Name: Aronia chokeberry – gorobina chornopl_dna (growing and cultivation)
Aronia melanocarpa ( M і s h x.) Elliot.
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Description. A perennial shrub from the rose family (Rosaceae) with a height of 1.5-2.5 m, consisting of a large number of branches of different ages, annual root shoots and root offspring. Leaves elliptical or obovate. Their arrangement is regular, spiral. The length of the leaf blade in vegetative shoots is 68 cm, width is 46 cm, in fruit branches, respectively, 46 and 23 cm. Leaves are shiny on the upper side, dull on the lower side. The edges of the leaves are double-crested. The flowers are collected in 1228 in an inflorescence that has the shape of a shield. The fruits are apple-shaped, shiny, black with a wax coating, mostly rounded. Seeds are small, brown, elongated, 48 pcs. in each fruit (some of them remain underdeveloped). Weight of 1000 seeds 45 g. Blossoms in May June, fruits ripen in August September.
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Medicinal raw materials: fruits.
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biological features . Chokeberry is a light-loving and moisture-loving root offspring plant (it gives root offspring from adventitious buds). Depending on the conditions of culture, age, care, etc., the number of root shoots can vary from 1015 to 8090 in each bush. Due to the likelihood of mass formation of shoots, it can thicken greatly. So, according to Shchukina (Shchukina, 1967), three- and four-year-old bushes have 1220 branches each, and ten-twelve-year-old 6080 branches of different ages. Therefore, it will be necessary to regularly cut off excess, primarily damaged, underdeveloped and bare branches.
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Habitat. It grows on medium podzolic and sandy soils with peat bogs on madder deposits.
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Spreading. It grows in the northeast of North America, from the island of Newfoundland in the north to lakes Ontario and Michigan in the west and the Florida peninsula in the south. These areas are characterized by humid summers, constant winds from the Atlantic Ocean, and cold and snowy winters (Shchukina, 1967).
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Despite the fact that the existence of chokeberry in Russia has been known since 1893, it was not introduced into culture. I. V. Michurin became interested in her for the first time. In 1935, he handed over cuttings of chokeberry to the Altai Experimental Horticulture Station, where, under the guidance of prof. M. A. Lisavenko began to study it in detail. Subsequently, the station began to send out planting material. Now chokeberry is cultivated on large areas in the Altai Territory and the Leningrad Region, as well as in other areas.
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By the way, it is successfully grown by many amateur gardeners in the vicinity of Kyiv.
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Characterized by increased winter hardiness and undemanding to soil and climatic conditions, chokeberry can become widespread in the central and northern regions of the country.
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Composition of active substances. Fresh rowan fruits are very rich in vitamins C, P and A. In addition, they contain within 510% sugar (glucose, sucrose, fructose), acids, pectin and tannins, as well as all kinds of trace elements (iron, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, molybdenum , manganese).
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Application. The fruits of the chokeberry are successfully used in the treatment of hypertension and for the prevention of atherosclerosis. For this purpose, it is recommended to consume 100 g of rowan berries (or 50 g of their juice) three times every day (Sklyarevsky, Gubanov, 1930).
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The fruits of chokeberry contain a lot of vitamin P, which maintains the normal state of the walls of blood vessels. It is advisable to eat 35 kg of berries during the season. Vitamin P contributes to better absorption of vitamin C. Therefore, treatment with a complex of these vitamins is very effective. The Biysk Vitamin Plant produces chokeberry tablets with the addition of synthetic vitamin C. These tablets are recommended for hemorrhagic diathesis, hypertension and all kinds of bleeding.
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A biologically active food coloring containing within 6.5% of vitamin P was obtained from the fruits of the chokeberry, which is supposed to be used in the confectionery and vitamin industries instead of some synthetic dyes.
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Aronia fruits are used for making jams, compotes, jelly, jam, natural juice, wine, soft drinks, as well as in the confectionery industry.
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Rowan chokeberry is a wonderful ornamental plant. It is especially beautiful in autumn, when its leaves turn bright purple, and the fruits turn black.
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Agricultural technology of cultivation . Site selection. Chokeberry as a moisture-loving plant gives the best results when cultivated in the northern, northwestern and northeastern regions of the USSR, where a significant amount of precipitation falls.
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The best are sandy, with good soil structure and medium loams. It also grows well on drained peat bogs.
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Soil cultivation. On young plantations, weeds must be carefully destroyed. This is especially important until the time of closing the rows, i.e. until about 68 years of age. During this period, it is recommended to sow green manure, low plants between rows (for example, blue lupine for green fertilizer, peas with oats for livestock feed, etc.). Row spacing is processed to a depth of 1215 cm twice a year, in autumn and spring; trunk circles are dug manually to a depth of 10 cm.
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Application of fertilizers. Peat-fecal compost is applied as the main fertilizer (40 t/ha in two years). In autumn before ploughing
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which make phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. This creates optimal conditions for laying fruit buds for the next year’s harvest.
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The reproduction of chokeberry is probably in several ways. So, one of them is vegetative (by rhizomatous offspring, layering; grafting an ordinary mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia L.) into the crown and dividing the bush into parts). In addition, the plant can be propagated by growing seedlings to obtain seedlings, which are transplanted to the plantation at 2 years of age.
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Plantation care. During the summer, five or six loosening of the soil in 2 directions and one hoeing within the bushes are carried out. For processing plantations with a feeding area of 5×2.5 m and on young plantations, a three-furrow plow, a KOH-2.3 cultivator, a 2-row disc harrow on a DT-28 tractor traction are used. Plantations at the age of 10 years with a feeding area of 3×3 m are cultivated only with horse-drawn implements.
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After harvesting, deep plowing is carried out with preliminary application of mineral fertilizers.
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During the growing season, two fertilizing with organomineral fertilizers and one with the addition of microfertilizers in the form of potassium permanganate (1.5 g per 10 l of water) and boric acid (1 kg per 1000 l of water) are carried out.
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In order to avoid strong thickening of the bushes, it is recommended to cut out broken, old, diseased and bare branches annually. This contributes to a more powerful growth of bushes and an increase in fruit yield.
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Harvest. Due to the fact that the fruits of the chokeberry ripen together, they are harvested in one go.
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Fruits intended for long-term storage or long-term transportation are removed with inflorescences (shields); those that are planned to be processed over three to four days are collected without shields.
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Since the fruits of mountain ash are willingly eaten by birds, it is impossible to be late with cleaning (or it is necessary to close the bushes, for example, with matting).
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Drying. Fully mature fruits are selected and dried in dryers with good ventilation at a temperature of 50-60 ° C (on plywood sheets). In sunny weather, you can dry on the roof, in the barn, laying the fruits in a thin layer and constantly stirring.
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For long-term storage, fruits are also frozen in special refrigerators. In winter, after thawing, they become more palatable, less tart than fresh ones.