The aronia berry, also known as chokeberry in this country because of its botanical affiliation, contains a large number of vitamins and minerals. It is one of the most vitamin-rich fruits of all, and at the same time the plant is easy to care for and also delivers high yields. However, many people believe that the power berry is poisonous when raw due to the high content of hydrocyanic acid. Is that correct? We looked into the question once.

Aronia berries contain little hydrocyanic acid

A few years ago there was a report in the press that pointed out the hydrocyanic acid content of aronia berries. This is said to be so high in fresh fruit that eating raw berries is not recommended. This message was u. a. quickly corrected by the University of Potsdam and the Max Rubner Institute - both of whom were involved in a multi-year research project on the subject of Aronia. As a result, 100 grams of fresh aronia berries contain only 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams of hydrocyanic acid - and therefore much less than other types of fruit and vegetables. For comparison: the same amount of sweet apricot kernels contains twice the amount of hydrocyanic acid. As a result, small amounts of berries consumed raw are not poisonous and therefore harmless.

The health benefits outweigh the negative ones

Instead, however, the chokeberry scores with a number of health benefits, because it contains many vitamins, minerals, trace elements and antioxidants. Of course, these valuable ingredients are mainly found in fresh, raw berries and are largely destroyed by heating and other forms of processing. But not everyone likes to nibble on the rather tart-tasting berries fresh from the bush.

How you can gently process aronia berries

You can take advantage of the health benefits of the berry in a variety of ways. This also includes further processing of the berries that preserves vitamins and minerals, for example by

  • Dry,
  • Freeze
  • or juicing.

In terms of taste, aronia berries harmonize particularly well with sweet fruits such as apples or pears.

tips and tricks

Start the day with a delicious and healthy aronia smoothie: Mix 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 pear, 1 carrot (everything peeled and cut into small pieces) with 100 grams of fresh aronia berries, puree the fruit and fill it with it 200 milliliters of orange juice and 200 milliliters of water. Good Appetite.

Category:

Vegetable garden