Because we know how tasty and healthy it is. And although it can still be found in the forest, another berry has already ripened - blueberry. Perhaps someone has not heard of such a berry at all, but someone already knows beneficial features blueberries. And if someone does not have the opportunity to go into the forest and collect it, take the opportunity to buy it in a store or in the market.
Do not miss this opportunity: try to be sure to enjoy this berry and help your health. And how she can help us and our health, I'll tell you now.
August is harvest time. Someone in the dachas is already picking apples and pears, in the gardens - zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes. But the forest also presents us with its wild plants in August. Agree: how nice it is to walk through a still summer forest, to breathe in the clean forest air. And if mushrooms still fall, then there is no limit to joy and good mood.
Blueberries are most commonly found in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere, with cold and temperate climates. It is distributed from Iceland to the Far East and Mongolia; in the south, its area of \u200b\u200bgrowth reaches Spain and Italy. Blueberries can also be found in North America - in Alaska.
In Russia, blueberries grow from the Arctic tundra to Kamchatka. Most often, blueberries can be found in swamps and peat bogs.
Blueberries look a bit like blueberries. But this similarity is absolutely negligible. Blueberry bush up to 30-50 cm high, sometimes up to 1 meter, its stem is stiff. Berries, unlike blueberries, have a bluish-blue color, and its juice does not get dirty. The berry is slightly elongated. One branch can contain up to 10-20 berries. Some berries can be up to 1 or 2 rubles in size.
The beneficial properties of blueberries and their chemical composition
Blueberries can be put on a par with healthy berries such as currants, raspberries, blueberries and many others. This is an excellent dietary product, its calorie content of 100 grams is up to 39 - 60 kcal. In addition, she has a number of unique healing agents.
- Strengthens metabolism.
- Strengthens the walls of blood vessels, normalizes the work of the heart.
- Normalizes the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Slows down the aging of nerve cells.
- Contributes to the normalization of blood pressure downward.
- It has choleretic properties.
- Lowers blood sugar levels.
- Blueberries strengthen stools, while leaves, on the other hand, have a mild laxative effect.
- Removes poisons, slags, toxins and radionuclides from the body.
- When regular use blueberries relieve eye strain and restore vision.
- Improves blood clotting.
- Promotes an increase in the level of hemoglobin in the blood.
- Has anti-inflammatory and tonic effect, helps to strengthen the immune system.
- Has an antihistamine effect.
Such a broad effect on the body is facilitated by its chemical composition... Blueberries are 88% water. It contains up to 8% sugars, up to 1% - proteins, 1.6% - organic acids (benzoic, citric, malic, acetic, oxalic acids), fiber, tanning, coloring, pectin substances that contribute to the elimination of radioactive cobalt from the body and strontium), essential amino acids, flavonoids.
Blueberries are very rich in vitamins. It contains carotene, provitamin A, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), all vitamins of group B, K, PP. Blueberries contain many trace elements such as iron, calcium and phosphorus.
IN folk medicine it is recommended to take not only berries in fresh and juice, but also a decoction of pigeon leaves. In the leaves, however, the amount of nutrients is slightly lower, but still a decoction of blueberry branches with leaves is especially recommended for heart disease.
The cardiovascular system
Vitamins K, P, PP help to maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, especially capillaries, and is an excellent prevention of varicose veins. Strengthening the blood vessel walls helps with bleeding gums.
In blueberries, the iron content is slightly lower than in other products, but its complete absorption from blueberries helps well with iron deficiency anemia.
Phyllochionine (vitamin P1) takes part in the blood coagulation system.
Gastrointestinal tract
Fresh berries or a decoction of dried berries perfectly helps to normalize intestinal dysfunction with intestinal infections, for example, with dysentery or salmonellosis. A decoction of the leaves, on the contrary, helps prevent constipation.
Blueberries increase the production of gastric juice and increase appetite. The choleretic effect also contributes to this.
Blueberries improve the functioning of the pancreas and help lower blood sugar levels, increase metabolism.
Antioxidant action
One of the unique properties of blueberries is its antioxidant effect, it protects against the harmful effects of radioactive radiation. Promotes the elimination of various toxins and poisons from organisms, which is very useful for those working in hazardous industries.
It is believed that blueberries inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, as they contain a large amount of highly active antioxidants.
Antihistamine action
If some berries are capable of causing allergic reactions, then blueberries, on the contrary, are used for drug intolerance (allergies). Blueberries can be taken by children with exudative-catarrhal diathesis, small children, starting with one berry.
General strengthening action
Blueberries strengthen the immune system, support vitality and increase vitality.
Blueberry juice or compote perfectly quenches thirst and reduces inflammation in case of colds, tonsillitis, urinary tract infections.
Conditions and methods for storing berries
Blueberry is a cold-resistant plant. Torn off in warm weather, it quickly deteriorates. Therefore, the optimal storage temperature for it is a temperature from 0 to + 4 ° C. At this temperature (home refrigerator conditions), it can be stored for 2 weeks.
You can also freeze it, at the temperature of the home freezer, it can be stored for a year. You can also make jam, compote, juice or grind with sugar from blueberries.
Blueberry compote
Blueberry compote turns out to be very tasty with a slight sourness, pleasant taste and beautiful color.
To prepare compote, you need to sort out the berries, remove debris and stems from the berries. We wash and dry glass jars thoroughly. For 3 liter jar put on 1/3 - ¼ of the volume of the can. Fill with boiling syrup.
For syrup for 2.5 liters of water, add 400 - 500 grams of granulated sugar. But I actually always rely on taste. After adding sugar to water and dissolving it, taste it as you like and adjust it. Bring the syrup to a boil and pour over the berries in the jar.
Roll up the jar with a metal lid, turn it over for a short while, wrap the jar in newspaper, wrap it in a fur coat or thick blanket and leave to "self-sterilize" for 12 hours. Believe me, I have been doing this for many years and not a single can has soured or exploded.
Blueberries, grated with sugar
Mash the sorted blueberries with a pestle or grind with a blender. Add granulated sugar 1: 1.2. Mix thoroughly. Stir the mixture periodically for 8 to 10 hours to dissolve the sugar well.
Transfer the mashed blueberries to clean and dry glass jars, close the lid, you can even use a plastic one. Store in a cool place. With this storage method, the paste becomes like jelly.
From such a paste I make cheesecakes, what they are, look.
Blueberry jam
First you need to make the syrup. Calculation of sugar 1: 1.2. Add 1 glass of water to granulated sugar, mix thoroughly and put on fire. With constant stirring, bring the syrup to a boil. As soon as the syrup thickens a little, add the sorted berries to it. Cook over low heat for 1 hour. Let cool and pour the jam into dry and clean jars.
Dear readers, as you can see, blueberries are a very healthy berry. if you have the opportunity, then do not miss the chance to improve your health with the help of this amazing berry. And although this berry was now cultivated, but the berry collected in the forest is still considered more useful.
Juice
Blueberries can be juiced. It is considered almost the most useful in the world, even healthier than grape or pomegranate juice, as it contains a lot of useful components. To provide the body with vitamins, minerals and other useful substances, it is enough to drink 1/3 cup of blueberry juice a day.
My dear readers! If this article was useful to you, then share it with your friends by clicking on the social buttons. networks. It is also important for me to know your opinion about what you have read, write about it in the comments. I will be very grateful to you.
Good health wishes Taisiya Filippova
Material prepared by:
Executive Director of the Association of Russian Gardeners (APPYAPM), Ph.D. Sci., Leading Specialist of APPYAPM on Berry Crops
APPYAPM specialist
Using material Mariusz Podymniak
Storing blueberries in a modified atmosphere
Toro blueberry variety
Blueberries are a rare crop in the fresh fruit market. It is possible to extend the period of its delivery to the consumer using various methods of storing fruits - conditions of low temperature and controlled atmosphere.
To extend the selling period of blueberries, you can put the berries in the refrigerator - this is not only desirable, but even necessary if you want to export the fruit, especially to distant markets. Rapid cooling allows you to extend not only the post-harvest period of storage of fruits, but also to preserve them nutritional value... The currently available technology is the storage of fruits under conditions modified atmosphere, which makes it possible to increase sales markets, extend the timing of the sale of berries by seasons and stimulate the expansion of blueberry production. In the package with a modified atmosphere, the standard composition of atmospheric air is replaced by a combination of carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen in proportions that differ from natural atmospheric ones.
Modified Atmosphere Packages
The simplest way, which does not require investment in the organization of additional infrastructure to change the composition of the cooling atmosphere, is to use Xtend bags, usually manufactured in Israel by StePac and sold in Poland by PHU Puch. These bags maintain the necessary balance between oxygen (O 2) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) in the absence of excess moisture (condensate), providing selective oxygen permeability. As a result, the process of fruit respiration inside a closed container gradually slows down - the amount of oxygen decreases and the volume of carbon dioxide increases.
Fig. 1 Modified Atmosphere Storage Bags
blueberry fruit for 4 weeks
In order to store fruit for several weeks, it is important to determine optimal time picking fruits. Overripe or unripe fruits are not laid for long-term storage. You can not lay the fruits collected after the rain, they quickly lose water and are prone to fungal diseases. As a rule, blueberries are collected in small boxes, which are placed in Xtend bags (Fig. 1). In open bags, blueberries should be placed in the refrigerator and cooled to the required temperature. Only then can the packages be sealed. There should be no temperature fluctuations in the chamber. Optimum temperature storage of blueberries 1-2 ° C.
Chauntecleer variety
During the storage period, every few days, it is necessary to visually inspect the fruits and determine whether they are affected by pathogens, whether the berries are losing turgor. To do this, periodically open one bag to check the actual condition of the berries in the boxes (or containers). The opened bag is removed from the refrigerator. Practice has shown that blueberries can be stored in such conditions for four weeks or more.
Blueberry pallet storage system
Another way long-term storage fruits in a controlled atmosphere - creating a modified atmosphere throughout the chamber. For this, of course, new equipment is needed - generators of СО 2 and nitrogen. With sharp fluctuations in the composition of the gaseous medium in the refrigerating chamber - this happens during its opening, it is necessary to quickly sell all the fruits stored in it. This problem does not arise if fruits are stored in refrigerating chambers in specially packaged blocks, with an individual gas medium support system in each block (Fig. 2). Such a storage system in Poland is offered by companies: Atmo (specialization - compressors), Termopol Ice (air conditioners) and PHU Puch (refrigeration equipment). This modern optimal storage option is that CO 2 and nitrogen are supplied to each block of bags individually. These gases can be supplied from cylinders or by nitrogen (N) and carbon dioxide generators, adjustable by a scrubber (CO 2 scrubber). It is common practice nowadays to supply nitrogen not from nitrogen and carbon dioxide generators, but from gas cylinders.
The Configurable Scrubber is a state-of-the-art device called IS that communicates in real time with the ISOSOFT automatic control system. The central system controls the scrubber, which regulates the composition of the gas environment in different storage units or chambers.
Fig. 2. In each block of packed berries (there can be several of them on one pallet), a modified gas environment is individually maintained
In addition to regulating the gas composition, a stable low temperature is maintained during storage. Using an O 2 and CO 2 analyzer, it is possible to continuously monitor the gas composition individually in each unit in order to change it if necessary. The experience of storing berries in Poland shows that the optimal gas environment for blueberries is 10-12% СО 2 and 10% О 2. Under these conditions, blueberries can be stored for four weeks or more.
After removing the fruits from storage, before they go on sale, they need to be sorted and put into new packaging in order to remove berries with symptoms of illness or lost turgor.
The advanced storage system is also used for long-term transportation of fruits, which facilitates the delivery of fruits by land and sea transport - significantly reducing costs compared to air transport. This mode ensures the preservation of the taste and the natural presentation of the fruit, and the shelf life is increased. This is an additional opportunity to increase the sales market and stimulate the expansion of the production of valuable vitamin products, including blueberries.
Previously, blueberries were considered a forest berry, but recently they are gaining momentum. fashion trend growing this berry in gardens. And this is not surprising, because these tiny and very tasty berries can get rid of stomach problems, improve blood composition and even cure a cough. And during the Second World War, British pilots feasted on blueberries and blueberries in order to improve their eyesight. Well, since this beautiful berry has reached our latitudes, the question of how to store it correctly became quite natural.
How to choose a good berry?
Only ripe blueberries should be bought, since after harvesting the delicious berries do not ripen anymore. Therefore, it is extremely important to choose only blue berries that do not have reddish hues. In addition, the blueberries must be strong and firm enough. You should not buy soft and watery berries, as well as berries with mold.Anyone who grows blueberries in their own garden needs to know what is on taste qualities berries are greatly influenced by weather conditions. For example, when dry weather is established, due to a lack of moisture, the growth of blueberries is significantly inhibited, and the berries are often insufficiently saturated and small. And heavy rains often lead to decay of the skin of the fruit, which is also extremely undesirable.
Harvesting blueberries must be very careful, trying not to damage the incredibly delicate skin of the berries, otherwise it will be very problematic to keep the harvest.
Fresh berries that are not damaged can be stored for two weeks. Ideally, however, blueberries are recommended to be eaten right away or processed after purchase or collection. After all, if juice begins to form in containers with stored berries or moisture appears, the blueberries will become unusable. It can also be affected by diseases such as anthracnose or gray mold when stored in the refrigerator.
Freeze blueberries
Blueberries are excellently frozen. By the way, it is categorically not recommended to wash it before freezing, since under the influence of water the skin of the berries almost always becomes hard. The blueberries should be doused with water immediately before serving after the berries are removed from the freezer.
In order to freeze blueberries, the berries are placed in tightly closing containers, leaving about three centimeters of free space - you do not need to pour the blueberries to the top. The containers filled in this way are sent to the freezer. And you can freeze the berries in a syrup made from water with sugar in a ratio of 4: 3. The berries are poured with such syrup directly in containers, after which the container is tightly closed and placed in the freezer.
If frozen berries are planned to be used for cooking different dishes, it is important to try to prevent them from completely thawing before adding them to food. Such a trick will allow you to preserve their structure, prevent the berries from secreting juice and prevent the dish from discoloration.
Drying blueberries
Another option to save blueberries for the winter is to dry them in the oven. The berries are sorted out and cleaned of impurities, after which they are thoroughly washed and discarded in a colander so that water is completely drained from the blueberries. Then the berries are laid out on a baking sheet and sent to an oven preheated to forty-five to fifty degrees. The blueberries are kept in the oven for about two hours. At the same time, the oven door is not completely closed, and the berries are stirred from time to time - they should dry out evenly. After two hours, the temperature in the oven is increased to sixty to sixty-five degrees and the berries are dried for about an hour.The dried blueberries are transferred to suitable containers and stored in a dry place.
In addition, blueberries can always be canned - the blanks from it are also unmatched!
Blueberries have always been forest blueberries. But in the last 20 years, more and more fans of garden blueberries have appeared. This fashion came to us from the USA. Blueberries are native to this country. We will borrow preparations from them healthy dishes with this berry. Let's start with recommendations for storage and selection of blueberries.
When buying blueberries, remember that they will not continue to ripen after harvest. Therefore, you only need to buy fully ripe berries. For the future, these berries are harvested in different ways: canned, dried, mashed and frozen.
When buying, choose berries that are completely blue, without shades of red. Do not use soft, watery, moldy ones. If there is moisture or juice in the container with berries, the berries have outlived their life.
Store unwashed, frozen blueberries by covering the container with clean paper or plastic wrap. Fresh berries can be stored for up to two weeks without damage. But it is better to use blueberries immediately after collection or purchase.
Blueberries are perfectly frozen... Do not wash them before freezing, as the water makes the skin tough. Pour water over before serving by removing the berries from the freezer.
To freeze blueberries for future use, place the berries in a tight-fitting container, leaving about 3 cm of free space to the top. You can put the berries in a syrup made with 4 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. Pour the berries into a container. Close it and freeze it.
The berries are easily canned and dried.
When added to other foods in some recipes, blueberries can change the color of food. When adding blueberries to a recipe, keep in mind that dishes that include baking soda, an ugly brownish-green tint may appear due to a chemical reaction.
Baking soda is usually included in recipes that use an acidic ingredient, such as buttermilk or yogurt. Try substituting regular milk for buttermilk and baking powder for baking soda to avoid discoloration.
When using frozen whole blueberries in your recipe, do not let them thaw before adding. This will preserve not only the structure, but will also prevent the berries from exuding juice and discoloring the final product.
In most cases, other berries can be substituted for blueberries. These are blueberries, red currants, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.
Blueberries and health
Blueberries have been used in traditional medicine in Russia for a long time in the treatment of stomach problems. Native American people used the leaves as tea to improve blood composition, and juice to relieve coughs. During World War II, British Royal Air Force pilots ate blueberries and blueberries to improve night vision.
Blueberry is a cold-resistant evergreen shrub from the Heather family. Its close relatives are blueberries, lingonberries and cranberries. The plant has very useful sweetish dark purple berries. Now you will learn how to store them.
It is hard to believe, but the fruits of this shrub are not inferior to the berries of many tropical plants in terms of the amount of nutrients. Blueberries are especially rich in vitamin C (ascorbic acid), an antioxidant that protects the body from destructive oxidative processes.
Also, blueberry fruits fit perfectly into any diet, since they do not cause increased secretion of gastric juice, do not provoke appetite.
When to collect? How to choose the most suitable one for storage?
Only fully ripe berries are suitable for storage - bluish-black, soft to the touch, with a whitish waxy bloom on the skin. You need to collect it a maximum of 2-3 days before storage.
Of course, it is possible to harvest incompletely ripe fruits, but they will very quickly lose their pleasant taste and most of the useful properties.
When buying blueberries, you need to check:
- if there is any damage on it;
- if there is no mold;
- whether it is large in size.
Also, the fruit should not be wet.
Short (short) storage
At normal room temperature, blueberries will not live long: two or three days - and they will completely rot. But it can be slightly extended life in the upper (not freezing) compartments of the refrigerator. If the berries are washed, dried, peeled and carefully folded in glass jars in equal layers, they will be edible for about a week and a half. Frankly, not very long. Fortunately, there are many ways to preserve the fruit for much longer.
Basic storage methods for the winter
It is best to harvest blueberries for a long time using:
- freezing;
- urination (in plain water);
- sugaring;
- making jam from it;
- drying (in the oven).
Freezing
Freezing in the freezer is the easiest way to keep blueberries from rotting for a long time.
- We sort it.
- We get rid of all the stalks.
- Rinse thoroughly in running water.
- We give a little time to dry out (if you freeze wet fruits, their skin will become very tough, the taste will deteriorate sharply).
- Put in even, even layers in a small sealed container, do not fill it to the top, leave 2-3 cm of free space.
- Add a little sugar between each layer.
- Close the container tightly and put it in the freezer.
Most likely, blueberries will not lose their beneficial properties in the freezer for several years, but it is still better to consume them within the first year after freezing.
Water soaking
Soaking is another fun way to harvest berries. Thanks to him, blueberries will remain fresh and useful for the body for many months:
- Pour the peeled and washed berries into jars (ordinary glass).
- Pour boiled water on top. The water must be cold.
- We boil the soaked blueberries. Boil time is approximately 10 minutes if half liter is used. We boil the liters for 20 minutes.
- We close the cans tightly (roll up).
- We put them upside down (this is done in order to disinfect the lids, to make them pasteurized).
Store soaked fruits in a dry and cool place. A cellar or top compartments of the refrigerator will do just fine.
How to store using sugaring
In a candied form, blueberries are also stored for a rather long time - about a year:
- We knead the fruits or send them to a meat grinder.
- Add sugar to the resulting pasty homogeneous mass - put a pound of sugar per kilogram of blueberry mass.
- We heat this mixture, and in parallel we also heat the cans.
- We put the blueberries in the jars and begin to pasteurize them. We keep half liters in boiling water for 20 minutes, liters for half an hour.
You need to store candied blueberries in the same place as pickled ones - in the cellar or in the refrigerator. In such places, it will begin to deteriorate not earlier than in a year.
We store in the form of jam
Blueberry jam is very tasty and healthy. And it does not deteriorate for a very long time. Making jam is not difficult at all:
- Carefully sort the berries, peel and wash.
- We do sugar syrup: We take a kilogram of sugar per liter of water.
- Put the fruits in syrup, put them on the stove and start making the jam.
- The fire should be slow. Cooking for at least 3 hours (preferably 4).
- We lay out the jam in the jars.
- We sterilize the jars by boiling (20-25 minutes).
Blueberry jam will be edible for two whole years.
Store by drying
For drying, it is better to use a special dryer. But an ordinary oven is also quite suitable:
- We spread the berries on baking sheets (in a very thin layer), place in the oven.
- We set the temperature from +40 to +50 degrees.
- The door oven while leaving it ajar.
- We regularly check the condition of the fruits and mix them if necessary.
- Dry at a temperature of about +50 degrees for one and a half to two hours. Then another hour at a temperature of +60 degrees.
Dried blueberries should be stored in an airtight container in the same cellars or refrigerators. It will be edible for more than one month.
Blueberries are delicious and healthy. With the help of simple storage methods, you can not part with a beautiful berry all year round.
