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Aronia is a genus of deciduous , the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and widely used is Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry) which emerged from Eastern North America. The lesser known Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry) and the hybrid form of the above mentioned species called Aronia prunifolia (purple chokeberry) were first cultivated in Central and Eastern North America. In the eighteenth century, the first shrubs of the best-known species Aronia melanocarpa reached Europe where they were first cultivated in Scandinavia and Russia.
Chokeberries are cultivated as an ornamental plant and as a food plant. The sour berries, or aronia berries, can be eaten fresh off the bush, but are more frequently processed. They can be used to make wine, jam, syrup, juice, soft spreads, tea, salsa, extracts, beer, ice cream, gummies, and tinctures. The name "chokeberry" comes from the astringency of the fruits, which create the sensation of making one's mouth pucker.
Chokeberries are often mistakenly called chokecherries, the common name for Prunus virginiana. Further adding to the ambiguity, a variety of Prunus virginiana is melanocarpa, and readily confused with black chokeberry because it is commonly referred to as "black chokeberry" or "aronia". Aronia berries and chokecherries both contain polyphenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, yet the two plants are somewhat distantly related within the Amygdaloideae subfamily. Black chokeberry is grown as a common shrub in Central Europe where it is mainly used for food production.
Aronia has been thought to be closely related to Photinia, and has been included in that genus in some classifications, but botanist Cornelis Kalkman observed that a combined genus should be under the older name Aronia. The combined genus contains about 65 species. In 2004, Kalkman expressed doubt about the monophyly of the combined group, and new molecular studies confirm this. [Referring to the subfamily by the name "Spiraeoideae"] They do not place these two genera together or even near one another.
In eastern North America, two well-known species are named after their fruit color, red chokeberry and black chokeberry, plus a purple chokeberry whose origin is a natural hybrid of the two. What has been regarded as a fourth species, Aronia mitschurinii, that apparently originated in cultivation, is now treated as × Sorbaronia fallax.
| Eastern Canada and to the eastern and central United States, from eastern Texas to Nova Scotia inland to Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky, and Oklahoma |
| Eastern North America, ranging from Canada to the central United States, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, south as far as Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia |
| Eastern Canada and to the eastern and central United States, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and Wisconsin, south as far as western South Carolina, with an isolated population reported in southern Alabama |
| + !Nutrient !Mass in fruit g/100g !Mass in pomace g/100g | ||
| Total sugars | 6.21-42.1 | - |
| Fructose | 2.2-15.8 | - |
| Total Fiber | - | 57.8-71.6 |
| Dietary Fiber | - | 43.8-61.7 |
| Lignin | - | 22.68 |
| Cellulose | - | 34.56 |
| Pectin | - | 7.52 |
| Protein | 0.7 | - |
| Fat | 0.14 % | - |
| Vitamins | mg/100g | mg/100g |
| Vitamin C | 7.25-98.75 | - |
| Vitamin A | 0.77 | - |
| Pantothenic acid | 2.845 | - |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.132 | - |
| Minerals | mg/100g | mg/100g |
| Sodium | 0.427-1.18 | - |
| Potassium | 135-679 | - |
| Calcium | 11.9-116.7 | - |
| Magnesium | 8.3-66.9 | - |
| Phosphorus | 23.9-95.6 | - |
| Organic compounds | mg/100g | mg/100g |
| 284-631 | - | |
| Proanthocyanidin | 522-1000 | 6200-9720 |
| Flavonols | 3.9-61.7 | 22.7-43-7 |
The chokeberry has a shallow and compact root system and thrives in humus and nutrient rich that are frost free, unflooded and with a rather low groundwater level. While the plant is moisture-loving, it also tolerates dry periods. Depending on the timing and intensity, these dry periods are yield limiting. While the crop needs more than 500 mm of precipitation, good yields can be obtained at 700–800 mm. Furthermore, chokeberries are sun loving and usually thrive better under direct sunlight rather than in shade.
The aim of both the mechanical and the manual cutting system, is to let the grow into a closed hedge. While in the mechanical cutting the whole plant is cut back to a few centimeters above the ground every 6th year during the winter dormancy. The manual cutting removes the oldest shoots, the weak annual shoots and those shoots that are inside the cane slightly above the base of the cane in the winter dormancy. In the case of manual cutting, the ages of 1-6 year old shoots should be present in equal proportions after cutting, thus the chokeberry forms robust shoots and allows uniform harvests from year to year.
The breeding success of the black chokeberry for food production in Europe and Russia has been restricted because the genetic pool of the domesticated Russian plants is homogeneous. Breeding efforts aim to increase the content of polyphenol compounds while maintaining or increasing the fruit size. Further breeding targets are improvement of flavor.
The harvest of the chokeberry takes place between the end of August and the beginning of September. In this time span, there are fruits of different ripeness on the shrub. While the upper part is often already ripe, the lower part is not yet edible. A recommended harvest time is when the upper berries begin to shrivel slightly, but do not yet show any weight loss. In this way, a large part can be harvested in an optimal ripening state while the other part can still post-ripen.
Harvesting is done by hand, especially for fresh sales and the production of dried berries, where the appearance of the berries is important. The majority of other harvesting is done by machine. In manual harvesting, cleanly harvested fruits are stored in bunches. Thus, about 7 kg can be picked by hand per working hour. It is important that the berries are processed the same day to keep the quality high. For mechanical harvesting, the bushes are pulled in sideways by the harvesting machine and the berries are knocked off with sticks. Machine harvesting requires three people and the machine can harvest one hectare in one day. In the case of mechanical harvesting, many berries are injured after harvesting and in any case should be processed the same day.
Here is a list of some possible pests and diseases of chokeberries:
The treatment methods for the different pests and diseases differ depending on the chosen agricultural practice (e.g. Organic farming vs. conventional agriculture). Often mechanical measures can be taken such as ensuring sufficient sunlight and aeration between the plants or spanning nets as a protection against picking birds.
An aronia wine is made in Lithuania and Minnesota. In Poland, aronia berries are added to jams and juices or dried to make an herbal tea sometimes blended with other ingredients, such as blackcurrant. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the berries are sold fresh and frozen or made into juices, jams and teas. Aronia is also used as a flavoring or food coloring for beverages or yogurts. Juice from the ripe berries is astringent, semi-sweet (moderate sugar content), sour (low pH), and contains a low level of vitamin C. The berries have a tart Flavoring and, in addition to juice, can be baked into breads. In the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, aronia juice concentrate is used in manufactured juice blends.
The plant produces these pigments mainly in the leaves and skin of the berries to protect the pulp and seeds from constant exposure to ultraviolet radiation and production of free radicals. By absorbing Ultraviolet rays in the blue-purple spectrum, leaf and skin pigments filter intense sunlight, serve antioxidant functions and thereby have a role assuring regeneration of the species. Brightly colorful pigmentation also attracts birds and other animals to consume the fruit and disperse the seeds in their droppings.
Analysis of polyphenols in chokeberries has identified the following individual chemicals (among hundreds known to exist in the plant kingdom): cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside, quercetin-3-glycoside, epicatechin, caffeic acid, delphinidin, petunidin, pelargonidin, peonidin, and malvidin. All these except caffeic acid are members of the flavonoid category of phenolics.
For reference to phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and similar plant-derived phytochemicals, Wikipedia has a list of phytochemicals and foods in which they are prominent.
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