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Colorless berries belonging to the Gooseberry family, which are a storehouse of vitamins and trace elements, are known to everyone under the name white currant. These are fruits that have found their application in various fields – from the food industry to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Traditional medicine cannot do without decoctions, tinctures and ointments from white currant, since the plant has unique healing properties.
Description of currant with white berries
Currant bush grows in height and reaches from 1 to 1,5 meters. Depending on the conditions, it can grow up to 2,5 meters and give a very decent harvest. It is distinguished by a powerful root system, similar in structure and structure to red currant.
The leaves have serrated edges, and their shape is three-lobed. Yellow-green petals unite in the brush of the plant and bloom. The flowering process begins in May, and fruiting – from June to July. The berries are white with a barely noticeable yellow tint, have a round shape and a diameter of 5 to 10 millimeters. In terms of taste, the fruits are sweet and sour with a slightly tart aftertaste.
Popular varieties of white currant: Versailles white, Smolyaninovskaya, Svetlana, Star of the North, Dutch, Yuterborgskaya, Houghton Castle, Diamond. The fruits of the plant are widely used in cooking, they add sophistication and uniqueness to dishes.
The shrub is very useful, because it contains carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, monosaccharides and disaccharides. Currant contains all kinds of vitamin complexes (A, B, E, P), macroelements (potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus) and a trace element – iron. The energy value of berries is 42 kilocalories per 100 grams.
Useful qualities of white currant
The beneficial properties of the plant are due to the fact that it is rich in vitamins, sugars, organic acids, pectins. Pectins have a positive effect on the blood and remove toxins, salts of heavy metals and toxic substances from the human body.
White berries are not as fragile as black ones, so they stay on the bush as long as possible – until October-November. Features of growing a shrub are simple, because the plant bears fruit, regardless of hot or rainy weather.
Berries have practically no phytotherapeutic value, since they contain very little ascorbic acids. But there is a large amount of potassium and iron, which strengthen the cardiovascular system.
It is useful to give a valuable variety to children, because the fruits are colorless, therefore, they are not an allergen. This culture is also useful for babies in that it helps the heart to work fully and improves blood circulation in the child’s body.
Ascorbic acids, which are contained in fruits, act as biocatalysts of enzymatic processes in the body. Scientific studies have confirmed that the white variety has a positive effect on metabolism as early as 15 minutes after taking the berries.
Vitamin A, which is found in white currant, strengthens the immune system, helps cell metabolism, prevents the aging process of the body and the formation of cancerous tumors, and improves vision. Vitamin A helps the human body to be less susceptible to radioactive radiation and tobacco smoke.
The shrub is rich in vitamin P. It cleanses blood vessels, normalizes blood circulation, activates the process of bile secretion, strengthens liver cells, makes blood vessels more elastic, and regulates the functions of the adrenal glands. Vitamin P and ascorbic acid protect a person from the occurrence of various diseases, including atherosclerosis.
Vitamin E will allow you to maintain youth and sanity, because, together with white currants, when they enter the body, useful substances have an anti-sclerotic effect, improve reproduction and slow down cell aging. Vitamin complexes (group B) are able to strengthen the nervous system, improve memory and relieve psychological stress.
If you eat a harvest of berries every day, then your health will improve after 1-2 weeks. Plus, this variety quenches thirst and in the warm season will be a salvation when the temperature outside is more than 30 degrees.
Harm currants with white fruits
The negative properties of white currant can manifest themselves in people with chronic diseases:
- ulcers;
- gastritis;
- diseases of the pancreas;
- increased acidity in the gastrointestinal tract;
- with individual intolerance to the components of a valuable culture.
If a person suffers from these ailments, he should carefully use currants and in small quantities, otherwise a pain attack, colic, bloating and vomiting may occur.
The use of culture in cooking and how to choose a ripe fruit
There are traditional currant recipes that will captivate not only guests, but will also become the housewife’s signature dish for a long time. Among the most popular currant drinks are compote, tea, jelly and fruit drink.
Spicy fillings for charlottes and pies, a little tart jams are made from white berries. Currant sauce will emphasize the sophistication of meat dishes, give them a special touch. Even an ordinary white fruit, grated with sugar, will become a delicious and simple dessert made in haste.
Usually, jam is not made from pure white currants, because the berries of the bush are rather sour – either you have to spend a lot of sugar, or you get jam of a dubious taste. Therefore, it is better to make a mix of berries and cook jam from white currants, strawberries and raspberries.
In order to prepare a delicious dessert, you should choose berries. Currants should be dense, not change their shape and structure, dry, not have an unpleasant odor. The variety can be stored after cutting from a bush for 5 days at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius.
You can also freeze the culture. Before this, the fruits should be cleaned of leaves and put in a bag or jar. Shelf life – 3-6 months. White berries are dried in order to play it safe for the winter and stock up on a storehouse of vitamins, micro- and macroelements, from which healthy teas and compotes are obtained.
Wine from currant
White currant wine is very popular among gardeners. To make wine, first of all, you need ripe fruits. Since the berries do not always ripen evenly, all the fruits should be cut, but the green ones should be left in the sun for three days. Then the currant gets over: leaves, sticks and garbage are thrown out. The bottle and other containers that will be used in the preparation of an alcoholic beverage should be sterilized with boiling water.
List of ingredients: 2 kilograms of white currants, 3 liters of water, 1 kilogram of sugar. Ripe fruits must be crushed with your hands or a wooden rolling pin. A liter of water and 2 cups of sugar are added to the crushed berries, everything is mixed well. Then the currant-sugar mixture is poured into a glass bottle, the neck of which is wrapped with gauze. The container is placed in a dark place with a temperature regime of 18 to 25 degrees. Every 12 hours it is necessary to mix the contents of the container.
After a few days, signs of fermentation will begin to appear (there will be foam, a sour smell and hiss). This means that you need to strain the juice through cheesecloth and squeeze the currants well. After squeezing, the juice is poured into the same bottle.
2 liters of water are added to the pomace (it should be heated to a temperature of 70-90 degrees) and everything is mixed. The mixture is cooled to 25 degrees and squeezed. The liquid is mixed with juice in a glass container.
A medical glove with a hole or a water seal is installed on the container, which will prevent oxygen from entering the bottle. The container should be placed in a dark place with a temperature of 18 to 25 degrees.
After 4-5 days, you need to remove the shutter and drain half a liter of wort, then dilute it with a glass of sugar. The syrup is drained back into the bottle and the water seal is installed again. After another 4-5 days, you need to make the same syrup with sugar and also pour it into a container with future wine.
The duration of fermentation is 1-2 months. When this process is over, you will see by the following signs: the gas will stop emitting from the shutter or the glove will be blown away if it was installed instead of the water seal. It is necessary to drain the wine through a straw so as not to touch the sediment, which is located at the bottom of the container. Reviews of gardeners say that white currant wine turns out to be tasty and very intoxicating if it is kept from 60 to 120 days in the cellar. Meat dishes or light desserts with berries are suitable for white wine.