorn has a positive effect on the condition of the skin, nasopharyngeal mucosa, respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract.

Triterpene acids (ursolic, oleanolic, krategic) increase blood circulation in the vessels of the heart and brain, lower blood pressure, increase the sensitivity of the heart to the action of glycosides.

Alcohol extract of hawthorn has a strong choleretic and diuretic effect. It is able to increase bile secretion by 62-140% and urination by 80-100%.

Eating

Hawthorn fruits are eaten fresh or processed. Jam, jelly, jelly are made from hawthorn, berries are candied, coffee and tea surrogates are prepared from them. Dried hawthorn fruit flour is added to the dough, which gives baked goods a fruity flavor. Marshmallow is prepared from the pulp of the fruit.

Application in medicine

Berries and flowers of hawthorn are used as a medicine. They are prescribed as a means of stimulating the function of the heart muscle, as well as sedative and antihypertensive drugs for hypertension, atherosclerosis, especially in menopause.

Hawthorn preparations are also prescribed for functional disorders of cardiac activity, cardiac weakness, after illnesses, with angioedema, insomnia, hyperthyroidism with tachycardia. Hawthorn is also used in the treatment of mild forms of atrial fibrillation and tachycardia. Hawthorn flowers are also used to strengthen the heart muscle, slow the pulse in people suffering from angina pectoris and to ease the attacks of this disease.

Attention! Large doses of hawthorn tincture can cause a slow pulse, depression of the nervous system, dizziness, nausea, chills, and indigestion. Therefore, the use of hawthorn as a medicine should be carried out only under the supervision of a physician.

Contraindications. Drink from the fruit or tea from the leaves of hawthorn is not recommended for people suffering from a violation of cardiac activity.

In Tibetan medicine, preparations from hawthorn fruits are used as a means of stimulating metabolism.

In ancient Greek medicine, hawthorn berries were used for disorders of the digestive system and heavy menstruation as a hemostatic agent, as well as for obesity and kidney stones.

In the Middle Ages, the royal physician of Henry IV, Quercetamus, prepared “senile syrup” from hawthorn for his master. Currently, this plant is also considered very useful for the elderly.

Hawthorn has a very strong effect on the vascular system. Infusion of the plant reduces the excitability of the nervous system, dilates blood vessels during vascular spasms.

Hawthorn preparations are used as a diaphoretic and antipyretic. They improve sleep, especially when used in combination with valerian.

Hawthorn is widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, as well as a remedy for colic in kidney stones. Hawthorn preparations are also used for dysentery and heavy menstruation.

Tea brewed from dry fruits of hawthorn is drunk for diseases of the urinary organs, cough, and lung diseases. Hawthorn is even used to treat epilepsy.

Cowberry

It is a perennial evergreen small shrub. It reaches a height of 15–30 cm. The fruits are bright red, spherical, shiny, multi-seeded. The size of the berries reaches 0.8 cm in diameter. They are very juicy, sweet-sour taste with a bitter aftertaste.

Lingonberries are widely distributed in the Urals, the Far East, the Caucasus, Siberia and many regions of the European part of Russia. This plant is one of the most common among wild berries. Lingonberries grow in coniferous and mixed forests, as well as along the edges of peat bogs. The plant is highly frost resistant. More frost-resistant berry is only cloudberry.

Chemical composition

Cowberry berries contain 84-88% water, 2.4-3.8% glucose, 2.8-5.1% fructose, 0.4% sucrose, 2.5% organic acids, 0.13-0.44 % soluble pectins, 0.16-0.52% protopectins, 1-2.2% anthocyanins, 0.23-0.51% catechins, 11-22 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid. In addition, lingonberries contain 9% arbutin, 5% tannins, flavonoids, and organic acids. The peel of the berries contains 0.75% ursolic acid. Benzoic acid, found in ripe berries, is in the free and bound state in the form of vakinin glycoside.

Lingonberry leaves contain 9% arbutin glycoside, 3% methylarbutin, 4-6% melampsorin phenolic glycoside, salidroside, 5-7% hydroquinone derivatives, tartaric, ursolic, gallic and ellagic acids, 10% tannins.

Cowberry seeds contain up to 32% fat, which includes 52% linoleic acid and 26% linolenic acid.

Healing properties

Crushed berries and lingonberry leaves have antimicrobial properties. Fresh lingonberry juice (even diluted 64 times) inhibits the growth of fungi of the genus Candida and some bacteria.

Eating

Cowberry berries are eaten fresh, as well as soaked and pickled. Compotes, juices, fruit drinks are prepared from berries, jams are cooked. Lingonberry jam and juice can be used as a seasoning for meat dishes and fried game.

Lingonberry tea is brewed from lingonberry leaves.

In Latin, lingonberries are called vaccinium vitis, which means "cow's grass."

Important! Decoctions of cowberry berries and leaves have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects due to the content of arbutin, hydroquinone and tannins in them. These drugs are used to treat diseases of the urinary system.

Experiments conducted on white mice showed that the juice of berries such as lingonberries, viburnum, cranberries, red and black currants completely eliminate Trichomonas infection.

And only lingonberry juice destroys the invasion of lamblia in these animals.

Attention! With an overdose of lingonberry preparations or in the case of prolonged use, nausea and other symptoms of intoxication may occur.

Important! The composition of lingonberries includes the glycoside arbutin, which, once in the body, breaks down to form hydroquinone. This substance has a bactericidal effect, but at the same time is a toxic substance.

Recipes

Cowberry soaked

1 kg of cranberries is poured into 1 liter of sugar syrup: 1 tbsp. l. sugar, 5 g salt, 1 g cinnamon, 0.5 g cloves per 1 liter of water. The syrup is brought to a boil, after which it is cooled and prepared lingonberries are poured. It is served on the table as a seasoning for meat and vegetable dishes, as well as in the form of a dessert.

Application in medicine

Lingonberries are used as a good vitamin remedy. Fresh berries and juice, as well as decoctions of dried berries are prescribed for high blood pressure, colds, rheumatism and gout.

Lingonberry leaves are part of diuretic fees. Lingonberry leaf preparations are used for kidney stones, urinary and gallbladder. They are used for diseases of the stomach and diabetes.

In folk medicine, fresh, boiled and soaked cranberries are used to treat gastritis with low acidity of gastric juice, as well as diarrhea, rheumatism, and gout. Cowberry juice is recommended for high blood pressure.

black elderberry

This is a shrub from the honeysuckle family, which reaches a height of 2–5 m. The fruits are small black berries with oblong pits. They are sour in taste and odorless.

Elderberry grows as an undergrowth in broadleaf forests and between shrubs. It is found in the southern strip of the European part of Russia, in Ukraine and the Caucasus. There are more than 20 types of elderberry, but only black elderberry has medicinal value.

Chemical composition

Elderberries contain alkaloids, glycosides, anthocyanin compounds, dye sambucin, tannins, sugars, proteins, mucus, gum, wax, fiber, essential oils, organic acids (malic, tartaric, etc.), traces of volatile acids, ascorbic acid , mineral salts, as well as fatty and mucous substances.

The flowers contain a glycoside with a diaphoretic effect, flavonoid glycoside rutin, traces of essential oil, valeric, acetic, caffeic, chlorogenic and other acids.

Healing properties

The essential oil of black elderberry, diluted even in a ratio of 1: 1500, inhibits the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, and diluted in a ratio of 1: 480 inactivates the coli actorophage.

Elderberry berries have a good laxative effect, and flowers - diaphoretic.

Eating

Dried branches with berries and elderberry flowers are added to tea, which gives it the taste and aroma of the best teas. To do this, mix 1 part of black elderberry berries or flowers with 3 parts of the drink.

Jam and jelly are made from black elderberry berries, which are used as a dietary remedy for diseases of the stomach and intestines. In addition, vinegar, wines, soft drinks, compotes, mousses, candy fillings, jams and preserves are prepared from berries. Elderberries are also used as a natural dark purple dye.

Recipes

Drink "Summer"

Mix 1 part of dried elderberries, wild rose, strawberry leaves and black currant leaves. 2 tsp the mixture is poured into a small teapot and poured with boiling water. The drink is infused for 5 minutes, after which it is poured into tea cups, sugar and cream are added to taste. The drink can be served both hot and chilled.

In Europe in the Middle Ages, black elderberry was considered a sacred tree, and extraordinary healing powers were attributed to its fruits, as evidenced by natural history books of the 17th century.

Indications. Infusions from the fruits and flowers of black elderberry are used externally in the form of lotions, baths and poultices for hemorrhoids, myositis, joint pain, boils, burns and wounds.

Black elderberries have an anti-inflammatory effect due to the flavonoids they contain.

In everyday life, elderberry flowers were used in the past to repel cockroaches, insects and rodents.

An infusion of black elderberry flowers in the old days was given for dry cough, bronchitis, flu, laryngitis, kidney disease, edema, rheumatism, gout, arthritis, and also as a remedy that strengthens and increases the body's resistance in diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (acne, boils, rash and etc.).

In folk medicine, an infusion of berries and young leaves of the plant, boiled in honey, were used for intestinal atony, and berry juice for rheumatism and nervous diseases.

elderberry water

Freshly picked elderberry flowers are poured hot water, add 2 tbsp. l. sugar and 1 g of citric acid per 1 liter of water.

Drink of centenarians

1 st. l. dried black elderberries pour 0.5 liters of water and prepare a decoction. Then it is filtered, add 2 tbsp. l. honey and serve hot.

Application in medicine

Black elderberry is an excellent laxative. An infusion of berries and flowers is included in medicinal preparations for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, as well as for external use (poultices for rheumatism, gargling for rheumatism, etc.). An infusion of dried berries and juice from fresh berries are a mild laxative.

An infusion of black elderberry flowers is used as a diaphoretic. In folk medicine, it is used for diseases of the respiratory organs, tuberculosis, bronchitis and colds.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to some extent. Elderberry roots are a good diuretic. It is used for diseases of the bladder, diabetes and dropsy.

Grape

This is a rather large liana, which reaches a length of 30–40 m. The fruits are berries. various shapes, size and density, collected in clusters and covered with a wax coating. Their length varies from 6 to 22 mm. The color and taste of the berries depend on the grape variety.

The grape has a very juicy pulp and seeds. The fewer seeds in the berry, the smaller they are, the higher the quality of table grapes.

Grapes are widely distributed in Europe and Asia.

This is one of the most ancient cultivated plants.

On the territory of Russia, it is cultivated in the southern regions, as well as in Moldova and the Caucasus.

Chemical composition

Grapes contain:

12 to 32% sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose);

2.5–6% free and bound organic acids (malic, tartaric, gluconic, citric, succinic, oxalic, etc.);

Mineral salts and trace elements (potassium, manganese, magnesium, calcium, copper, titanium, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, silicon, zinc, boron, chromium, etc.);

vitamins (ascorbic acid, carotene, tocopherol, riboflavin, ergocalciferol, traces of thiamine);

tannins and dyes with P-vitamin activity;

0.2–1.5% pectins;

essential amino acids (histidine, arginine, methionine, leucine);

Non-essential amino acids (cystine, glycine).

The pits of berries contain up to 20% solid fatty oil, tannins, lecithin, vanillin, flobafen. Grape leaves contain ascorbic acid, inositol, quercetin, choline, betaine, tartaric, malic and protocatechuic acids, as well as up to 2% sugar.

Healing properties

Grapes have therapeutic and dietary value. In addition, they improve metabolism and digestion, normalizing the composition of gastric juice, which contributes to the absorption of food.

Important! Grapes are very rich in potassium, its content reaches 250 mg / 100 g.

Potassium favorably affects the functioning of the heart, the tone of the cardiovascular system, kidney function, and also regulates the water content in tissues, removing excess water from the body during edema.

Manganese has a positive effect on growth, reproduction, hematopoiesis and metabolism. With a lack of manganese in food, the development of the bone skeleton can be disrupted and growth slows down.

Grapes enhance the destruction of carious teeth. In this regard, after each eating of grapes, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse your mouth with a solution of baking soda.

Attention! Negative side effects and intoxication of the body can cause eating a large number grapes, on which there are residues of pesticides.

Grape leaves are one of the richest plant sources of ascorbic acid. They are very useful in the preparation of salads. In Transcaucasia, grape leaves are preserved and consumed all winter.

Grapes have antimicrobial activity.

Particularly strong antimicrobial and antifungal activity in the most fragrant varieties grapes.

Grapes have a beneficial effect on the activity of the heart muscle, enhances metabolism in it, removes harmful metabolic products from the body, and increases the excretory function of the kidneys.

The action of grape juice is similar to the action of alkaline waters with a predominance of salts of potassium, iron, phosphoric and silicic acids. Grape juice removes uric acid from the body and prevents the formation of stones.

Eating

Grapes are eaten fresh and processed. Tartaric acid, vinegar, wine are obtained from them. Raisins and raisins are obtained from grapes by drying.

The nutrients contained in 1 kg of grapes provide 25-30% of a person's daily energy requirement.

Application in medicine

Eating grapes is recommended for loss of strength, nervous system disorder, anemia, metabolic disorders (gout, diathesis), diseases of the digestive system (gastritis, colitis), heart failure (in the presence of congestion in the liver and edema), kidney disease (acute and chronic nephritis, nephrosis, nephrolithiasis), acute and chronic hepatitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, pleurisy, pneumopleurisy, bronchitis, pulmonary heart failure.

Grapes should not be consumed in the following diseases:

stomatitis, gingivitis, glossitis;

Diabetes mellitus, acute and chronic enterocolitis and colitis (causes fermentative dyspepsia, bloating and diarrhea);

acute forms of pulmonary tuberculosis, acute pneumopleurisy, exacerbation of chronic tuberculosis, idiosyncrasy and grape intolerance;

Obesity.

Grapes are useful for people prone to uric acid diathesis. An infusion of grape leaves is prescribed for disorders of oxalic acid metabolism.

In folk medicine, grape preparations are used as a hemostatic and diuretic, as well as for coughs and hoarseness.

Cherry (cherry)

This is a tree with a wide crown, reaching a height of 3 to 7 m or a shrub 3–4 m high. Cherry has bright red or dark red berries, very juicy, spherical, slightly flattened, sweet and sour in taste.

Cherry is widespread in Russia, especially in the southern part. It is found in the wild on forest edges, slopes of ravines, in valleys and clearings. Cultivated everywhere.

Chemical composition

Cherry fruits contain 8.8-12.7% sugars, 2.1% organic acids (malic, lactic and citric), as well as vitamins (carotene, thiamine, ascorbic acid, nicotinic acid), nitrogenous, tannins and dyes. Cherry berries contain a lot of copper and ash. The stalks contain a lot of iron and magnesium.

Cherry juice is rich in amino acids: essential (lysine, arginine, valine, leucine, etc.) and nonessential (serine, proline, aspartic, glutamic acids).

Cherry bark contains tannins and dyes, citric acid. Cherry leaves contain citric acid, tannins, rudite, amygdalin, quercetin, comedin and coumarin.

Cherry pits contain up to 2-35% fatty oil, as well as amygdalin and essential oil.

Attention! Eating a large number of cherry kernels can lead to severe poisoning, since they contain 0.85% amygdalin glycoside, which decomposes in the intestine under the influence of putrefactive bacteria and forms hydrocyanic acid. Therefore, it is very dangerous to eat tinctures and liqueurs made from cherries with pits more than a year old.

In modern medicine, cherry glue is used, which is equivalent in its healing properties and can replace gum arabic.

Healing properties

Cherry juice destroys E. coli and dysentery. The effect is manifested within 1 hour. However, alkalization of the juice sharply reduces its bactericidal effect.

Cherry berries improve appetite, have a beneficial effect on bowel function, promote the digestion of fats, proteins, meat, dairy and fish products, and have a fixing effect.

Cherry improves blood formation, has a beneficial effect on anemia. It has a good effect on the intestines and contributes to the removal of nitrogenous toxins from the body.

Eating

Cherry berries are eaten fresh and canned. Jams, jams, compotes, fruit drinks, refreshing drinks are made from fruits.

Recipes

Recipe 1

Prepared jars are filled with cherries up to their shoulders, then poured with cold syrup prepared in a ratio of 200–400 g of sugar per 1 liter of water (depending on the type of cherry).

Banks are placed in a pot of cold water and put on fire. The water should heat up evenly. To do this, it is slowly heated to 85 ° C and incubated for 10 minutes (half-liter jars) or 15 minutes (liter jars). Such heating will keep the berries in the compote whole, and not bursting.

Recipe 2

Bones are removed from the cherries and placed in jars up to the shoulders, then poured with hot syrup prepared in the ratio of 300–400 g of sugar per 1 liter of water. Banks are pasteurized at a temperature of 85 ° C for 10–12 minutes (half-liter jars) or 15 minutes (liter jars). You can put the jars in boiling water and hold for 3 and 5 minutes, respectively.

Recipe 3

The washed cherries are placed in prepared jars, poured with any berry juice, you can use cherry.

The jars are then pasteurized in the above manner.

Recipe 4

Bones are removed from cherries and placed in an enamel container, and then 300–400 g of sugar per 1 kg of berries are added. The mixture is covered with a lid and put on fire. While stirring, it is heated to a temperature of 85 ° C, after which it is kept for 5 minutes, hot jars are filled with cherries right under the lid and immediately rolled up.

Recipe 5

Bones are removed from cherries and packed very tightly in jars. At the same time, they are layered with sugar, using 200 g of sugar per liter jar. Filled jars are closed with lids and heated at a temperature of 85 ° C for 20 minutes (half-liter jars) or 25 min (liter jars).

Recipe 6

Prepare the marinade by mixing 500 ml of water and 400 g of sugar, adding 5 peas of allspice, cloves and a little cinnamon to taste. All this is boiled, cooled and filtered, after which 100 ml of 9% vinegar is added.

Banks are filled to the shoulders with large berries and poured with cold marinade. Then they are placed in a pot of cold water, slowly brought to a boil and heated for 3 minutes.

From the fruits of cherries, a corrective agent is prepared in mixtures of cherry syrup - Sirupus Cerasi. This syrup contains 4 g of the highest quality cherry food extract.

Indications. Decoctions of cherry branches are used as an antidiarrheal agent in the treatment of intestinal atony.

Indications. A decoction of the stalks of cherries is used as a diuretic in the treatment of uric acid diathesis and diseases of the joints.

Recipe 7

Prepare the marinade. To do this, mix 250 g of soda, 500 g of sugar, 200 ml of cherry juice and spices - 5 peas of allspice, cloves, a little cinnamon. All this is boiled for 5 minutes, cooled, 40 ml of 9% vinegar are added. Sour cherries are placed in jars and poured with marinade filling, after which they are placed in a saucepan with water, brought to a boil and heated for 3 minutes.

Application in medicine

Cherry pulp is used as a refreshing and antipyretic remedy for colds, as well as to improve appetite and reduce intestinal fermentation.

Aqueous infusions of cherries have a calming and anticonvulsant effect. Cherry juice is recommended for liver diseases and diabetes to improve metabolism.

Blueberry

This plant belongs to the lingonberry family. It is a branchy shrub with a height of 0.25 to 1.4 m. Blueberry fruits are bluish-gray berries, reminiscent of blueberries, but 1–3 times larger than them, covered with a wax coating. Blueberry juice is light, unlike blueberry. The pulp is juicy, greenish, with small seeds. The taste is slightly sweet, fresh. The shape of the berries can be oval, spherical, pear-shaped, etc.

Blueberries grow in northern and central Russia. It is not cultivated. Wild plants are used for harvesting berries.

Chemical composition

Blueberries contain 6–8.5% sugars, 0.3–0.5% pectins, 0.15–0.33% protopectins, 0.18–0.21% soluble pectins, 1–1.7% organic acids, 1.2-1.4% fiber, as well as ascorbic acid, anthocyanins, catechins, carotene, nicotinic acid, thiamine, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, nitrogenous substances and ash.

In addition to Russia, blueberries also grow in Scandinavia, Greenland, Northern Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and North America. In the Alps, the Caucasus and Altai, blueberries grow at an altitude of 3000 m above sea level.

Healing properties

Due to the high content of ascorbic acid, blueberries have a pronounced antiscorbutic effect. Dry berries have an astringent effect. Young branches and leaves have a laxative effect. It is also believed that blueberries have an antihelminthic effect.

Eating

Blueberries are consumed both fresh and processed. It is used in the preparation of highly nutritious dietary dishes. Berries are used to make jams, marmalades, compotes, juices, kvass and various drinks.

Application in medicine

Blueberries are used to treat scurvy.

A decoction of dried blueberries is prescribed for diarrhea, enteritis and gastritis. As a laxative, a decoction of young shoots and leaves of the plant is used. In folk medicine, blueberries are used as an antipyretic for fever, as well as a tonic for dysentery. A decoction of branches with leaves is used for heart disease.

Infusion and decoction of the leaves are prescribed for diabetes.

Attention! When picking blueberries, sprigs of poisonous wild rosemary may accidentally fall into the berries. In this case, the berries will acquire a characteristic smell for wild rosemary.

If these plants grow nearby, blueberries can also become poisonous.

In the Far East, blueberries are so widespread that hundreds of tons of blueberries can be harvested every year.

In Western Siberia, the annual harvest of blueberries is 300 thousand tons.

Pomegranate (pomegranate)

A shrub reaching a height of 1 to 5 m or a tree up to 10 m high. It belongs to the myrtle family. It has a strong root system. Pomegranates are berries with a very hard outer skin. They reach 15 cm in diameter and weigh up to 0.7 kg.

Attention! Too much pomegranate fruit can cause poisoning, the main symptoms of which are general weakness, dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, etc.

Attention! Pomegranate contains some toxic alkaloids, which lead to an increase in reflex excitability, which can cause cramps, especially in the calf muscles.

Attention! To prevent intoxication, pomegranate preparations are prescribed in combination with astringents that prevent the absorption of alkaloids into the body.

The peel can vary in color from pink to dark purple and from pale yellow to olive. Inside the pomegranate fruit there are from 6 to 12 nests, which are separated by membranous partitions. Numerous grains with seeds and juicy pulp are densely packed in nests. The number of seeds can reach 400–700 pcs. Pomegranate fruits are sour and sweet in taste. Pomegranate grows in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Crimea and other tropical areas.

Chemical composition

The peel of the fruit contains from 22 to 39% tannins. Pomegranate fruits contain up to 1.6% alkaloids, 0.6% ursolic acid, while wild pomegranate fruits contain 4–9% citric acid.

Pomegranate juice contains 12-20% sugars, 0.5-85 acids, 4-9% citric acid, 0.3-0.5% tannins.

Healing properties

Pomegranate has antimicrobial activity.

Water decoctions and alcoholic extracts of the plant retard the growth of staphylococcus and dysentery bacilli. Sugar pomegranate syrup has a hematopoietic effect.

Eating

Pomegranate fruits are eaten fresh.

In addition, they make pomegranate juice, which also has healing properties.

Application in medicine

Pomegranate juice is prescribed for kidney diseases, kidney stones and gallbladder, hypertension and heart disease.

An aqueous decoction of pomegranate peel is used as a gargle, as well as an astringent and antiseptic. Infusion of whole fruits is used as a hemostatic agent.

A water-glycerine solution of the alcoholic extract of the peel is used for wound healing.

In folk medicine, the fruits of the pomegranate tree were used as a remedy for scurvy, malaria, indigestion, dysentery, kidney and liver diseases, as well as for the expulsion of worms and wound healing.

In Central Asia, fresh pomegranate fruits are used for colds and coughs.

Shrub 1–3 m high. Belongs to the Rosaceae family. Shoots have small thorns.

The fruits are collapsible drupes, similar to raspberries, but smaller. The color of the berries is from dark blue to black (wild), as well as black, red, yellow (cultivated).

Blackberry grows in damp and water meadows, among shrubs, along the banks of rivers and streams. The plant is widely distributed in the European part of Russia, in the Caucasus, in Western Siberia and Central Asia.

Chemical composition

Blackberries contain 2.9-3.6% glucose, 3.1-3.3% fructose, 0.4-0.6% sucrose, as well as carotene, thiamine, ascorbic acid, 0.56-0.8 % pectins, 1.1–2.3% organic acids (malic, citric, tartaric, salicylic), bioflavonoids, nicotinic acid, phylloquinone, minerals (potassium, magnesium phosphorus, etc.).

Blackberry seeds contain up to 12% fatty oil.

Healing properties

Blackberries have astringent properties.

Glucose is the main source of energy, and for the nervous tissue - the only one. Fructose is easily converted into glucose in the body without the participation of insulin, as a result of which this substance is used to prevent diabetes.

Important! Bioflavonoids (vitamin P) quickly eliminate the increased permeability and fragility of capillaries in scurvy. They are much more effective than ascorbic acid.

Important! Carotene is a provitamin A. It is easily converted in the body into vitamin A, which ensures normal functioning and optimal conditions for internal processes. As a result, the human body acquires resistance to adverse environmental factors, improves performance and general condition.

Eating

Blackberries are edible. They quench thirst well and are easily absorbed by the body, even in patients with chronic diarrhea. Fresh and dried berries are used as a filling for pies, they are used to make jam, tinctures, syrups, various drinks, jelly, marshmallow, compotes. Blackberries are also added to tea.

To prepare blackberry jam, sugar syrup is prepared. To do this, use 1 kg of sugar per 1 kg of berries and 1 glass of water. The berries are dipped in boiling syrup and boiled in 1 dose until tender.

At the end of cooking, 3-4 g of citric acid is added to the jam.

Recipes

Recipe 1

A syrup is prepared at the rate of 300 g of sugar per 1 liter of water with the addition of 3–4 g of citric acid. Blackberries are poured into jars and poured with sugar syrup. Instead of syrup, you can use raspberry juice with sugar (400 g of sugar per 1 liter of juice), then the compote will turn out to be more tasty and aromatic.

The cans are then pasteurized at 80°C for 10 minutes (half-liter cans) or 15 minutes (liter cans). Compote is kept in boiling water for 3 and 4 minutes, respectively.

Recipe 2

Blackberries are placed in an enameled pan, layer-by-layer pouring them with sugar of their calculation of 300-400 g of sugar per 1 kg of berries. The pan is placed for 12 hours in a cool place, after which the berries are transferred to jars, filling them up to the shoulders, then citric acid is added (4 g per 1 liter jar). Blackberry juice is heated to 90 ° C and filled with berries in jars, which are then placed in a saucepan with water and heated to 80 ° C for 10 minutes (half-liter jars) or 15 minutes (liter jars). Banks are kept in boiling water for 5 and 8 minutes, respectively.

Recipe 3

In Bulgaria, tea is made from blackberry leaves. To do this, they are subjected to fermentation, like tea leaves, then placed in an enamel pot, covered and left for 2-3 days until they completely wither. Blackberry leaves turn black, begin to ferment and emit a pleasant smell, similar to the aroma of a rose. The leaves are then quickly dried in the open air. The resulting tea resembles natural Chinese tea in taste and color.

Application in medicine

Blackberry tea is used to treat diarrhea and dysentery.

Blackberry fruits and leaves are part of the medicinal preparations used for food poisoning and dysentery. Blackberries are also useful for peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.

Honeysuckle

Shrub, reaching a height of 1.5–2 m. It has erect, slightly curved shoots of red-brown color. The crown is dense and compact. Honeysuckle fruits are large berries 2 cm long and 1 cm in diameter. They are black in color and have a bluish bloom. The berries taste like blueberries. They ripen very early, by mid-July, when other berries are still green.

Honeysuckle grows in Siberia, the Far East, Ukraine, Belarus, etc. The plant has many species and varieties (more than 200). Of these, only 4 species are edible: Altai, edible, Kamchatka and Maksimovich's honeysuckle. They are cultivated. The plant is very unpretentious and does not require a lot of light.

Chemical composition

The composition of honeysuckle berries includes from 3 to 13.2% sugars, 1-3.1% organic acids, 30-77 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 200 mg / 100 g of anthocyanins, 0.98-124% pectins, 0. 1–0.12% tannins.

During World War I, blackberry leaves were used to make a tea that was used to treat diarrhea and dysentery.

Avicenna used blackberry leaves to treat psoriasis, or psoriasis.

Important! Honeysuckle berries are rich in vitamins C and B, which allows them to be used as a dietary food for the prevention of atherosclerosis and hypertension, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.

Indications. A decoction of honeysuckle branches has a strong diuretic effect. This remedy is one of the best remedies for dropsy.

Crushed honeysuckle leaves are sprinkled on wounds.

Healing properties

Honeysuckle berries stimulate appetite, and also have a tonic, laxative and diuretic effect.

Eating

Honeysuckle berries are eaten fresh and canned. The berries are dried, fillings for pies are made from them, jam is made, tea is brewed.

Application in medicine

Honeysuckle fruits are used on fasting days in the treatment of obesity, metabolic disorders, overweight. In addition, berries are prescribed for diarrhea and liver diseases, beriberi, in particular scurvy, atherosclerosis, gastritis, duodenal ulcer.

In folk Tibetan medicine, honeysuckle berries are recommended as an analgesic for articular rheumatism and headaches.

Honeysuckle juice can treat ulcers and lichen. Decoctions of berries are used to rinse the throat and mouth with stomatitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, as well as for washing the eyes with conjunctivitis. With the help of honeysuckle fruits, dropsy is treated.

For diseases of the eyes, throat and skin, decoctions of honeysuckle leaves and flowers are also used.

strawberries

Perennial herbaceous plant. Belongs to the rose family. The fruits are small round bright red berries with small grains that cover the outside of the flesh. Strawberries have a pleasant smell and delicate taste. The plant is widespread in Russia, Europe and Asia.

Chemical composition

The composition of strawberries includes 80–90% water, 6–9% sugars, 1–1.8% pectins, 1–1.5% organic acids (citric, quinic, etc.), vitamins (ascorbic acid, carotene, thiamine , riboflavin, nicotinic acid, folic acid), 0.9–1.2% nitrogenous substances, 1–1.6% fiber, 0.16–0.25% tannins, 0.4–0.5% ash. In addition, the berries contain a lot of calcium - 873 mg / 100 g of dry matter, and the seeds contain a lot of iron. The rhizome is rich in tannins.

Fresh leaves contain 250–400 mg/100 g of ascorbic acid.

Healing properties

Strawberries have bactericidal properties.

Strawberry infusion lowers blood pressure, slows down and increases contractions of the heart muscles. The plant has a tonic and diuretic effect. Strawberries prevent the absorption of iodine by the thyroid gland.

Eating

Strawberries have a taste and nutritional value. They are consumed fresh, with sugar, jam, sour cream or cream. Sometimes strawberries are used for the production of soft drinks, jam, jam, compotes. Strawberry leaf tea is useful and fragrant.

Recipes

strawberry tea

To make a good tea leaves, you can use fresh, hastily dried leaves.

However, the most high-quality and aromatic tea is obtained by fermentation. Leaves for this must be healthy, intact, without petioles. They are first withered for 3–5 hours, as a result of which the leaves lose some of their moisture and become soft.

Then the withered leaves are twisted in the palms and rolled up on a table or corrugated board. This is continued until the leaves become damp and sticky. The integrity of the cells is broken, as evidenced by the appearance of green juice, and access to air is opened. As a result, the oxidative process will begin in the cells.

Twisted leaves are placed in a cardboard box, which is covered with a damp cloth on top and left for 7–9 hours to ferment. Then the leaves are scattered on a baking sheet and dried in an oven or in the sun. Leaves that have undergone fermentation will give the drink a richer taste and aroma, as well as an intense color, while completely eliminating the unpleasant grassy smell. Leaves for strawberry tea should be harvested in autumn, when they age and lose some of their tannins.

In the old Russian medical books it is written: “Water from strawberry berries will then destroy all harmful wetness from the body, and drive liver weakness and yellowness from the body, and open the respiratory veins, and strengthen the heart and give strength, and destroy the stone from the inside, and it does good to the struck Velma. ".

Important! Strawberry infusions of the Festivalnaya variety, diluted in proportions from 1:40 to 1:160, have a strong anti-staphylococcal effect.

Important! Infusions prepared from strawberry leaves collected during the flowering period have great anti-staphylococcal activity.

Indications. Strawberries are used as compresses for hemorrhoids and weeping wounds. Fresh strawberry leaves are applied to purulent, long-term non-healing wounds and ulcers.

Application in medicine

Strawberries are used as a dietary remedy for diseases of the kidneys, heart, liver. It also acts as a source of ascorbic acid and other vitamins. Strawberries are recommended to be consumed in large quantities by people suffering from intestinal and digestive canal disorders, as well as biliary tract.

An infusion of strawberries is used as a diuretic in the treatment of gout. Preparations from the berries and leaves of strawberries, due to the tannins and flavonoids they contain, are prescribed for diarrhea, inflammatory diseases of the digestive canal and profuse night sweats.

Fresh strawberries dissolve tartar. It is also recommended to use it for anemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis.

Strawberries are also used externally in cosmetic practice. From the pulp of the berries make face masks against skin aging. Fresh juice and water infusion of berries are used as a cosmetic product to remove age spots on the face and acne.

Strawberries are allergens of plant origin. Therefore, when using it, characteristic signs of an allergy may occur: urticaria, skin itching, etc. If these symptoms appear, the use of strawberry preparations should be stopped immediately.

The body of some people may not tolerate strawberries if they were eaten on an empty stomach.

In this case, there may be pain in the abdomen, nausea. To avoid this, you need to use strawberries with fresh cream, sour cream, sugar, and best of all after a meal.

People with allergies should avoid eating strawberries.

In addition to the above, strawberries are used for loss of strength, anemia, and also for the rapid restoration of blood in women after menstruation.

A decoction of the leaves is an excellent vitamin preparation, which is useful for gout, gallstone disease, bronchial asthma, and insomnia. Such a decoction is considered a good sedative. It is also prescribed for bad smell from the mouth and various suppurations.

In folk medicine, fresh strawberry juice is used to treat eczema and minor skin wounds.

A shrub or tree that can reach a height of 3.5 m. It has straight, thin and little-branched trunks. The berries are black, with a wax coating, rounded, 10–14 m in diameter. The skin is tender, fragrant. The pulp is very juicy, sour-sweet.

Irga grows in the Caucasus and Crimea. Cultivated in the European part of Russia and Siberia. Irga grown in the northern regions of the country is called the "northern raisin". It is frost-resistant and unpretentious.

Chemical composition

The composition of irgi berries includes 6-12% sugars, 1% organic acids, 0.8% tannins and dyes, 10-40 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid.

Healing properties

It is believed that berries of irgi have the ability to prevent diseases of the liver, kidneys, heart and stomach, as well as inflammation of the throat. Eating berries in food makes a person more calm, balanced, improves his sleep and general well-being. The phytosterols and coumarins contained in the berries of the shadberry reduce blood clotting. Vitamin P strengthens the walls of blood vessels and increases their elasticity.

Eating

Irgi berries are eaten fresh, as well as with sugar, in the form of compotes, jelly and various drinks. Irga is a good food coloring. It is often added in mixtures with other berries, from which compotes and jams are prepared.

Recipes

Juice from irgi

Irgi berries are washed and blanched in boiling water, after which the juice is squeezed through 2 layers of gauze or using a juicer. Juice from shadberry can be closed for the winter in jars and used to make fruit drinks, marmalade, jelly, kissels.

Morse from irgi

Irgi berries are washed, kneaded and juice is squeezed out of them. The pomace is poured into 1 liter of boiling water and left for 10 minutes. The infusion is mixed with the previously obtained juice, sugar is added (1 cup to 2 cups of juice to 1 liter of water). The drink is kept for 10-12 hours and served cold.

Application in medicine

Irgi berries are used in the treatment of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.

Infusions of berries stimulate the work of the heart muscle, lower blood pressure.

Berries are also used as a prophylactic to prevent the development of thrombosis and sclerosis, myocardial infarction and varicose veins. They are also used to normalize sleep and strengthen the body.

Irgi berries have high frost resistance and unpretentiousness to the soil, which gives it an advantage over many fruit and berry bushes.

Important! Due to the high content of vitamin P in the berries of irgi, the plant has a strengthening effect on the walls of blood vessels, increasing their elasticity, which prevents heart attack and varicose veins.

Important! It is better to dry the fruits of irgi in the shade, since cuparins are well preserved, which reduce blood clotting and prevent the development of thrombosis.

Shrub, sometimes small tree, no more than 3–4 m high.

Fruits are bright red berries of spherical shape, with a flattened stone, which occupies most of the fruit. Kalina has a specific taste - tart-sour, slightly bitter. The berries are very cold-resistant, persist until late autumn and even until winter. Kalina is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and Central America. There are more than 100 species of viburnum all over the world. It grows in damp places - in mixed and deciduous forests, on edges, glades, clearings, among bushes, in river valleys, lakes and swamps. Kalina is often cultivated in gardens and parks as ornamental plant.

Chemical composition

Viburnum berries contain 32% invert sugar, 3% organic acids (acetic, formic, isovaleric, caprylic, etc.), 3% tannins, 78-86 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 0.44 mg / 100 g of phylloquinone, 0 .2 mg/100 g manganese and 0.6 mg/100 g zinc.

Healing properties

Viburnum fruit juice 7% concentration destroys typhoid and dysentery bacilli, as well as anthrax. Infusions of viburnum berries and flowers have an antimicrobial effect. Viburnum berries have a tonic and restorative effect.

Viburnum fruits are harvested in August-September, after full ripening.

Viburnum bark is harvested in April-May - during the period of sap flow. The bark should be stripped only from the side branches, without touching the main trunk.

Drinks from viburnum berries have an invigorating and refreshing effect. To increase efficiency, it is recommended to drink at least 1 glass of viburnum fruit juice per day.

Eating

Fruits beaten by frost and losing their bitterness are suitable for food. Viburnum berries become less bitter also after boiling and drying.

From berries they cook jam, kissels, compotes, prepare juices, make stuffing for pies. Viburnum berries are brewed like tea. To do this, take 1 tbsp. l. fruit and pour 1 cup boiling water, insist 5-7 minutes.

Viburnum tea is drunk as a diuretic and diaphoretic, 0.5 cup 2-4 times a day.

Recipes

viburnum juice

Viburnum berries are sorted and washed, then the juice is squeezed using a juicer. The juice is poured into clean bottles and stored in the refrigerator. Viburnum juice is usually kept for a very long time and without pasteurization or added sugar. Viburnum juice is used to make jelly and fruit drinks. In this case, it should be diluted several times.

Fruit drink from viburnum with honey

100 g of honey is dissolved in 1 liter of water, 0.5 cups of viburnum juice are added to it, mixed well and served cold.

Application in medicine

Viburnum berries are widely used for the treatment and prevention of various diseases. They have a beneficial effect on the work of the heart, increase urine output. For colds, it is useful to use tea from berries and infusion of viburnum as an antipyretic and diaphoretic.

An infusion of viburnum berries and flowers is used to gargle with sore throats, as well as to wash wounds. Juice is used to remove acne on the face.

In medicine, decoctions and liquid extracts of the plant are also used. These drugs are used as a hemostatic agent for uterine and nasal bleeding.

Preparations from viburnum are used in dentistry as a vasoconstrictor, antiseptic and hemostatic agent.

In folk medicine, viburnum berries and flowers are used to make a decoction, which is used to treat coughs, colds, shortness of breath, sclerosis, stomach diseases. This decoction is also given to drink to children with diathesis, eczema and skin tuberculosis. The decoction can also be used externally, adding it to baths.

For colds, viburnum berries brewed with honey are used. This remedy is especially useful for coughing, respiratory diseases. In addition, viburnum is used as an anesthetic during menstruation.

An aqueous infusion of viburnum is used as a prophylactic and for the treatment of carbuncles, eczema, and various rashes on the body.

In folk medicine, a decoction of dried flowers and viburnum bark is used to treat scrofula, rashes, suffocation and colds.

A decoction is made from viburnum seeds, which is a good diaphoretic and astringent, used for dyspepsia.

Shrub or tree, reaching a height of 2-6 m.

The fruits are red, fleshy, juicy berries, oval in shape, with a pleasant astringent taste, and have 1 oblong-shaped furrowed bone.

Dogwood grows in the Crimea, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, Central Asia, Moldova and the southern regions of Ukraine. It is also found in southern Canada, North America and southwestern Europe. It is bred in gardens and parks as an ornamental plant. Dogwood is frost-resistant, unpretentious.

Chemical composition

Dogwood berries contain 9-15% sugars, 2-3.5% organic acids, some tannins and aromatics, as well as 50-105 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 4 mg / 100 g of iron, 363 mg / 100 g of potassium .

Healing properties

Dogwood juice has antimicrobial properties. It has a detrimental effect on dysentery sticks.

Eating

Dogwood berries are eaten fresh.

Kissel, extract, jam, jam are made from them. Dried fruits are an excellent seasoning for hot dishes, pilaf. Unripe dogwood fruits, cooked in a special way, have the taste of olives. IN Food Industry used as an additive to baby food.

Application in medicine

Fresh dogwood juice is used to treat keratoconjunctivitis. Dogwood berries have an astringent and antiscorbutic effect.

In Tibetan medicine, dogwood bark and leaves are used to treat pleurisy and kidney disease.

Strawberry

A herbaceous plant, reaching a height of no more than 15–20 cm. It has round or wedge-shaped berries with small grains covering the flesh on the outside. The color can be greenish-red, yellow-red and bright red. Strawberries are characterized by a pleasant delicate taste and aroma.

Strawberries are widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Strawberries are a separate species in the strawberry genus. Modern cultivated strawberries with large berries are the result of crossing Chilean and European strawberries. Strawberries are grown by amateur gardeners. It does not produce large yields, so it is not grown for industrial use.

Chemical composition

Strawberries contain about 83% water, 0.8% proteins, 0.6% fats, 6.7% glucose, 6.1% fructose, 2% sucrose, 0.7–1.4% pectins and pectin-like substances, vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, ascorbic acid, phylloquinone), minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, iron, copper), organic acids (citric, malic, oxalic).

Healing properties

Strawberries have a diuretic property, removes a large amount of salts from the body. Due to the content of bromine compounds in strawberries, it has a calming effect on the nervous system.

Application in food

Fresh strawberries are eaten, as well as juice and jams, compotes, jams, and jellies made from berries.

Application in medicine

Strawberries are recommended for anemia, loss of strength, exhaustion due to the iron and calcium contained in it. Ascorbic acid and other vitamins contained in the plant can prevent and treat hypovitaminosis, especially in the spring and summer. Strawberries are useful in the treatment of rheumatism and arthritis.

In addition, berries are used in the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract, diarrhea, skin rashes, liver diseases, rheumatism.

Important! Strawberries are rich in iron, the content of which is higher than in plums, sour apples and pineapples.

In folk medicine, a decoction of leaves, roots and flowers is used for inflammation of the bladder and kidneys, as well as for liver diseases, gout, obesity and other metabolic disorders in the body.

Attention! Strawberries can cause hives, as well as mild to moderate intoxication. This may be due to the presence in it of residual amounts of pesticides used for fertilizer.

Strawberry juice is used for cosmetic purposes to remove freckles and wrinkles.

Evergreen shrub. It has thin creeping stems that take root at the nodes. It reaches a length of 0.6–0.8 m. The fruits are juicy, dark red, sour berries, spherical and multi-seeded. Cranberries grow mainly in the regions of North-Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, Kamchatka, Sakhalin. Also found in Belarus. It grows on moss and peat soils, in transitional swamps.

The scientific name of the cranberry genus - oxycoccus - comes from the Latin words oxys - "sour" and coccus - "spherical".

Chemical composition

Cranberries contain 2.16% glucose, 1.12% fructose, 0.29% sucrose, 3.27% organic acids (citric, quinic, benzoic), pectins, vitamins, minerals (phosphorus, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, cobalt, zinc, copper, silver, chromium).

Healing properties

Cranberry has a tonic and refreshing effect, increases the mental and physical abilities of a person. It is also a good bactericidal agent. Cranberry juice retards the growth and development of Staphylococcus aureus, anthrax, Proteus and E. coli.

Cranberries contain a large amount of ursulic acid, which is genetically and structurally similar to physiologically important hormones. It has the ability to delay the development of aseptic inflammation.

The use of cranberry juice along with antibiotics increases their activity, enhancing the absorption of drugs. The intake of cranberry juice also increases the acidity of urine, has an antimicrobial effect on the pathogenic flora that occurs when the urinary tract is infected.

Eating

Cranberries are eaten fresh, and refreshing drinks are also prepared on its basis - fruit drinks and compotes. Cook jam and jelly.

Cranberries keep fresh for a long time (2–4 months).

The food industry produces cranberry juice, as well as apple-cranberry and birch-cranberry compotes with cranberries and apples.

Fresh cranberries are consumed mashed with sugar.

Recipes

Cranberry juice

1 glass of cranberries is washed and poured with 1 liter of water, put on fire, brought to a boil and boiled for 10 minutes. The broth is filtered, add 0.5 cups of sugar, bring to a boil and cool. The drink is served chilled.

In the process of preparing fruit drinks, you can use not whole, but blanched berries.

vitamin drink

Juice is squeezed out of 1 kg of cranberries. 2 kg of carrots are rubbed on a grater and the juice is squeezed out of it through cheesecloth. Cranberry and carrot juice are mixed, add 5 tbsp. l. sugar, mix thoroughly, pour into glasses with ice cubes and dilute with chilled boiled water.

Application in medicine

Extracts from cranberries are used in the treatment of chronic pyelonephritis, when antibiotics and sulfa drugs are ineffective.

Cranberry juice is used in the treatment of infectious diseases of the urinary tract, as well as a prophylactic agent that prevents the formation of kidney stones.

Important! Cranberry juice delays the growth and development of Staphylococcus aureus, anthrax, Proteus and E. coli.

Important! The introduction of cranberry juice into the diet of patients increases the activity of antibiotics, which is explained by the presence of a large amount of citric acid in the berries, which enhances the absorption of antibiotics.

Cranberry drinks are given to seriously ill people to increase vitality and stimulate appetite.

Contraindications. Cranberries and drinks from them are not recommended for use by people suffering from acute inflammatory processes in the stomach and intestines.

Cranberry juice is prescribed simultaneously with antibiotics for gynecological inflammatory diseases and postpartum complications.

The juice is also used to prepare an ointment for the treatment skin diseases. Cranberry juice is used in purulent surgery, as well as in pediatrics as a vitamin remedy.

In folk medicine, cranberries are used to treat high blood pressure. Berry juice is useful for fever, as well as for low acidity of gastric juice. Cranberries are prescribed for rheumatic diseases, anemia, inflammation of the urinary tract. Juices and jelly from cranberries are also very useful for children, especially in diseases of the digestive canal and urinary tract. Cranberry juice with honey is used to treat sore throats and coughs.

princess

Perennial herbaceous plant, small shrub. It reaches a height of no more than 30 cm. The fruits are dark red berries with a bluish bloom, similar to raspberries. They have a pleasant sweet taste, very fragrant.

Sweet and fragrant, the princess berries are among the tastiest of all wild berries.

The prince grows in damp forests, on the outskirts of swamps, glades, in the tundra. It is very common in the northern regions of Russia - on the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk, in northern Primorye, on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and the Amur Region. In these places, you can harvest several tons of berries. Sometimes found in Kamchatka. It also grows in North America and the Scandinavian countries.

There are about 40 types of princesses.

Chemical composition

The berries of the princess contain 7% sugars, 2% citric acid, ascorbic and malic acids, tannins, coloring and aromatic substances.

Healing properties

The berries of the princess have a diuretic and astringent effect.

Eating

Fresh berries are used for food.

They have a very high taste. Among all wild-growing berries, these berries are considered the most delicious. Jams, juices, syrups are prepared from the princesses, covered with sugar. The leaves of the princess are dried and brewed like tea.

Application in medicine

Berries of the princess are successfully used for the prevention and treatment of beriberi, especially scurvy. They are also prescribed for nephrolithiasis, gout and other diseases associated with impaired water-salt metabolism. Berries are very effective for diarrhea, gastritis, colitis.

An infusion of the fruits of the princess is used for rinsing with inflammatory diseases of the mouth and throat, and is also given to patients to drink as a thirst quencher and antipyretic.

In folk medicine, princess berries are used to treat rheumatism, liver diseases and colds. Decoction and infusion of raw and dried berries are used for rinsing with catarrhs ​​of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial asthma, cough.

Indications. An infusion of the leaves of the princess is given to patients with anemia, used for compresses applied to wounds, as a healing agent, used for gargling and ingestion for diarrhea.

Dried berries are brewed as tea (2 tablespoons per 0.5 cups of boiling water) and drunk 3 times a day for 0.5 cups.

Stone berry

A perennial herbaceous plant reaching a height of 15–30 cm. It has shoots up to 1.5 m long that extend along the ground. Bone berries - bright red drupes, connected in groups of 5-6 pcs. They are sour in taste and have a large bone. Bone is called the "northern pomegranate".

Bone grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, in ravines, thickets of shrubs. It is distributed in Western and Eastern Siberia, the central regions of the European part of Russia, in the Urals and the North Caucasus. There are a lot of bones in the Kostroma region.

Chemical composition

Bone berries contain 1.15 mg/100 g of flavonoids, 44 mg/100 g of ascorbic acid, pectins and phytoncides.

Healing properties

Bone has a general strengthening and calming effect, normalizes internal metabolic processes.

Eating

Bone berries are eaten fresh, dried and canned, juice is prepared from them, jam is made. For longer storage, berries are preserved by sugaring.

Application in medicine

Bone is used in folk medicine for colds, anemia, gout and joint pain. A decoction is made from the berries and roots of the plant, which is used to rinse the head to strengthen the hair and eliminate dandruff.

Important! Dried berries should be stored in closed wooden boxes in a dry place.

Bone is dried in fruit and vegetable dryers, and on sunny days in the shade, under a canopy or under a roof, in the attic.

A shrub, sometimes a tree, reaching a height of 2 to 7 m. The trunk and branches of the laxative buckthorn are protruding and have thorns, while those of the alder (brittle) are smooth. The fruits are spherical berries, sitting on a stalk in the axils of the leaves. At first they are green, then redden, and when ripe they become almost black. Buckthorn berries and seeds are very poisonous, especially when unripe.

Buckthorn grows almost throughout Europe, up to the Arctic Circle. Buckthorn alder is found in forests, forest-steppes, steppes, ravines, along rivers, on the edges, clearings, in shrubbery, on wet onions. Buckthorn alder often grows together with alder, bird cherry and mountain ash.

Buckthorn laxative is common in deciduous and mixed forests, groves and bushes. It grows along river banks and in sunny rocky places.

In medical practice, buckthorn berries are used as a laxative. Alder buckthorn preparations cause severe side effects due to its toxicity.

Chemical composition

Alder buckthorn bark contains tannins, traces of essential oils, resins, starch, saponins, malic acid, mineral salts, free and bound hydroxymethylanthraquinones, glucosides. Laxative buckthorn berries contain anthraglycosides, yellow dyes from the group of flavone glycosides, pectin compounds and sugar.

Healing properties

Buckthorn fruits laxative have a strong emetic and laxative. In addition, they have a mild diuretic and antibacterial effect.

Eating

Buckthorn berries are not eaten because of the strong toxic effect.

In folk medicine, buckthorn bark preparations are used to treat constipation and liver diseases, as well as externally for skin diseases.

Attention! For medicinal purposes, buckthorn bark can be used only after 1 year. storage or heating at 100 °C for 1 hour.

Contraindications. Alder buckthorn berries are very poisonous. The use of tinctures of them inside for gastritis, gastric ulcer, dysentery, hemorrhoids and uterine bleeding can lead to a dangerous side effect.

Application in medicine

For the treatment of intestinal diseases, a liquid extract of alder buckthorn or a decoction of laxative buckthorn fruits is used. In folk medicine, buckthorn laxative was used in the treatment of dropsy and cancer.

Gooseberry

perennial shrub, reaching a height of 0.5–1.5 m. There are rare thorns on the branches.

Fruits come in various shapes and sizes.

They may also be hairy or hairless. Inside contains a large number of seeds. The color of the berries can be different depending on the variety - green, yellow, red.

Gooseberries are distributed throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

Chemical composition

Gooseberries contain 88–98% water, 7.2–13.5% sugars, 1.2–2.5% acids, 0.64–1.1% pectins, mineral salts, tannins and aromatic substances. Gooseberries are rich in iron, folic and ascorbic acids.

Healing properties

Gooseberries have a diuretic, as well as a mild laxative and choleretic effect. They strengthen the walls of blood vessels, improve the general condition of the body, normalize metabolic processes in it, improve blood formation.

Application in food

Gooseberries are eaten fresh and processed. Compotes, jam, jelly, marshmallow are made from berries.

Application

The berries of the plant are also used for skin diseases, to strengthen the walls of blood vessels, beriberi C and A, overweight and other metabolic disorders in the body.

Gooseberry compotes quench thirst well and lower the temperature. They are recommended as a dietary remedy for heart disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis, anemia, and obesity.

Important! Ripe gooseberries contain 2 times more ascorbic acid than green fruits.

Contraindications. Gooseberries are not recommended for diabetics, as they, despite their sour taste, contain a lot of sugars.

Attention! The thick skin of berries and seeds contain a lot of organic acids and fiber, which can exacerbate enterocolitis and stomach ulcers.

Schisandra chinensis

Liana with a woody stem 2 cm thick.

In length, the plant reaches 8-10 m. It has a specific smell. The fruits are red berries with 2 seeds each. When the berries ripen, the receptacle lengthens 20-50 times, each pistil turns into a berry. Thus, the fruits look like a drooping ear, which develops from a single flower.

In addition to China, Chinese magnolia vine grows in the Far East, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur Region, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands.

Chemical composition

Dry berries of Schisandra chinensis contain 350–580 mg/100 g of ascorbic acid, 5% saponins, organic acids (10–11% citric, 7–10% malic and 1% tartaric acid).

Lemongrass contains an essential oil with a characteristic lemon scent.

Healing properties

Schisandra chinensis berries have a strong stimulating and tonic effect. They significantly increase the efficiency of the body. Lemongrass also produces a strong adaptogenic effect.

Eating

Berries and lemongrass juice are used as a seasoning for tea, giving it a pleasant aftertaste.

Juice from fresh berries is added to tea in 1 tsp. on a glass.

Application in medicine

Schisandra berries are used to treat stomach problems.

Berries and seeds are used to make preparations that have a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. They are also used for weakness of the heart muscle, neurosis of the heart and nephritis.

Lemongrass is used to treat oxygen starvation, it is also able to protect the body from oxygen toxicosis. Tinctures prepared from lemongrass are used as a choleretic agent for cholecystitis and other functional disorders of the gallbladder. This tincture is recommended for the treatment of hypotension.

Lemongrass is also used in psychiatry. It is prescribed for depressive states, neurasthenia, as well as for mental and physical overwork.

Small doses of lemongrass preparations have a tonic effect on the cardiovascular system, regulate blood circulation, stimulate respiration, stimulate conditioned reflex activity, and sharpen night vision.

In rare cases, Schisandra chinensis fruits can cause an allergic reaction, manifested in symptoms such as hives, swelling, etc.

In addition, people suffering from hypertension should not take lemongrass preparations.

In China, lemongrass is called "wuweiji", which means "five-tasting berries". The plant got this name due to the fact that its pulp is sour, the skin is sweet, the seeds are bitter and tart, and after heat treatment the berries become salty.

Attention! When collecting or processing Chinese magnolia vine berries, you should not use easily oxidized dishes, as this can lead to poisoning.

Attention! In 4% of people, lemongrass causes lethargy and depression of the nervous system, so you should not abuse it, allowing its uncontrolled use in food and as a medicine.

In ancient China, lemongrass was included in the list of taxes that were delivered to the imperial palace. It was such a sought-after medicine that there was not enough locally grown material, and the plant had to be additionally imported from other countries.

Goof narrow-leaved

Shrub or tree 3 to 10 m high. Leaves are silvery white.

The berries are false elliptical drupes, 2 cm in size, with yellowish powdery flesh, very sweet and pleasant to the taste.

Goof narrow-leaved grows in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, as well as in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia. It occurs on the sands and along the banks of rivers, where it forms dense thickets.

The plant grows quickly, is very resistant to drought, unpretentious and undemanding to the soil, photophilous.

Chemical composition

The pulp of the berries contains 57.5% carbohydrates (half of them fructose), 10% proteins, 2.5% inorganic acids, 100 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acids, 30% tanides, as well as a large amount of potassium and phosphorus salts. The receptacle contains many trace elements - zinc, copper, chromium, nickel, aluminum.

Healing properties

Loja preparations are of low toxicity, they have an anticholinergic effect, and also have a pronounced effect on blood circulation (positive effect on cardiac activity, lowering blood pressure) and respiratory organs.

The narrow-leaved goof has sedative properties, enhances the effect of hypnotic substances, suppresses orienting reactions, and prevents the development of aggressiveness and rage.

Eating

The berries of the narrow-leaved sucker are eaten fresh. They have a high energy value. The fruits of the plant are able to retain their properties for longer than 4 months.

Application in medicine

Goof narrow-leaved is used to treat diseases of the central nervous system, as one of the most effective anticholinergics.

A concentrate of tannins and colloidal substances is obtained from the plant.

It is used as an astringent for enterocolitis.

A decoction of sucker berries is prescribed for colitis, diarrhea, gastric diseases, and also as an anti-inflammatory agent for respiratory diseases.

Preparations of narrow-leaved loch have a pronounced effect on blood circulation, positively affecting the work of the heart, lowering blood pressure in hypertension.

Loja berries have a sedative effect and can increase the effect of sleeping pills.

In folk medicine, the narrow-leaved sucker is used in the treatment of diseases of the stomach, intestines, pancreas, heart and kidneys.

Semi-shrub 1–2 m high. Fruits begin to bear in the second year. After 2 years of fruiting, the shoots dry up. The fruits are red berries, complex drupes, which are easily separated from the fruit (unlike blackberries).

Raspberries are widely distributed in Russia. In the wild, it grows almost throughout Europe and Northwest Asia, as well as in America.

There are over 100 types of raspberries worldwide. Varieties cultivated in Russia are mainly derived from two types of common raspberry: red and bristly. This plant has been widely known in Rus' since ancient times.

Chemical composition

Raspberries contain 4.3% glucose, 8% fructose, 6.6% sucrose, 4-6% fiber, 2.2% organic acids (fruit acids, salicylic acid, etc.), a large amount of pectins and vitamins (ascorbic acid , thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, carotene), as well as minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, etc.).

Raspberry leaves contain much more ascorbic acid than berries. There are also carotene, anthocyanins, tannins, flavone, mucous, pectin and protein substances, mineral salts. Raspberry seeds contain 15% fatty oil.

Healing properties

Raspberries have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects.

In addition, they are a vitamin remedy.

Eating

Raspberries are eaten fresh and processed. This is one of the most delicious berries. Jam, juices, compotes are made from raspberries. It is ground with sugar and also dried.

Recipes

Raspberry soft drink

First prepare the sugar syrup. To do this, pour 0.5 cups of sugar with 1 cup of water and boil for 2-3 minutes. Ready syrup is cooled. 2 cups of fresh raspberries are washed and kneaded with a wooden spoon, then poured with cooked sugar syrup and 1 tbsp. l. liquor.

Everything is mixed and left for 2-3 hours to infuse. Then the mixture is filtered and 2 cups of sparkling water are added. The drink is served chilled.

raspberry tea

1 tsp dried raspberries are brewed in a teapot with 2 cups of boiling water, let it brew for 10-15 minutes, then filter and add sugar or honey to taste.

Application in medicine

In medicine, fresh and dried raspberries, as well as leaves, are used. Berries are an effective diaphoretic used for colds, flu and inflammatory diseases. Raspberry juice is included in many mixtures to improve their taste.

Fresh raspberries are useful for anemia, indigestion, kidney disease. Dry berries are used to prepare healing infusions, which are also prescribed for the treatment of colds, flu and sore throats.

Raspberry leaves are used as astringents and fixatives due to their high content of tannins.

Infusions of them are used for inflammatory diseases of the intestines and respiratory organs, as well as for gargling with sore throat, inflammation of the larynx, cough.

In folk medicine, raspberry berries, flowers and leaves are used to treat hypertension, atherosclerosis, colds, as well as diarrhea and bleeding. An infusion of raspberry flowers is prepared for washing with acne, as well as inflammation of the skin of the face, eyelids and eyes. Vitamin masks are made from raspberries to rejuvenate and refresh the skin of the face.

In folk medicine, raspberry syrup has long been used to treat stomach pain, improve appetite and normalize heart function.

Picking raspberries is carried out in dry weather, after the dew disappears. Berries should be carefully placed in the basket.

With a decoction of flowers, applied externally, traditional healers treat hemorrhoids, erysipelas, inflammation of the eyes.

Important! For drying, only fully ripe raspberries are harvested, without a receptacle. They are laid out in a sunny place or dried in ovens, dryers at a temperature of 30–50 ° C.

Dried raspberries have a grayish-raspberry color, sweet and sour taste and a slight pleasant smell.

Raspberry leaves are used as a cosmetic for cleansing the skin of the face.

Juniper

An evergreen coniferous shrub or tree, up to 8 m high. The age of individual trees reaches 3 thousand years or more. Berries develop from cones, the scales of which swell and coalesce, forming a fleshy cone. This fetus develops for 2 years.

In the first year it is green, and in the autumn of the second year it becomes a round black berry with a bluish tint.

Juniper is distributed almost throughout the entire forest zone of Russia. The plant is usually found in the undergrowth of dry pine forests on sandy soils, as well as in spruce forests where the soil is moist.

Juniper is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Chemical composition

Juniper fruits contain 2% essential oil. It is located directly in the pulp in special receptacles, clearly visible under a magnifying glass. The berries also contain resins, organic acids, sugars.

Healing properties

Preparations from juniper berries have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. They also have a diuretic effect, improve appetite, have a beneficial effect on digestion, increasing the secretion of gastric juice and bile formation.

Juniper berry preparations should not be taken for long term. If a second course of treatment is required, a break of 2-4 weeks should be taken before starting it.

Application in food

Juniper berries are widely used as a spice.

They add a special flavor to grilled meats and poultry dishes. Thanks to juniper, chicken meat tastes like game.

Juniper improves the taste of sauerkraut, bear meat, venison, meat of hares, capercaillie, hazel grouse, partridge, woodcock. If the meat is soaked in a decoction of juniper berries, it will lose unpleasant flavors and acquire a special forest flavor. Juniper is also used to make marinade.

Juniper berries are used to make sweet syrup, jelly, marmalade, gingerbread, jelly, and gingerbread. To prepare the syrup, fresh berries are used, which are carefully crushed with a wooden pestle so that the seeds are not damaged, which will make the syrup bitter.

Dried juniper berries are used to make medicines.

Application in medicine

Juniper berry tincture is used as a diuretic for dropsy, inflammation of the bladder, etc. Essential oil from the fruits of the plant increases diuresis.

A decoction of berries is prescribed for gout and rheumatism.

Juniper ointments are used to treat pustular skin diseases, burns, frostbite.

These ointments have an analgesic effect, help cleanse wounds from pus and their rapid healing, more rapid rejection of dead tissues and their active restoration.

Preparations from cones are used orally for edema, malaria, externally for scabies and wet lichen, as rinses for inflammation of the gums.

In addition, in folk medicine, juniper berries are taken as a choleretic agent to improve digestion, enhance intestinal motility.

Important! Juniper berries are harvested in autumn, when they are fully ripe and turn black and blue. The collected berries are dried under a canopy or in an attic with good ventilation.

It is impossible to dry juniper berries in ovens and dryers, since in this case many biologically active substances are destroyed.

Attention! Of all the types of juniper, only common juniper is used in medicine. Other species contain poisonous substances.

In folk medicine, an aqueous decoction and an alcoholic tincture of juniper roots are used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchitis, and kidney stones.

Perennial herbaceous plant with a height of 10 to 40 m. It has a creeping and branched root.

Berries are complex drupes, similar to raspberries, but with a peculiar smell and taste. Cloudberry berries are red or orange-red at first, but become reddish or orange-yellow as they ripen.

Cloudberry is resistant to frost. It is distributed in the northern strip of the European part of Russia, as well as in the northern regions of Siberia and the Far East, the Arctic. It grows in the tundra, on sphagnum bogs and mounds.

Chemical composition

Cloudberry berries contain 3–6% sugars, 200 mg/100 g of ascorbic acid, citric and malic acids, and a yellow coloring matter.

Healing properties

Cloudberry berries have anti-inflammatory, diuretic and hemostatic effects.

Eating

Cloudberries are consumed fresh, pickled, soaked and steamed. From them prepare jam, jam, jelly, soufflé, mousse, drinks. In addition, cloudberries are used to prepare various dishes. Cloudberry puree is recommended for children because it is rich in vitamins and other biologically active substances.

Cloudberry fruits cooked in their own juice are stored for 1.5–2 months. Then lactic acid fermentation begins, due to which the content of lactic acid in the juice increases.

In this form, cloudberries are stored for another 2 years. Thanks to these properties, cloudberries can be used for cooking throughout the year.

Cloudberry leaves are used to make tea.

Application in medicine

Cloudberry berries are used as an antiscorbutic agent, as well as for hemoptysis and fever.

An infusion of cloudberry leaves is used to treat coughs and other colds, as well as a tonic for diarrhea.

A decoction of the leaves is prescribed for the treatment of diseases of the bladder.

Important! Cloudberry berries can only be eaten processed and pitted.

Fresh cloudberries can be stored for no more than 2-3 days. Unripe berries can be stored up to 2 weeks.

Attention! Cloudberries contain small, hard seeds that irritate the lining of the stomach and intestines. Therefore, it is not recommended to eat fresh berries with enterocolitis.

Sea ​​buckthorn

Prickly shrub, reaching a height of 6 m, very branched. The berries are orange, oval, cylindrical or spherical, 6-10 mm long and 3-7 mm in diameter, with one stone.

The peel of the fruit is oily. Berries in large numbers strew the ends of the branches, due to which the plant was called sea buckthorn. They taste sweet and sour, sometimes with a bitter aftertaste, very fragrant. The plant bears fruit within 10-20 years.

Sea buckthorn is widespread in Europe and Asia. On the territory of Russia, it is found in the European part, in Western and Eastern Siberia, Buryatia, and Altai. The plant is bred in gardens, on personal plots. It is planted along the banks of rivers to strengthen river beds and sands due to the branched root system.

Chemical composition

Sea buckthorn berries contain 2.57% water-soluble sugars, 2.8% organic acids, 4.4–9% fatty sea buckthorn oil, 0.79% pectins, 4.5% carotenoids. Sea buckthorn is very rich in vitamins: it contains tocopherols, ascorbic acid, vitamins C and E, P-vitamin substances, carotene, phylloquinone, etc.

Sea buckthorn contains a lot of triterpene acids, their amount reaches 505-1170 mg/100 g.

It also contains more B-sitosterol than any other plant, a substance that has an anti-sclerotic effect.

Juice is squeezed out of sea buckthorn berries using a press, which makes up 65–70% of the mass of the berries, and the resulting pulp is about 30%. Dry pulp is used to obtain sea buckthorn oil. It contains 18–22% fatty oil, 40 mg/100 g of carotenoids, 28 mg/100 g of tocopherols and other biologically active substances.

The oil obtained from the pulp contains 168–215 mg/100 g of carotenoids, 112–154 mg/100 g of tocopherols, 0.89% phospholipids, more than 90 mg/100 g of fatty acids (saturated and unsaturated).

The oil obtained from the pulp of sea buckthorn berries contains 40–100 mg/100 g of carotene, 180–250 mg/100 g of carotenoids, 110–165 mg/100 g of α-tocopherol and retinol.

Healing properties

Sea buckthorn has antioxidant and anti-sclerotic properties. Sea buckthorn oil promotes wound healing. It also has analgesic and bactericidal properties, has a beneficial effect on the liver. Alcoholic extract of sea buckthorn bark inhibits the growth of tumors, including cancerous ones.

Eating

Sea buckthorn berries are eaten fresh, dried and frozen. They make jam, jelly, make drinks. Juice is added to tea.

Application in medicine

Sea buckthorn is widely used in medicine.

Sea buckthorn oil is used:

in gynecology - for the treatment of cervical erosion and cervicitis;

Ophthalmology - for the treatment of corneal ulcers;

with skin burns and eczema;

for the treatment of peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;

For the treatment of sinusitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis.

Sea buckthorn oil is used to prepare suppositories used to treat diseases of the rectum: erosive and ulcerative proctitis, internal hemorrhoids with chronic enterocolitis, etc.

Sea buckthorn has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the liver and lungs. It is recommended for blood diseases and hemorrhages, radiation sickness, hypertension, diabetes, metabolic disorders, etc.

Of all fruit and berry crops, sea buckthorn is the richest in carotene - up to 10–18 mg / 100 g, more than in carrots.

Sea buckthorn contains 2-3 times more phylloquinone than other plants.

Sea buckthorn contains up to 500–600 mg/100 g of ascorbic acid.

Herbaceous one or perennial plant.

The fruits are juicy berries with numerous seeds. There are many types of nightshade. The most famous are the nightshade lobed, bittersweet and black. Nightshade berries can be bright red to black, sometimes green. They are drooping, spherical, there are also egg-shaped. Bittersweet nightshade has a bitter taste.

Nightshade is widespread in Europe and Asia.

The plant is native to Australia and New Zealand.

Chemical composition

Nightshade berries contain alkaloids:

in lobed nightshade - solasonin and solamargin, solaradin, solaradinin;

in sweet-sour nightshade - solacein and solanein;

in black nightshade - solasonin, solamargin, sola-sodamine, solasodine, solacein, solanein, which are very poisonous. These alkaloids completely disappear when the berries ripen.

In addition to alkaloids, nightshade berries contain tannins and dyes, organic acids, anthocyanins, bittersweet nightshade berries contain the bitter substance dulcamarine. Mature fruits of black nightshade contain 1630 mg/100 g of saponins and about 7-10% tannins.

Healing properties

Nightshade berries have a beneficial effect on the activity of the central nervous system and heart, as well as on the course of inflammatory processes in the body. Bittersweet nightshade has diuretic and diaphoretic properties.

Black nightshade berries have a laxative, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect.

Eating

Application in medicine

Nightshade is used in the treatment of heart and nervous diseases. The hormone cortisone is synthesized from its berries.

Bittersweet nightshade is widely used medicinally, especially in France and Germany. The plant is used in the treatment of bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, edema. The extract from the young stems of bittersweet nightshade is an excellent diuretic, expectorant and antirheumatic agent. A decoction of nightshade is taken orally and lotions are made for erysipelas. Bittersweet nightshade berries are also used as an anthelmintic. The herb is used as a remedy for rheumatism, as well as a diaphoretic and diuretic.

The unripe fruits of black nightshade are poisonous. Ripe berries are recommended for eating with hypertension and atherosclerosis. The berries of the plant are also useful for heartburn and colds. Grass juice is used as a diaphoretic for colds, as well as a sedative and anticonvulsant. Black nightshade leaves are used as an antiseptic, hemostatic and anti-inflammatory agent. Compresses from the leaves of the plant are made for hemorrhoids, ulcers, wounds, eczema, boils, erysipelas.

In folk medicine, the unripe fruits of black nightshade are used to treat sore throats in children, fresh leaves are used to heal wounds.

The leaves of the plant are rich in ascorbic and citric acids, steroidal saponins and carotene. The bark contains saponins and alkaloids.

Nightshade contains the substance solasodin, which serves as the basis for the synthesis of the hormone cortisone.

Essence from young shoots and leaves collected after nightshade flowering is used in homeopathy.

Attention! The stems, leaves and unripe berries of black nightshade are very poisonous, which requires very careful use of these parts of the plant with therapeutic purpose. Their use should be under medical supervision.

Black nightshade is widely used in folk medicine, not only in Russia, but also by healers in France, Portugal, Turkey, Venezuela, etc.

Indications. Juice from fresh leaves is injected into the nose for wounds, chronic runny nose or earache.

Mountain ash

Tree 5-15 m high. May have several trunks. The fruits are berry-like, juicy, round or oval, red-orange in color, there are remnants of the calyx at the top. The taste of rowan different types unequal. It can be very tart, almost bitter or sweet.

In total, there are about 80 types of mountain ash in the world. 34 of them grow in Russia. Rowan grows in Europe and Asia. It is found in Siberia up to the Far North. The plant is widely cultivated in gardens, parks, near houses and on the streets as an ornamental plant. In the wild, it is found in forest clearings.

The age of the mountain ash reaches 200 years. She bears fruit profusely. In Primorye and the Amur region, the yield of rowan berries reaches several hundred tons.

Chemical composition

Rowan fruits contain 5.6-24% sugars (in terms of dry weight), 3.6% organic acids (tartaric, succinic, sorbic), 90-200 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 18 mg / 100 g of carotene, 1 mg/100 g phylloquinone, 2 mg/100 g a-tocopherol, 770 mg/100 g bioflavonoids, 0.15 mg/100 g folic acid, 235 mg/100 amino acids (arginine, aspartic, alanine, histidine, glycine, lysine, tyrosine, cystine, cysteine, etc.), 0.8% parasorbic acid mono-glycoside (gives fruits bitterness), trace elements (manganese, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium), essential oils.

Rowan seeds contain up to 22% fatty oil and amygdalin glycoside. The leaves contain 1.5 times more ascorbic acid than the fruits, they also contain flavanols astragalin, hyperoside, kempfeol-3-sophoroside, quercetin-3-sophoroside, isoquercitrin, phytoncides.

The bark of the plant contains a lot of tannins and phytoncides.

Healing properties

Rowan berries have an astringent, diuretic and hemostatic effect. Rowan juice has antimicrobial properties. Rowan extract increases the body's radioresistance.

Rowan preparations have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, reducing the production of fat in the liver and cholesterol in the blood. The acids found in the berries inhibit the growth of microorganisms and fungi.

Rowan leaves emit volatile substances, phytoncides, which kill bacteria.

Eating

Rowan berries are eaten fresh and processed. Rowan juice is a very high energy product. It is also rich in ascorbic acid. Fruit tea is prepared from rowan fruits.

Many dishes are also prepared from mountain ash: pies, dumplings, seasonings, jelly, jam, kvass. Vinegar and tea surrogate are also made from rowan fruits, as well as marshmallow, jam, marmalade, jelly, jam, etc. Rowan is pickled and candied. Soaked mountain ash is also known.

Rowan is also a source of early May honey, which is considered healing. It has a reddish tint and a specific aroma.

Recipes

Vitamin drink "Golden Autumn"

2 tbsp. l. dried rowan berries are mixed with 2 tbsp. l. crushed rosehip berries, the mixture is poured into 1 liter of boiling water and boiled for 10 minutes, after which it is infused for 4–5 hours. The drink is filtered, sugar is added and stirred.

Fruit tea

The berries are dried by heating over low heat so that they do not lose their color, do not turn black, but dry evenly. Dried berries are ground in a coffee grinder or meat grinder.

To obtain fruit tea, brew 1 part of mountain ash and 3 parts of tea leaves. With a larger amount of mountain ash, tea will turn out to be burning-bitter.

rowan juice

2 kg of mountain ash is washed and poured with 2 liters of water. Boil until the fruits soften, then rub through a sieve or use a juicer. After that, the juice is squeezed and pasteurized in half-liter glass jars or bottles for 15 minutes.

Application in medicine

Rowan berries are an excellent multivitamin remedy. They are often included in vitamin supplements. Rowan berries are also recommended for use in kidney and bladder stones, cystitis, dysuria. With hemorrhoids, lotions and compresses are made from tincture of rowan berries.

Boiled rowan fruits are used as a hemostatic agent. Due to their astringent property, rowan berries are used for diseases of the heart, liver, low acidity of gastric juice, dysentery. Rowan fruits are used as a prophylactic and for the treatment of atherosclerosis, hypertension, malnutrition and anemia.

Fresh and processed rowan berries are good dietary products. They excite the appetite, activate the activity of the digestive tract.

In folk medicine, an infusion of rowan berries is used in the treatment of malignant tumors as an analgesic. An infusion of dried berries and rowan flowers is used as a diaphoretic for colds. With the help of a decoction of rowan flowers, goiter is treated, as well as rheumatism and lung diseases. Decoctions of fresh fruits and rowan leaves are used by people to treat scrofula.

Berries of mountain ash are harvested after the first frosts. Then the bitter taste disappears and sweetness appears.

In some varieties of mountain ash, the content of ascorbic acid reaches 400 mg / 100 g, which is more than in lemons and oranges.

Rowan berries should be dried in well-ventilated areas at a temperature of 60–80 °C.

Useful and tasty candied fresh mountain ash. Various seasonings are also prepared from mountain ash.

Rowan fruits are harvested during full ripening. In this case, the shields with fruits should be cut off.

It is desirable to brown dried mountain ash, as a result of which it will not cake during storage, and the color of the broth will be thicker.

Indications. In modern medicine, rowan berries are part of vitamin and multivitamin preparations. The fruits are used in the form of a decoction as a vitamin remedy.

In folk medicine, healers treated hemorrhoids with a tincture of rowan berries.

Currant

Shrub up to 2 m high. Numerous branches covered with many round berries. The fruits are multi-seeded, the color depends on the species. The most common are black, red and white currants.

The plant is found throughout Europe. Widely cultivated in horticulture. wild plants in their qualities are not inferior to cultural ones.

Currant grows in nature along the banks of rivers, lakes, near swamps, between shrubs and in damp forests. In the southern regions, the plant is often found in the mountains.

Chemical composition

Currant berries contain sugars, organic acids, mineral salts, pectins, ascorbic acid. Red currants also contain tannins and dyes. Vitamin C in black currant berries contains 100-300 mg / 100 g, in red - 25-50 mg / 100 g, in white - 4.5 mg / 100 g, P-active substances - 1000-1200 mg / 100 g, 350–400 mg/100 g and 450–500 mg/100 g, respectively.

Redcurrant is rich in coumarins, black - in vitamins B 9, K 1, carotene, folic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, a-tocopherol, nicotinic acid, potassium and iron, nitrogenous substances.

Healing properties

Blackcurrant has an antibacterial effect, and its berries also have a weak antiviral effect, in particular against the influenza virus. Blackcurrant berries are a good diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic.

Redcurrant berries increase appetite, quench thirst well, have an antipyretic effect, eliminate nausea, suppress vomiting, and stimulate intestinal motility. Berry juice has diaphoretic, choleretic, diuretic and laxative properties, removes salt from the body.

Blackcurrant berries have a diuretic effect.

Eating

Berries of white, red and black currants are consumed both fresh and processed. Juices, compotes, jelly, jam, marshmallow are prepared from them. A vitamin surrogate for tea is made from currant leaves. They are also used as a spice in pickling vegetables.

Syrup is made from currant berries, they are included in vitamin collections.

Recipes

Whole currant without sugar

For those who are contraindicated in the use of large amounts of sugar, blackcurrants can be preserved without it. To do this, you must first boil and dry the jars or bottles in the oven. Freshly picked currant berries are placed in these jars, corked with boiled rind lids and filled with sealing wax. Berries are stored in a cold place. Currants preserved without sugar retain their taste and fresh aroma longer.

Raw currant jam

This is a very popular dish among the people.

Blackcurrant berries are washed with boiled water and kneaded. Then they are ground with sugar in a ratio of 1: 2, rolled into jars. However, in this form, ascorbic acid is stored much less than in compote or juice.

Application in medicine

Blackcurrant berries are widely used in medical practice. They are an excellent vitamin remedy, so they are often included in vitamin collections.

In addition, blackcurrant berries are useful for diseases of the circulatory system, hemorrhages, ulcers, and edema.

Blackcurrant enhances the effect of therapy for pulmonary, nasal and other bleeding. Its berries are also indicated for diseases of the kidneys, bladder, liver, biliary tract and respiratory organs. The juice of fresh blackcurrant berries is prescribed for children with scrofula and anemia.

A vitamin infusion is prepared from the leaves, which enhances the excretion of excess uric and oxalic acids from the body, which is useful for rheumatism and gout.

Redcurrant berries are prescribed for constipation. In addition, they are used as an antipyretic for colds.

Berries and juice of white currant are useful for diseases of the kidneys, bladder.

In folk medicine, blackcurrant berries and leaves are used for beriberi, joint pain, skin and bladder diseases.

Currant lives 40-50 years, but the yield of berries becomes much smaller after 20 years. Currants are grown on plantations.

Indications. Due to the presence of a complex of vitamins, pectin and phenolic compounds in the currant, the plant is used in the form of decoctions for hypo- and beriberi, infectious and cardiovascular diseases.

Tincture of currant leaves, buds and bark was used in the past for colds, metabolic disorders and urolithiasis.

A decoction is prepared from dried berries and currant leaves, which is used to treat cough, hypertension, and rheumatism.

Medicinal syrups are made from blackcurrant buds.

A decoction of the leaves is used to treat diathesis in children.

Blackthorn

It is also called blackthorn or prickly plum.

A very branched shrub, reaching a height of 2–4 m. It has thick thorns. The fruits are small dark blue or black berries with a waxy coating. The taste of berries is sour, astringent.

Blackthorn is widely distributed in Europe, as well as in Western Siberia and the Lower Volga region. It grows mainly in ravines, on ungrown slopes, clearings, edges, near roads. Blackthorn is cultivated in horticulture.

Chemical composition

Blackthorn berries contain sugars, ascorbic acid, flavone glycosides, malic acid, tannins. The flowers of the plant contain hydrocyanic and benzaldehyde acids, glycosides and ascorbic acid.

Healing properties

Blackthorn berries have a pronounced diuretic and natriuretic effect. At the same time, they increase the excretion of sodium and potassium ions from the body. In addition, blackthorn has an antispasmodic effect, significantly lowers the tone. The berries of the plant have an astringent, anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic effect.

Eating

Blackthorn berries are eaten, picked after they freeze a little and become softer and sweeter, and also lose some of their astringency. Jams and compotes are made from berries. They are added to coffee and tea.

Recipes

Blackthorn tea drink

Blackthorn berries, harvested in autumn, are used to prepare the drink. The fruits are dried, then roasted and crushed to form a powder.

When brewing tea, use 1 part of a sample and 3 parts of tea leaves.

Thorny powder is stored in a cool dry place, away from pungent smelling substances.

Application in medicine

Blackthorn is used to reduce capillary permeability, as well as P-vitamin remedy. Blackthorn preparations are prescribed to stabilize the urinary function of the kidneys.

The berries of the plant are used to treat colds. In folk medicine, an infusion of blackthorn leaves is used to calm the central nervous system. This drug is also an excellent remedy for nausea.

Attention! Blackthorn seeds contain the poisonous glycoside amygdalin.

Blackthorn has small fruits. They remain rigid for a very long time. edible berries thorns become only after the first frosts.

Roasted blackthorn fruits along with leaves can be used as a coffee substitute.

Indications. A decoction of the bark and young branches of blackthorn is used as an antipyretic for fever and an astringent for diarrhea.

This plant is also called drupe or false berry. The tree, reaching a height of 15–20 m, has a sprawling spherical crown. Fruits are false drupes, seedlings are false berries. They can be 0.7 to 4 cm long, cylindrical, conical or round, white, yellow or Pink colour. The pulp of the berries is juicy, sugary sweet.

Here white grows in many countries.

Cultivated in all parts of the world except Australia.

The homeland of the plant is Asia Minor, India, China, Japan.

Chemical composition

White mulberry fruits contain up to 22% sugars (fructose and glucose), 0.1% phosphoric acid, as well as malic acid, tannins and pectin substances, and vitamins.

The leaves of the plant contain rubber, organic acids, carotene, tannins, volatile essential oil, ascorbic acid, sugary substances. The composition of mulberry seeds includes up to 33% of drying fatty oil.

Healing properties

Infusions and tinctures of white mulberry have a beneficial effect on the activity of the heart.

Eating

White mulberry berries are eaten as a dietary product. It is eaten both fresh and processed. From berries they cook jam, compotes, make marshmallow, vinegar, artificial honey. Dried mulberries are very tasty and can replace sugar. They are stored for a long time.

The dry remains of mulberries after squeezing the juice are used as a coffee substitute.

Application in medicine

White mulberry infusions are prescribed for diseases of the cardiovascular system and anemia. Fresh berries are useful for gastric and duodenal ulcers. Mulberry juice is used to gargle with sore throat.

White mulberry leaves, brewed as a tea, serve as a good antipyretic for colds.

An infusion of fresh berries and leaves of white mulberry is useful for scarlet fever and urticaria, and an infusion of leaves and bark of the plant is recommended for epilepsy.

Dried and ground seeds are added to flour, from which cakes are baked.

Indications. The bark of mulberry roots is used for hypertension in addition to other drugs, as well as for bronchial asthma, bronchitis, as an antipyretic, expectorant and diuretic.

This evergreen shrub or a tree reaching a height of 2–5 m. The fruits are oblong berries 4–5 cm long, with four multi-seeded nests. The skin of the fruit may be smooth or slightly rough. Color - from dark green to light green with a wax-like smoky coating.

Some fruits have reddish spots.

The pulp of the berries is very dense, white, fleshy and fragrant. It tastes sweet and sour, reminiscent of pineapple or strawberries.

Feijoa is common and cultivated in subtropical countries.

Self-fertile varieties of feijoa can be grown in clean stands and room conditions.

Chemical composition

Feijoa berries contain 59.7% water, 5-14% sugars, 155 organic acids, 24.5% water-soluble substances, 1.51% ash, 50 mg/100 g ascorbic acid, 0.17-0.6 mg/100 g iodine, bioflavonoids.

Healing properties

Feijoa fruits contain a lot of iodine.

Eating

Feijoa berries are very fragrant and sweet. They are consumed fresh, and compotes are also prepared from them, used to flavor jams, etc.

Application in medicine

Feijoa is prescribed as a prophylactic and therapeutic agent for thyroid diseases and atherosclerosis.

bird cherry

It is a shrub or tree 2-10 m high. The fruits are globular black berries with a strong astringent taste. They have a round bone.

Bird cherry is common in the forest and steppe zones of the European part of Russia, as well as in Western Siberia. It grows along the banks of rivers, in riverine forests, on forest edges and among bushes.

Chemical composition

Bird cherry berries contain sugars, tannins, organic acids, fatty oils, flavonoids, etc.

Healing properties

Fresh berries, leaves, flowers and bark of bird cherry have bactericidal, insecticidal and fungicidal properties. Decoctions of the bark have a diuretic and diaphoretic effect.

Eating

Bird cherry berries are consumed fresh and processed. In addition, they are used in the alcoholic beverage industry for tinting wines. Jams, jelly, compotes are made from berries, juice is made.

Application

Decoctions of bird cherry fruits are used in the treatment of diarrhea and pain in the gastrointestinal tract. They are also included in stomach teas.

Bird cherry water is made from fresh bird cherry flowers, which is a good remedy for eye diseases - it is used for lotions.

Decoctions of the bark are drunk for rheumatism and gout.

This is a perennial branched shrub, no more than 40 cm high. The berries are juicy, spherical, slightly flattened, black-blue in color, with a bluish bloom. The flesh is red-violet, has many small ovoid seeds.

Blueberries have a pleasant, sweet-sour, slightly astringent taste.

Blueberries are common in the European part of Russia, as well as in Western Siberia, sometimes found in the Far East. Grows in damp places, pine and spruce forests and tundra. Often forms dense thickets.

For treatment, only ripe berries should be used. They are harvested, cleaned of impurities and stalks, leaves and twigs, and then dried in the sun or in dryers at a temperature of 40-50 ° C.

For long-term storage, blueberries are dried. This can be done in the attic, in the shade under a canopy, in ovens or dryers.

Indications. Blueberries have an astringent effect, so they are recommended for acute and chronic diarrhea.

Berries are harvested by hand or with special combs, gently shaking them off the branches.

Chemical composition

Blueberries contain about 70% water, 4.8–9.4% sugars, 0.5–0.6% pectins, 2.4–4.9% anthocyanins, 0.0–0.15% catechins, 5 -15 mg / 100 g of ascorbic acid, 0.4–0.7 mg / 100 g of carotene, 7% citric, malic, succinic and quinic acids, 12% tannins, as well as glycosides, neomyrtillin, arbutin. Blueberries contain manganese, copper, boron, titanium and chromium.

Blueberry seeds have a drying fatty oil reminiscent of linseed (31%) and protein (18%).

Healing properties

Blueberries have a beneficial effect on oxidative processes in the body. They also have the ability to reduce blood clotting, thanks to the axicoumarins they contain.

Blueberries improve eyesight.

Eating

Blueberries are consumed fresh. In addition, they are dried, canned, squeezed juice.

Berries are preserved in sugar, and also frozen or sterilized fresh. Juice, jam, jam, marmalade, syrup, fruit drink, compote, extract, etc. are prepared from blueberries. Blueberry juice is used as a food coloring. Blueberries are an autumn honey plant. Honey is transparent, fragrant, with dietary properties.

Recipes

blueberry juice

It is prepared from overripe blueberries, as well as crumpled and damaged ones. But they must be fresh. Berries fall asleep in a pan.

Hot juice is poured into sterilized jars and rolled up with lids.

The juice prepared and closed in this way does not lose its healing properties throughout the year. It can be diluted with water 5-10 times.

Blueberry kissel

20 g of blueberries are washed in a sieve with cold water, placed in a saucepan and poured with 1.5 cups of boiling water. Boil until the berries become soft (about 20–30 minutes), after which they are thrown back onto a sieve and filtered as follows: pour strained broth 2–4 times, and then discarded (you do not need to wipe the berries). 0.25 cups of the resulting broth is left to dilute the starch. The rest of the broth is put on fire, add 1 tbsp. l. sugar and bring to a boil, then it is removed from the heat and, while stirring, carefully pour in the diluted potato flour or starch. The mixture is again put on fire, brought to a boil and immediately removed, then poured into porcelain dishes.

Blueberry juice

Squeeze juice from fresh berries. Then 1 cup of juice is diluted with 1 liter of water, 0.5 cups of sugar are added and placed in a cool place for 10–12 hours.

Application in medicine

Blueberries are one of the most healing berries, along with raspberries, black currants, joster, juniper, etc.

Blueberries are very useful for diabetes. They are also recommended to eat to prevent the formation of thrombosis and the occurrence of myocardial infarction. Blueberries are recommended for people with impaired vision, as well as for those who, by the nature of their activities, have to strain their eyes - pilots, astronauts, drivers, etc.

In folk medicine, a decoction of blueberries is used to treat catarrhal and follicular tonsillitis, burns, stomatitis, inflammation of the gums and throat. Outwardly, compresses are made from the decoction for hemorrhoids and dermatitis. From blueberry leaves mixed with lingonberry and bear's-eye leaves, a decoction is made, used for kidney diseases and pyelonephritis.

Indications. Blueberries are especially useful to give to children for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

During the Second World War, blueberries were on the list of 24 plants to be collected first.

Boiled berries are used for compresses and lotions in the treatment of weeping eczema, burns, putrefactive ulcers and other skin diseases.

Rose hip

It is a shrub 1–1.5 m high. There are small thorns on the branches. The fruits are smooth, fleshy orange berries. The pulp is soft, inside there are hard seeds with numerous bristly hairs. It has a peculiar sour taste.

Rosehip is widespread throughout Europe. It grows wild in forests, forest-steppes, along rivers, ravines, near roads, on the sandy coasts of the Pacific Ocean - from Kamchatka to Korea. Rosehip is cultivated in gardens and forest nurseries as a vitamin, medicinal and ornamental tree.

Chemical composition

Rosehip is very rich in ascorbic acid: it contains up to 7100 mg / 100 g. This is about 10 times more than in blackcurrant, 50 times more than in lemon, and 100 times more than in apples.

In addition, rose hips contain 1400 mg / 100 g of bioflavonoids, 42 mg / 100 g of carotene, 600-800 mg / 100 g of vitamin C (in some varieties, its content reaches 2500-17800 mg / 100 g, 200-1500 mg / 100 g of P-active substances, 13–19% soluble substances, 2–3% tannins, 4% pectins, 4% organic acids (citric, malic, etc.), as well as vitamins B 1, B 2, B 9, K 1, E, sugars, nitrogenous substances and cellulose.

Rosehip berries contain flavone substances (quercetin, kaempferol, isoquercetin, tiliroside), catechins (epigallocatechin, gallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate) and minerals (iron, potassium and calcium salts, manganese, phosphates).

Rosehip seeds contain fats that have healing properties, which include unsaturated fatty acids and aromatic essential oils.

Healing properties

Rosehip preparations have a beneficial effect on the entire body, increase its resistance to various diseases, and increase efficiency. The fruits of the plant have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as choleretic and diuretic effects.

Rosehip seed oil has a choleretic effect.

Eating

In the food industry, rose hips are used for the production of oils and fats, since its fruits have an antioxidant effect.

Rosehip improves the color, smell and taste of fats.

Rosehip berries are eaten, brewed as tea, syrups are made from them and rosehip oil is obtained.

Recipes

Rosehip tea with honey

5 st. l. rosehip berries are poured into 1 liter of water and soaked for 10 minutes. Then put to boil on low heat for 5 minutes, add 1 glass of apple juice and 3 tbsp. l. honey, bring the mixture to a boil, filter and pour into a thermos. The drink can be drunk both hot and cold, 1 glass 3-4 times a day.

Rosehip decoction

100 g of dry rosehip berries are slightly kneaded with a pestle, cleaned of hairs and pour 1 liter of water. The mixture is boiled in a closed saucepan for 5–7 minutes, then left for 2–3 hours to infuse. The broth is filtered through 3 layers of gauze and drunk 0.5 cup 2-3 times a day.

You can boil whole rose hips. At the same time, they must be boiled for 10 minutes, after which the broth is poured into a thermos and left to infuse for 2-3 hours. You can add a little sugar or honey to taste.

Application in medicine

Rosehip has been used in medicine for a long time.

Even Hippocrates used it in the treatment of colds. In the Middle Ages, wild rose was considered miraculous for hemoptysis.

Currently, vitamin preparations are being prepared from rose hips - holosas and syrup. Holosas is used as a diuretic, it is prescribed for hepatitis, as well as radiation therapy for cancerous tumors. For laryngeal cancer, holosas lubricate the irradiated area; for cervical cancer, tampons with holosas are used. It is especially effective in the stage of formation of an inflammatory-necrotic film. With the formation of ulcers and progressive necrosis, the use of this drug also brings relief to the patient.

Rosehip oil is a good wound healing agent. It is used for nipple cracks in nursing mothers, bedsores, trophic leg ulcers and dermatoses.

Rose hips are successfully used in the treatment of chronic anacid and achilic forms of gastritis. The fruits are also part of Traskov's anti-asthma mixture.

In diseases of the liver and gallbladder, rose hips are eaten on an empty stomach. With anemia, rosehip infusion is used as a diaphoretic. When the branches of the plant are burned, a resinous substance is formed, which is used to lubricate the lesions in psoriasis.

Very useful strong green tea with rosehip extract (cholosas or syrup) instead of sugar. It is drunk for headaches and colds.

Rosehip leaves are rich in vitamins, so they are included in vitamin teas.

Syrup with honey is prepared from rosehip leaves. This remedy is used to treat inflammatory diseases, as well as ulcerations in the oral cavity.

Indications. With stones in the kidneys and bladder, it is recommended to take a decoction of rosehip roots, and for gastrointestinal diseases - a tincture of roots in vodka.

Indications. A decoction of wild rose flowers is very effective for various eye diseases.

The leaves and roots of the plant are used to treat diarrhea of ​​non-infectious origin, as well as hepatocholecystitis and residual effects of viral hepatitis.

In folk medicine, an infusion of rose hips is used to treat diabetes.

Traveling abroad means getting to know more than just gorgeous landscapes and culture. Outlandish overseas fruits and unusual berries will help to create a complete taste picture about the location. It is easier to choose from the variety of offers you like with the help of the description.

Avocado

Considered a fruit. The taste is more inclined towards a vegetable, namely pumpkin with hints of an unripe pear with a nutty tinge. Ripeness is determined by the degree of softness. Has a large bone inside. The peel is not edible. Sizes up to 20 centimeters. The soft, oily flesh is eaten raw. Butchering is the removal of the skin and bone. You can try in Vietnam, India, Cuba, Dominican Republic

Aki

Visually similar to a red-yellow or orange pear. Ripe fruits are used (immature poisonous) thermally processed, the taste resembles Walnut. Maturity is determined by the openness of the fruit - a ripe one bursts, and the pulp protrudes. It is offered to feast in Brazil, Jamaica, Hawaii.

Ambarella

It has the shape of an oval golden color. Grows in clusters. Rigid rind on the outside, hard prickly bone on the inside. The pulp is sweet, juicy, taste with mango and pineapple notes. Places of growth: India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines.

pineapples

The taste is not comparable to those sold in Russia - juicy, fleshy, sweet and sour fruits with a bright aroma. Sizes from an average apple to the usual for us. You should choose a pineapple of medium hardness - the pulp will definitely be tasty. It will be possible to take a sample in Brazil, China, the Philippines.

Bail (tree apple)

Fruit with hard skin. Only a hammer will help to divide it in half. On sale is often presented cut. Flesh with hairs, yellow, irritating to the throat. It will be possible to see on sale in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka.

bam-balan

The taste of the fruit resembles borscht with mayonnaise and sour cream. The smell is specific. Cleaning is to free from the crust. They can offer a curiosity on the island of Borneo from the Malaysian side.

banana pink

A miniature species up to 8 centimeters in size with a thick peel. The skin of ripe pink bananas bursts, revealing pulp with many seeds. unpretentious plant which can be grown even at home. Widespread throughout many warm countries.

crowberry

Berry with a black color and a neutral taste (not sweet and not sour), similar to lingonberries. It looks like a blueberry. It is possible to try it in the countries of the northern hemisphere - Korea, Japan, Canada, the USA, China and even Russia.

Eye of the Dragon

round fruit Brown. The skin and the bone inside are not edible. The consistency is jelly-like, transparent white. The taste is bright, sweet. Big calorie content. Excessive consumption may increase the temperature. You can buy in Thailand, China, Cambodia, Vietnam.

Strawberry Guava (Cattleya)

Fruits are yellow to red. The size reaches a diameter of 4 centimeters. Juicy, sweet strawberry flavored guavas are exotic fruits from India, Africa, Bermuda, and America.

Guanabana (soursop)

Fruit with a mass of 3 to 7 kilograms. The shape is round, oval. The green surface of the soursop is covered with processes in the form of soft bells. Inside is white, soft, with a taste reminiscent of citro with sourness. The ripe fruit is pressed with a finger. You will be able to eat in the Bahamas, in Mexico, Peru, Argentina.

Jaboticaba

Fruits that grow on poles and branches. Grows in clusters. They look like black grapes. The skin is bitter and unfit for consumption. The pulp is like a transparent jelly, sweet, with seeds. Grows in Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Cuba, Peru.

Jackfruit

A large green fruit, weighing up to 34 kilograms. It should be purchased already cut. Yellow slices have the taste of melon and duchesse. Possible allergic reaction and difficulty swallowing. The symptom goes away after a few hours. It grows in Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand.

durian

The king of fruits. It has a specific smell of a mixture of onions, garlic and dirty socks. The pulp is soft, sweet and healthy. You should buy cut slices. A whole durian reaches a large size and is covered with thorns. Because of the smell, you can not eat in in public places and transport in transport. You can taste the curiosity in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia.

Imbe (African Mango)

Exotic tree with orange fruits. The size is small - up to 3 centimeters. The taste is bright, rich, sweet and sour. Has a coloring effect. You can try in Africa.

figs

The fruit is pear-shaped and blue-violet in color. Weight varies between 80 grams and 8 centimeters in diameter. The skin can be eaten. The taste is juicy, watery, reminiscent of strawberries with an admixture of blackcurrant. You can eat in the Mediterranean countries, the Crimea and Central Asia.

Spanish lime (Giseps)

It looks like a familiar lime only in shape. It looks light green, the peel is not edible, pleasantly sweet inside with a bone. You can eat by removing the tip of the peel and squeezing. Found in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia.

carambola

Yellow-green star-shaped fruit. It has a smooth skin that is edible. The taste is bright, with hints of a flower, similar to an apple. Inside there are seeds that are edible. You can see it on the shelves of Thailand and Indonesia.

Kiwano

Oblong fruit of bright yellow color. The ripened fruit is covered with yellow-orange horns and bright green inside. The cut looks like a cucumber. The taste is a combination of melon, avocado, banana and cucumber. They eat the pulp, cutting the fruit like a watermelon. You can try in New Zealand, Africa, Chile, Israel.

Kiwi

Looks like a hairy potato on the outside and a gooseberry on the inside. Size up to 80 grams and 7 centimeters. The flesh varies from yellow to green with edible black seeds. Choose soft, smooth fruits. The taste is similar to strawberry. Growing countries: Chile, Italy, Greece, Krasnodar region of Russia.

Coconut

Round, large fruit, reaching 3 kilograms. According to the degree of maturity, it is divided into young and overripe. A young coconut has a tender skin, juicy flesh and milk/juice inside the shell. Overripe coconuts have a hairy surface, a cloudy liquid inside, and a tough inside. The second are found in the countries of importation. Growing countries: Thailand, Vietnam, India.

Kumquat

Exotic fruits of China predominantly. Small citrus fruits 2-4 centimeters long. Inside they have inedible bones. Eaten with skins. The taste is similar to orange, but more sour. You can also try in Japan and Southeast Asia.

Cupuaçu

Melon shaped fruit. Covered with a red-brown hard crust. The inside is white, sweet-sour with seeds. The most delicious is the fruit that left the tree itself. The trees are located in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia.

Kuruba

Fruit in the form of a cucumber on the outside and corn inside. The ripe color of the fruit is bright yellow. Fiery orange flesh inside. The taste is juicy, sweet, with sour notes. Contains a lot of water. Grows in Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina.

Lychee

It is similar in appearance to longan, but has a brighter taste and smell. Ripe lychee has a red skin. Transparent smooth pulp has a sweet taste. Contains inedible bone. Where to eat: China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand.

Longkong

It looks like a longan. Distinguished by a larger size and yellowish skin color. The delicacy inside is similar in shape to garlic. The taste is specific, sweet and sour. The peel is inedible, but useful. You can find it in the markets of Thailand.

magic fruit

Guest from West Africa. Small red fruits reach 2-3 centimeters and grow on trees. They have a bone inside. The magic of the fruit lies in the ability to retain the sweetness of the taste for a long time. Lemons and grapefruits eaten after a treat will also seem sweet.

Mameya (Mammeya)

Similar to apricot in appearance and taste of pulp. Larger in size - up to 20 centimeters in diameter. The skin is light brown. The berry has one to four seeds. The hint of taste goes into mango. Place of offer: Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela.

Mango

A popular large tropical fruit. It is better to cut the fruit with a knife - remove the skin and bone. The color of the fruit changes with the degree of ripeness - from green to orange-red. Taste gathered notes of melon, rose, peach and apricot. Growing countries: Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam.

mangosteen

Outwardly, it resembles a persimmon, only the color is dark purple. The skin is thick and inedible. Inside - garlic cloves with a unique sweet-sour taste. Ripe fruit is firm and without dents. Mangosteen peel juice does not wash out. Sample locations: Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand.

passion fruit

Fruits of various colors from yellow to purple. The size is 8 centimeters in diameter. Ripe fruits are covered with a wrinkled skin. The pulp is the same iridescent, depending on the variety, similar to sweet and sour jelly with stones. Is an aphrodisiac. It grows in Vietnam, India, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Marang

Elongated fruit. The peel is covered with thorns, the degree of maturity is determined by their hardness. Inside are white fruits with a stone. The taste varies from sweet ice cream to light marshmallow. Perishable, not subject to transportation. It grows in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Marula

A perishable fruit that can ferment. The effect also affects animals. The fruits are small, yellow, with a stone. Fresh with a slight aroma and not sweet in taste. You can only meet in Africa.

Mafai

Small fruits in yellow, orange and red hues. Grow up to 5 centimeters. Thin skin conceals transparent slices of fresh sweet taste. The bone of the fruit is bitter and tightly attached to the pulp. You can find it in India, China, Thailand, Vietnam.

medlar

Sunny orange small fruit with brown pits. Unripe tastes like persimmon - tart and viscous. Ripe has the aroma and taste of blueberries. Home of the fruit: Egypt, Dominican Republic, Crimea, Abkhazia, southern Russia.

Naranjilla

A fruit shaped like a cherry tomato. The hairy fruit progresses through the stages of maturity from green to bright orange. Taste - strawberry-pineapple with notes of mango. Grows in Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica.

Noina (sugar apple)

A fruit with the size of an average apple and the appearance of a green cone. The internal component is soft, sweet, pleasant to the taste. Butchering is difficult due to uneven inedible skin. The maturity of the fruit is determined by its softness. But do not be zealous - the fruit is fragile and can fall apart when checking. Place of growth - Thailand.

Noni

The fruit is shaped like a convex green potato. The smell of the fruit is specific - spoiled cheese with mold. The taste is not pleasing - bitter. But at home, it is considered very useful and healing. Noni is the basis of the diet of the poor in southeast Asia. You can meet in Australia and Malaysia.

Papaya

Fruit in the form of a cylinder. Color from unripe green to mature yellow-orange. The size reaches 20 centimeters. It is more convenient to buy cut. The taste is a melon-pumpkin mixture. Places of cultivation: Bali, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia.

Pepino

Exotic fruits from Egypt. Large - up to 700 grams. Painted in different shades yellow with purple stripes. Inside are seeds that are edible. Ripe fruit should be chosen - it is tender, soft, with a melon note. The peel is removed - it is possible, but unpleasant to eat. You can also try in Peru, Turkey, New Zealand.

Pitaya

Oblong fruit of bright color (pink, burgundy, yellow). The surface is scaly. You can peel like a grapefruit or cut and eat with a spoon. Inside the pulp is transparent, white or reddish, sprinkled with small grains. It grows in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Vietnam.

Platonia

Small brown fruits with a diameter of up to 13 centimeters. Inside they have a few unusable grains. The inside is white with a tropical taste and aroma. It is used as a base for sherbet and jelly. Habitat: Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil.

pomelo

Citrus hybrid of orange and grapefruit. It has a large size, reaching up to 10 kilograms. The peel is thick, fleshy, green. The pulp is in film slices that are bitter. The taste is less juicy than grapefruit. You should choose ripe for a bright citrus smell. You can eat in Tahiti, India, China, Japan.

Rambutan

Fleecy fruit of red-violet color. You can open it by twisting it with both hands in different directions. Inside is transparent, with a bright taste. The raw grains are poisonous. Ripeness directly depends on the brightness of the color of the fruit. They will offer to buy in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Thailand.

Buddha Hand (Citron)

Beautiful on the outside and uninteresting on the inside. unusual shape fruit resembles a hand with many fingers. But 70 percent of the fruit consists of a peel, 30 percent of sour-bitter pulp. It is actively used in culinary crafts. You can admire the curiosity in India, Japan, Vietnam, China.

Sala

Convex brown fruit with small prickly protrusions. It is advisable to clean with a knife. The inside is divided into 3 parts with a bright sweet taste of persimmon pear. Parameters - up to 5 centimeters. Grows in Malaysia, Thailand.

Santol

It has a pear shape of uneven brown color. The rind is inedible and needs to be removed. The pulp is white with a bright mangosteen taste. Seeds have a laxative effect and are used as needed. Grows in Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines.

sapodilla

A small fruit with a thin matte skin. The size of the fetus is 10 centimeters and 200 grams. Taste - milky caramel, causes viscosity in the mouth. Seeds are not recommended. Grows in Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Hawaii.

Sugar palm (Cambodian palm)

"Female" trees bear fruit. Fruit pulp is packed far inside, transparent white. Has refreshing properties. It is the basis for Thai sweet ice. Distributed in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines.

Plums Natal

The fruits of this tree are the only part of the bush that does not harm people. Branches and leaves are unfit for consumption and contain poison. The color of the plums is hot pink with a wrinkled texture, and the taste is sweet. Suitable for use in baking as a filling. Homeland - South Africa.

Tamarillo

Berry in the form of an oval with dimensions up to 5 centimeters in diameter. Skin color options: yellow, burgundy, purple. The peel is unhealthy, peeled off with a knife. The taste is currant with notes of tomato. The smell is bright fruity. Located in Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile.

Tamarind

Outwardly, it resembles a bean pod with a light brown skin. It is used in the preparation of sweets and sauces for meat. The pulp is dark brown in color with a spicy sweet and sour taste. Has bones. You can try in Sudan, Thailand, Cameroon, Australia, Panama.

feijoa

A green fruit with a ponytail on top. Weight reaches 45 grams, up to 5 centimeters in size. The peel is thin with an ambiguous taste, sour and causes a viscosity in the mouth. It is recommended to peel the fruit from the skin or cut into two halves and eat with a spoon. The color of the pulp varies from cream to burgundy (the latter indicates the spoilage of the product). The taste is fresh, tropical, with strawberry notes. It grows in South America, Georgia, Abkhazia, the Caucasus.

Breadfruit

The unripe fruit serves as a source of nutrition for the inhabitants of African countries. It tastes like bread when cooked. Ripe fruits have a pleasant sweetness similar to banana. The size is large, up to 3.5 kilograms. It is recommended to purchase cut. It is possible to take a sample in Southeast Asia.

Chrysophyllum (Star apple)

The fruit is oval-shaped with a skin color to match the flesh - pale green or lilac. The flesh is sticky, sweet, the consistency of jelly with stones like an apple. Cut like a star. It is recommended to use only ripe fruits. Where it grows: India, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia.

Cereus

Kindred of pitaya, rounded and with smooth surface. Inside is a juicy transparent watery pulp with seeds. The taste is tropical, bright, sweet. Eat, cut in half, with a spoon. The skin is not edible. Grown on plantations in Israel.

Cherimoya

The surface of the green-colored fruit may be with or without tubercles. The pulp is similar in structure to an orange, but includes the tastes of mango, banana, strawberry with notes of ice cream. Contains hard, inedible grains. Habitat: Asian countries, Israel, Algeria, Australia, Spain.

Black Boot (Chocolate Pudding)

A dark green type of persimmon. The flesh takes on an almost black color with brown seeds. The taste of chocolate pudding, sweet and bright. The size reaches 13 centimeters in length. The homeland of the product is Guatemala, Brazil, Southern Mexico.

Chompoo

The shape is similar to bell pepper. The light varies from green to red. White flesh inside. The taste is sweet, watery. Good thirst quencher. It is not subjected to cleaning, it has no seeds. Grows in Sri Lanka, Colombia, India, Thailand.

Jujube

Small fruits up to 6 centimeters. Smooth, green with brown spots. I have a sweet apple taste and a tropical aroma. Delicious fruit - dense, not hard. The skin is edible, the pit is not. It is found in Japan, China, Thailand, the Caucasus.