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The healing properties of sunberry, contraindications and photos are of interest to fans of unusual products and fans of home medicine. Berries, remotely similar to blueberries, are suitable not only for eating, but also for treatment, so it is interesting to get acquainted with their properties.
What is a sunberry
The sunberry berry plant is a hybrid obtained by crossing two types of nightshade – African and creeping European. The hybrid was bred in South America at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
In the photo of the sunberry plant, you can see that the hybrid nightshade is a medium-sized berry shrub that can grow up to 2 m. Sunberry blooms with small white flowers collected in inflorescences, while flowering continues until autumn, which makes the shrub very decorative.
The berries of the plant are similar in color and shape to blueberries, but are more reminiscent of cherries in size, and ripen in brushes of about 15 pieces. The large size and unpretentiousness of the sunberry takes from the African variety of nightshade, while it owes its taste to European nightshade. Sunberry has a very high yield, in a garden plot from about 5 small bushes you can collect a whole bucket of healthy berries. The fruits of the plant ripen gradually and unevenly, but this does not affect the yield; upon reaching full maturity, the berries continue to hang on the branches without crumbling to the ground.
The beneficial properties of the Canadian blueberry sunberry, as this berry is also called, are very diverse. The taste of the berries in its pure form is pleasant, but rather bland, but the composition is very rich.
The composition of the sunberry
The small black fruit of the nightshade plant contains many health benefits. Namely:
- ascorbic acid;
- vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6;
- vitamin A;
- the elements manganese and zinc;
- chromium and selenium;
- pectins;
- nickel, iron, copper and potassium;
- silver;
- fructose;
- tannins;
- saturated and unsaturated fatty acids;
- anthocyanins and chlorophyll.
Magnesium and calcium are also present in small amounts in the fruits of the plant. Thanks to these properties, a beautiful and unpretentious fruit shrub in cultivation is very useful from a nutritional and medicinal point of view.
Sunberry life berry calories
The sunberry is a fairly nutritious berry, although its size is relatively modest. In 100 g of fruits, there are 220 kcal, while about 40 g are carbohydrates, 28 g are fats, and only 9 g are allocated to proteins.
Benefits of sunberry
Most of all, fruits are valued for their health benefits. With regular use of Canadian blueberries:
- strengthen the immune system and increase resistance to diseases;
- help to quickly cure viral and infectious diseases;
- equalize blood pressure and prevent the development of atherosclerosis;
- prevent the appearance of cholesterol plaques, protect the liver from ailments;
- improve the supply of the brain with valuable substances;
- help reduce discomfort in joint ailments;
- regulate metabolism and improve peristalsis, thereby helping to get rid of constipation;
- help with hemorrhoids and varicose veins – the beneficial properties of berries strengthen the vascular walls;
- slightly thin the blood and thus prevent the development of thrombosis;
- relieve swelling and improve kidney function;
- help with migraines;
- relieve symptoms of gastritis and intestinal ailments.
Sunberry also has strong anti-aging properties. For this reason, useful fruits are often used in cosmetology for skin care and to preserve youth.
Benefits of sunberry for women
The use of sunberries is especially beneficial for women, black berries help fight menopause symptoms and improve painful periods. Valuable minerals in the composition of the fruit replenish strength and allow you not to feel weakness against the background of blood loss.
Sunberry also improves mood and generally has a beneficial effect on the state of the nervous system. With the help of black berries, you can fight insomnia and headaches, increased anxiety and mood swings. Berries have a calming effect, so they will be very useful for women who are prone to frequent emotional surges.
Health Benefits of Sunberry Sunberry for Men
For men, the special benefit of sunberry is its beneficial effect on the reproductive system. Since berries significantly improve blood circulation, along with this, potency also increases. You can also use nightshade fruits to strengthen endurance, to protect blood vessels and the heart from the premature development of dangerous ailments.
Sunberry has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, it is possible to use fruits for food or as part of home remedies for prostatitis or infectious diseases of the reproductive system.
Health Benefits of Sunberry Nightshade for Children
For adolescents, Canadian blueberry sunberry can bring many benefits. The berry will help strengthen resistance to colds, improve digestion and have a beneficial effect on the mental activity of the child. Many adolescents are characterized by hyperactivity in adolescence. The sedative properties of berries in this case will have a beneficial effect on the child’s nervous system, help prevent insomnia and normalize the emotional background.
However, when using sunberries, you need to remember that the fruits can cause severe allergies. For the first time, it is recommended to offer a berry to children no earlier than 12 years old and in very small quantities.
How to use sunberries
The use of sunberries is completely universal, they are used for cooking, for the treatment of diseases and for beauty care.
- The taste qualities of sunberries are average – the berry itself is not sour or sweet, so only a few appreciate it for its unique taste. But at the same time, on the basis of sunberry fruits, you can cook many healthy dishes, for example, juices and compotes, jams and dried fruits, candied fruits and pickled blanks. Processing improves the taste of the product and makes the sunberry a really interesting product.
- The medicinal properties and contraindications of sunberries are highly valued – the fruits can be found in many recipes for home medicine. Hybrid nightshade helps with digestive diseases and colds, skin and respiratory ailments, high blood pressure and chronic migraines.
The cosmetic properties of black berries deserve attention. Sunberry is used in home cosmetology for the preparation of anti-aging masks. For example, such a tool is popular:
- 2 large spoons of fruit are thoroughly kneaded into gruel;
- mixed with 1 small spoon of mashed potatoes;
- add 1 large spoonful of fresh lemon juice and 1 small spoonful of chopped parsley.
The ingredients are mixed until smooth and applied to the skin of the face or the whole body for half an hour. If you use a home remedy at least twice a week, a rejuvenating and whitening effect will become noticeable very soon.
Recipes with strawberry sunberry
You can cook several quite tasty and healthy dishes from sunberries. Processing for the fruits of the plant requires minimal processing, which makes the recipes very simple.
sunberry juice
Sunberry juice with honey is of great benefit, and it is prepared as follows:
- juice is squeezed out of 500 g of fresh berries, first the fruits can be turned into gruel in a blender, and then squeezed through cheesecloth;
- juice is diluted with water in equal proportions so that it becomes less concentrated;
- natural honey is added to the drink in a ratio of 5 to 1 and the product is thoroughly mixed.
You can use this juice both for pleasure and as a medicine. The drink will have a beneficial effect on vitamin deficiency and colds.
Pickled Sunberries
Sunberries can be marinated to prolong their shelf life and allow them to be used as an accompaniment to other dishes. The cooking algorithm is very simple:
- berries are poured in sufficient quantities with boiling water, then the water is drained through a colander and the fruits are allowed to cool slightly;
- at the same time prepare a brine for the marinade – 2 large tablespoons of salt are mixed with 4 large tablespoons of sugar, cloves, bay leaves and black pepper are added to taste, poured with a little water and boiled for 15 minutes;
- scalded berries fall asleep in sterile jars;
- 2 large spoons of table vinegar are added to the marinade and the berries are poured with liquid.
After that, the jars need to be rolled up, turned over, wrapped in a warm cloth and kept in this state for at least a day. Pickled berries will keep well throughout the winter, and if desired, they can be added to any snacks.
Sunberry compote
Sunberry compote is a tasty and healthy drink. Prepare it like this:
- 1 kg of fully ripe fruits of the plant are thoroughly washed and dried, and then poured several times with fresh boiling water;
- the berries are poured into an enameled pan and each berry is pierced with a fork or a toothpick, and then 1 kg of sugar is poured into the fruits;
- for a couple of hours, the workpiece is left in order for the juice to stand out, then the sunberry and sugar are poured into 2 liters of boiling water;
- the mixture is stirred and filtered, after which the resulting sugar syrup with sunberry juice is boiled for another quarter of an hour on the stove.
The berries are poured into sterile jars and poured with still hot sweet syrup, after which they are tightly rolled up and allowed to cool, tightly wrapping the jars with compote in a warm blanket for a day.
Sunberry Jam
Sweet lovers will love this delicious and quick-to-make jam. They do it like this:
- 1 kg of Canadian blueberries is turned into gruel using a blender or meat grinder;
- mixed with 900 g of granulated sugar;
- put on the stove without adding water, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
If desired, you can also add a little lemon juice or ginger powder to the jam, they will make the taste of the product even more interesting. Ready jam is best stored in sterile rolled up jars – this will allow you to treat yourself to a delicacy throughout the cold season.
Sunberry treatment
The benefits and harms of sunberry berries are highly appreciated by traditional medicine and recommend the fruits of the plant for use in many ailments.
- With vitamin deficiency and anemia. From a breakdown, such a useful remedy helps well – 3 cups of berries are mixed with a glass of pine nuts, the ingredients are ground in a blender, and then a few tablespoons of honey are added. The vitamin mixture is taken on an empty stomach, 1 large spoonful twice a day, a tasty medicine will quickly help restore strength and good health.
- RџSЂRё RіRёRїRμSЂS,RѕRЅRёRё. Sunberry for hypertension helps especially well when combined with honey. A small amount of ripe berries need to be crushed in a blender; washed leaves and stems of the plant can also be added to the fruits. The resulting slurry is squeezed through gauze, and the juice is mixed with honey – in the proportion of 20 g of honey per 500 ml of juice. Use the medicine 1 large spoon twice a day.
- For thyroid disorders. Sunberry berry recipes and the beneficial properties of the fruit help improve thyroid conditions. To prepare an effective remedy, you need to mix Canadian blueberries, feijoa and natural honey in proportions of 2: 1: 1, how to grind the ingredients with a blender and leave the thick mixture in a dark place for about 2 hours. You need to take the remedy twice a day, 4-5 large spoons.
- With gastritis. The properties of sunberry are good for inflammatory processes in the stomach. About 100 g of crushed fruits, leaves and stems of the plant should be poured into 3 liters of hot water and insisted for 3 hours, and then filtered and drunk on an empty stomach three times a day, 3 large spoons.
- In migraines. The benefits of sunberry berries are manifested in headaches – washed ripe berries and green stems must be brewed in boiling water and insisted for 12 hours, and then applied to the temples and forehead with the resulting infusion. You need to keep lotions for 20 minutes, use them several times a day until the migraine subsides.
- With asthma. Sunberry is good for asthma symptoms – ripe berries and dried flowers of the plant are mixed with lungwort stalks, chopped properly in a blender, and then brewed with boiling water in a thermos. You need to insist the remedy for 2 hours, and drink the infusion 1 large spoonful on an empty stomach three times a day.
- For joint ailments. About 200 g of horseradish is mixed with 250 g of honey, crushed in a blender, and then poured into a glass of fresh sunberry juice. Take the drug three times a day, 1 large spoon. In addition to the main treatment, you can do healing baths, add a glass of Canadian blueberry juice and 50 g of chopped horseradish to a full container of water, and then lie in hot water for no more than 25 minutes.
The beneficial properties of sunberry help with sore throat – you can gargle with juice from ripe fruits 2-3 times a day, this will relieve pain and inflammation. Sunberries are also used externally for eczema, dermatitis and skin lesions, you can simply apply gruel from berries to diseased areas, or you can mix sunberries with milk, kefir, egg yolks to enhance the beneficial effect.
Sunberry juice is good for insomnia. It is recommended to mix the pomace from ripe berries in equal proportions with linden or flower honey and take 1 large spoonful every evening shortly before bedtime.
Sunberry Contraindications
The sunberry plant and its uses are not allowed for everyone. Under certain conditions and ailments, it is better to refuse the use of Canadian blueberries, the berries can cause severe harm to the body. Sunberry contraindications include:
- individual allergy to fruits or individual components in their composition – sunberry intolerance can lead to nausea, itching and skin rashes, and diarrhea;
- tendency to diarrhea – berries speed up metabolism and have a laxative effect, so they can lead to intestinal upset;
- pregnancy – sunberry fruits stimulate the muscular activity of the uterus, which can adversely affect the condition of the fetus and lead to miscarriage;
- breastfeeding – Canadian blueberries often cause allergies in children, so it is highly likely that a baby will react negatively to sunberry components in mother’s milk.
Since the fruits of the nightshade plant have a sedative effect and cause drowsiness, they are not recommended for people whose work is associated with increased concentration. It is better not to take sunberry-based dishes and medicines before driving, especially if the trip is planned to be long.
Collection and preparation of sunberry
Useful properties of sunberries in blanks will be fully preserved if the fruits are collected and processed in accordance with all the rules.
- The berries of the plant reach full ripeness in September. They need to be collected only after the fruits have completely turned black, since even ripe berries do not crumble from the branches, a long wait does not threaten gardeners with a loss of harvest.
- For long-term storage, the fruits of the plant must be properly prepared. Usually the berries are dried – they need to be spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 3-4 hours, leaving the door open. The optimum temperature for drying should not exceed 60 degrees, from time to time the berries must be mixed so that they dry evenly. Sunberry fruits can also be dried outdoors in the shade, but it will take more time, several days, and besides, you will have to carefully control the humidity so that the berries do not start to rot.
Another way to harvest fruits is freezing. The collected ripe berries are thoroughly washed, then air-dried, and then laid out in small portions in plastic containers or plastic bags and put in a freezer with a temperature not higher than -18 ° C.
Berry storage
The shelf life of sunberries depends on the processing method. Fresh fruits are stored for no more than a month, qualitatively dried or frozen berries retain their beneficial properties throughout the year.
It is necessary to keep sunberry in a dark place with a low level of humidity. Fresh fruits are stored in the refrigerator, frozen blanks should be kept only in the freezer. Dried fruits can be stored at room temperature, but keep them away from sunlight and in an airtight, dry container.
Conclusion
The healing properties of sunberry, contraindications and photos deserve the most careful study. Despite the average taste, hybrid nightshade berries are highly valued in folk medicine, and also serve as the basis for preparing pleasant and healthy culinary dishes.