You will not be able to see garden nightshade (sunberry) in the wild - this valuable berry crop appeared as a result of artificial selection. We will share some recipes for preparing healthy berries with you.

Description of sunberry

It is an annual plant, similar in structure to tomatoes. The average height of the bush is 1 m. Sunberry berries collected in clusters reach 2 cm in diameter and are black and purple in color.

Sunberry is the result of the work of American breeder Luther Burbank. At the beginning of the century before last, he crossed Guinean and European nightshade. These species do not please with the high taste qualities of the berries, which cannot be said about their “brainchild” - the resulting hybrid produces large, tasty fruits rich in useful elements.

Sunberry harvest

The berry harvest begins in September. Some gardeners cover the plant with foil in the fall and feast on the berries until the snow appears.

special instructions

Fresh fruits of nightshade can be stored for a month (in a cool room). Sunberries have a special nightshade taste that many people don't like - to get rid of it you need to scald with boiling water.

Dried sunberries

The berries are sorted, washed, dried and placed on a sieve in one layer. Sunberry is dried at 50-60°C (process duration is 2-4 hours). During drying, the berries are stirred periodically. Garden nightshade is not dried under the sun's rays - it is believed that in this case it loses its beneficial properties.

Frozen sunberries

Prepared and well-dried berries are placed on flat trays and frozen. The finished product is portioned into bags and tied tightly. Berries can be stored in the freezer compartment of a household refrigerator for no longer than a year.

There is also a “sweet” method of freezing. In this case, the berries are sprinkled with sugar, mixed, placed in plastic containers, covered with lids and frozen (200-300 g of granulated sugar are needed for 1 kg of berries).

Sunberry liqueur

• Sunberry – 1 kg
• Sugar – 1.2 kg

The berries are sprinkled with sugar and cooked over low heat until the syrup acquires a thick consistency. Then the cooled, strained syrup is poured with vodka in a 1:1 ratio, mixed, poured into bottles and sent to the cellar.

Sunberry wine

• Sunberry – 3.5 kg
• Sugar – 3 kg

Overripe sunberries are crushed, sugar is added and mixed well. The mass is transferred to a 10-liter bottle, cooled boiled water is added (up to the hanger), a ball or rubber glove is put on the neck and allowed to stand for about a month. Then the wine is drained from the sediment, carefully filtered and bottled.

Sunberry jam

• Sunberry – 1 kg
• Sugar – 1 kg
• Water – 1 tbsp.

Fully ripened berries are dipped into boiling syrup and cooked for no longer than five minutes. After this, the jam is removed from the heat and allowed to stand for 4-5 hours. Then another 2-3 cycles are performed. Before finishing cooking, add juice squeezed from two lemons. Mint leaves are often added to the jam to add flavor. The finished product is rolled up and placed in jars.

Cold sunberry jam

To make cold jam, use sunberries, as well as peeled and cored apples. Everything is passed through a meat grinder, mixed with sugar in a 1:1 ratio and allowed to stand for 4-5 hours. The mass is transferred to clean jars, covered with nylon lids and stored in the refrigerator.

Sunberry jam

• Sunberry – 1 kg
• Sugar – 900 g

The berries are ground in a meat grinder, mixed with sugar and cooked over low heat until tender, remembering to stir. The finished jam is transferred to sterilized jars and sealed.

Vegetable caviar with added sunberry

• Sunberry – 1 kg
• Carrots – 500 g
• Onion – 300 g
• Vegetable oil – 70 ml
• Greenery
• Sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper

The berries are cut in half and fried in vegetable oil. Separately, fry grated carrots and chopped onions. All ingredients are mixed, passed through a meat grinder, chopped herbs, salt, pepper, sugar are added and brought to a boil.

Pickled sunberries

• Water – 700 ml
• Sugar - 300 g
• Cinnamon
• Black peppercorns - 3-4 pcs.
• Cloves - 2-3 pcs.
• Vinegar 9% - 4 tbsp.

The berries are blanched in boiling water (3-4 minutes) and then drained in a colander. The berries processed in this way are placed in sterilized jars and filled with marinade (it is prepared from water, spices, salt and sugar - the filling is boiled for 10-15 minutes, filtered, boiled again and vinegar is added). The jars are covered with lids, sterilized (1 liter - 20 minutes), rolled up, turned over and wrapped.

Sunberry in tomato juice

The berries are dipped in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, placed on a sieve and transferred to steamed jars. The product is poured with salted boiling tomato juice, rolled up and sterilized (1 liter – 20 minutes).

Sunberry juice

The berries are heated over low heat (a small amount of water is added to the bowl). Then the juice is squeezed out of the mass through cheesecloth and mixed with natural honey (5 parts juice – 1 part honey). The juice is stored in the refrigerator.

In our region it is much less common than abroad. It is quite possible that the situation will soon change dramatically - an increasing number of gardeners are showing interest in this crop.

Do you want blueberries? But not a simple one, but a Canadian one - a harsh northern berry with a restrained taste and luxurious color. Then take note - sunberry, as well as sunberry and garden nightshade. The mysterious berry appeared in North American gardens a little more than 100 years ago, and our summer residents and gardeners are still just mastering the overseas guest of the sunberry. Its medicinal properties and contraindications are not inferior to other well-known berries, and the resulting jam is very unusual. Ready to try it?

A relative of tomatoes and potatoes

Not only our native biologist and breeder Ivan Michurin worked wonders for the benefit of science. His American colleague Luther Burbank (the “author” of a special potato variety for French fries) presented the sunberry plant to the world in 1905. This is a hybrid of the huge Guinean nightshade and the small European one, which is more fragrant and quite edible.

Sunberry's closest relatives are tomatoes and they bear fruit with black berries, which are collected in clusters. One brush can contain up to 10 cherry-sized pieces, the color is the same as .

In terms of its biological characteristics, the plant resembles tomatoes, and its main advantage is its greater resistance to cold and drought. Gardeners joke: to grow Canadian blueberry seedlings at home, all you need is a kettle. And in the greenhouse and in the garden she can handle it herself - even without unnecessary feeding and with moderate watering.

For eyes and joints

Sunberry came to Russia quite recently, and is already actively crowding out tomatoes and zucchini in our gardens, and vases of cherry and raspberry jam on the table. The mystery and persistence of the American berry has given rise to various myths and a lot of conflicting information regarding the properties and uses of Canadian blueberries.

Sunberry can hardly be called a rich storehouse of vitamins: its beneficial properties and contraindications are mainly due to the mineral complex. Potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc and chromium - all these essential substances for humans are found in one modest berry. Canadian blueberries are saturated with tannins, valuable and contain about 15%.

One of the popular names for sunberries is blueberry forte. Many people say that this is what is included in the popular dietary supplement of the same name. This is pure nonsense (just look at the ingredients in vitamins to see “blueberry extract” and not nightshade), but a fact is a fact. Canadian blueberries are actually very good for the eyes. What else is sunberry famous for, the medicinal properties of which are being so actively studied today?

• has a mild laxative effect and improves the functioning of the digestive tract;
• is an effective means for cleansing the body of waste and toxins;
• strengthens the eye muscles and maintains vision while constantly working at the monitor;
• normalizes blood pressure;
• helps in the treatment of colds of various etiologies;
• relieves sore throat;
• calms the nerves and helps cope with constant insomnia;
• relieves joint pain;
• copes with edema and improves kidney condition (due to the diuretic effect);
• relieves headaches;
• helps in the treatment of skin diseases (including psoriasis).

How to use?

In its pure form, sunberry is not a berry for everyone. Each person perceives the taste of garden nightshade differently - some immediately spit it out, some eat it in handfuls, many are simply indifferent to it. Traditional medicine also does not advise eating sunberry directly from the bush if you are not delighted with its aroma - there are many other options for treatment.

The sunberry plant and its use is a whole collection of recipes with the most unusual ingredients - honey, nuts, and even... feijoa. What can I say, this is such an intricate doctor - these Canadian blueberries.

When you lose strength

To maintain the body's strength and recover from fatigue, sunberry is mixed with honey. A glass of nuts and three glasses of Canadian blueberries are passed through a meat grinder and filled with a glass of linden honey. This mixture can be stored in the refrigerator. Take a teaspoon before meals.

For iodine deficiency

If you brought it home from vacation or a regular supermarket, don’t miss the chance. An exotic medicine will not just replace a full-fledged dessert, but will also support the thyroid gland.

For 2 cups of garden nightshade, take 1 cup of feijoa, grind it in a blender and add a glass of honey (best). This medicine is stored in the refrigerator and taken before breakfast and lunch. One tablespoon is enough.

For sore throat

First option. Squeeze the juice from the nightshade berries, dilute them in warm water (3 times more water!) and gargle.

Second option. Take 4 grams of berries and sunberry leaves, the same amount of lungwort leaves, and a glass of boiling water on top. Steam in a thermos, after 2 hours cool to room temperature and gargle for a sore throat.

For purulent wounds and abscesses

Grind fresh garden nightshade berries into a fine, fine paste and dilute lightly with sour milk. Apply lotions to the sore spots for 2-3 hours.

What's the harm?

There are constant debates about sunberries on forums and gardening websites - the benefits and harms of the American berry are described by each person in their own way. Many lovers of traditional garden delicacies have one argument against Canadian blueberries - “not tasty.” Scientists and doctors are free from sweet stereotypes, but they warn: you need to be very careful with sunberries.

1. Sunberry is a powerful allergen. If this is your first time trying nightshade, be sure to eat a couple of berries to try and wait for your body’s reaction. But even if there are no negative reactions, doctors do not recommend eating more than a handful of berries per day. No one has yet canceled the laxative reaction.
2. Pectins in sunberry have the ability to intensively “drag” lead and other heavy metals from the soil. Therefore, it is generally prohibited to plant garden nightshade within the boundaries of a vegetable garden, and in dachas and villages the same principle of a handful must be observed.
3. During pregnancy, you will also have to stick to regular blueberries—Canadian blueberries are strictly prohibited. Nightshade contains substances that can increase uterine contractions and even cause miscarriage.
4. Sunberry has a mild sedative effect, so you should not drive if you have actively eaten the overseas berry. But a couple of spoons of jam or jam from Canadian blueberries will not harm your driving skills - these are still not tranquilizers, but ordinary nightshade.

“Sunny” jam from Canadian blueberries

Sunberries have a weak, tart taste, not at all like the usual sweetness and richness of currants or. Some sunberry lovers describe its taste as “a unique bouquet of sour currants, tart gooseberries and sweet blueberries with a slight hint of freshly cut grass,” but most people frankly don’t like it.

But almost everyone who has tried Canadian blueberries admits that in jam their taste changes amazingly, and for the better. The color is also amazing - dark purple, similar to the color of rich ink, funny coloring the tongue and lips. Not only jam is made from garden nightshade - also jams, fillings for pies and dumplings, marmalades and jellies, and even dried for tea for the winter.

But don’t forget: jam is a fairly high-calorie product, “Canadian” has as many as 220 calories per 100 grams. Therefore, one or two spoons of tea will be enough to maintain your figure and fully enjoy the benefits of sunberry.

Sunberry Lemon Jam

You will need: 1 kg of ripe sunberries, 1 kg of sugar, a glass of water, the juice of two lemons and 2-4 (to taste).

Cook the sugar syrup; when it boils, add the washed berries. After 5 minutes on the stove, remove the jam to stand for 4 hours, repeat this 2-3 times. (Therefore it is better to start cooking in the morning). Add mint and lemon nectar to the last cooking time.

Sunberry Ginger Jam

You will need: a glass of sunny berries, a third of a glass of sugar, a heaped teaspoon of grated sugar, the juice of half a lemon.

Mix sunberry, sugar and ginger in a saucepan and cook for 10 minutes (you need to stir constantly!). Add lemon juice, remove from heat and into a jar. Then we put the jar in a pan with hot water so that it does not reach 1-2 cm from the lid. After 10 minutes you can take it out, cool it and put it in the refrigerator.

What do the reviews say?

It is difficult to find a more controversial berry in Russian dachas and garden plots than sunberry: reviews say only good things about it or mercilessly criticize it. Subjective assessment plays a big role here.

Lovers of the northern berry appreciate its unusual taste, calming properties and ability to relieve headaches.

“Sunberry is an excellent berry; you can make anything from it: juice and jam. The jam tastes like blackcurrant, only it is very colored. And to remove the specific bitterness of sunberries, you just need to pour boiling water over the berries before cooking.”

Opponents of Canadian blueberries also have their own arguments.

“The taste of sunberry jam is quite unusual, much better than the tasteless fresh berry. But its medicinal properties are not so unique, because there are plenty of other useful berries, ours, ours.”

Experienced skeptic gardeners agree on one thing: garden nightshade is absolutely unpretentious and always produces an excellent harvest. If the cherry suddenly fails, the raspberries fail, or the currants wither, sunberry is guaranteed to provide you with bright and healthy jam for the winter.

And in order to enjoy fresh berries, it is important to wait until they are fully ripe: they should be dark purple, elastic, but already quite soft. It is these berries that will fully give you their unusual taste and healing power, and you will definitely become a sincere fan of this unusual North American hybrid.

I want to tell you about the miracle berry - sunberry. Translated from English: sunny berry. It is also called blueberry forte. After October frosts, the berries acquire a sweeter taste.

The berries are the size of cherries, and their shape resembles small black “tomatoes” with glossy skin. They are similar in appearance to chokeberries, but their taste is specific. You can get rid of this taste by scalding the berries with boiling water and keeping them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and use it to make juice or juice, which tastes good and is good for the body. Sunberry fruits contain pectins, which remove toxins from the body, slow down the aging process and improve blood composition, memory and visual acuity.

Making Sunberry Jam

First, clean and wash the berries. Scald with boiling water and keep in it for 3 minutes to eliminate the specific taste.

For 1 kg of sunberry berries we take 1 kg of granulated sugar. We also need 1 lemon.

Let's prepare the syrup. Mix the lemon through a meat grinder with 0.5 glass of water and granulated sugar. Once this mixture boils, add sunberries. Cook over medium heat for 1 hour, skimming off the foam.

While hot, pour the sunberry jam into sterilized jars and close with plastic lids or roll up for long-term storage. Sunberry jam useful for hypertension, headaches, osteochondrosis, rheumatism, etc.

Bon appetit!

“health elixir” from sunberry, which normalizes blood pressure, eliminates headaches, improves memory and visual acuity, and increases the body’s immunity.

To prepare it, the berries are passed through a meat grinder and the juice is squeezed through cheesecloth. Dilute with water in equal parts. For 1 liter of diluted sunberry juice, add 300 g of honey. Pour into bottles and store in the refrigerator. Take 2 tablespoons before meals.

Sunberry (berry of life) appeared relatively recently in the latitudes of our homeland, however, it has already earned honor and respect, therefore, recipes based on it have appeared, for example, sunberry jam or jam. All products made from the miracle berry have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, astringent, hematopoietic and antiputrefactive, antispasmodic properties. Therefore, its use is recommended throughout the year, in the summer in the form of infusions and drinks, and in the winter.

Sunberry jam recipe:
. Sunberry berries - 1 kg;
. Granulated sugar - 1 kg;
. Lemon - 1-2 pcs.;
. Water - 200-250 ml;
. Mint, vanilla, coriander, hyssop - optional and to taste.

Cooking method:
The principle of preparation corresponds to five-minute jam, however, first the berries must be properly prepared - sorted, washed under cold running water. It is necessary to cook the jam in several steps of five minutes each (two or three times, with an interval of 5 hours, is enough). During the last cooking, you need to add lemon juice and zest, as well as mint, vanilla, coriander or other herbs (leaves) if desired. The jam turns out to be incredibly tasty, aromatic and healing.

In addition, you can prepare it from sunberry and quince - it turns out very fresh and unusual. How to make sunberry jam?
Ingredients:
. Sunberry berries - 1 kg;
. Japanese quince - 6 pcs. (can be replaced with apples, goes well with Antonovka);
. Barberry - 1 handful of berries;
. Lemon - 1 pc.;
. Granulated sugar - 1.5 kg;
. Purified water - 1.5 cups;
. Lemon balm, mint, cherry leaves, as well as ginger, vanilla, cinnamon - to taste and desire.

Cooking method:
1) Sort and wash the berries;
2) Wash the quince, peel it, grate it;
3) Mix sunberry and quince, add barberry and lemon - mix and leave for 5-6 hours;
4) Add sugar and water (can be cooked), mix thoroughly, cook over medium heat for about half an hour, remove from heat;
5) After 11-12 hours, add herbs or spices as desired and simmer until tender;
6) Place hot jam into sterilized dry jars and roll up.
Enjoy your tea!

Sunberry is a nightshade plant with fairly large black edible berries, for which it is valued by gardeners. It is used in cooking for making compotes, jams, as a filling for pies, fresh, and so on. They have refined taste and aromatic qualities. Because of this, it is rarely used in cooking as a sole ingredient, but, as a rule, mixed with other fruit and berry crops. For example, it is often used to tint and add additional aesthetic appeal to light compotes and preserves. Despite the above, below we will consider a recipe for preparing a one-component compote directly from the “sunny berry”. Other experiments can be left to the discretion of the experimental cook.

Ingredients for making sunberry compote:

• sunberry - 1 kilogram;
• water - 2 liters;
• sugar (sand) - 1 kilogram (here it all depends on taste preferences, but, as practice shows, due to the unexpressed sweetness of sunberry, it is not advisable to take less sugar).

How to make sunberry compote:

1. The first step is the selection of raw materials and it must be approached as responsibly as possible, since only fully ripe blue-black berries will give the compote a pleasant taste. The fact is that in central Russia and more northern regions, berries often ripen unevenly, and they are harvested at the same time.
2. Now the collected ripe sunberries need to be sorted, removing the stalks and discarding the bruised or rotten berries.
3. Sunberries are washed under cold running water and laid out in a single layer on a horizontal surface to dry.
4. The next step is optional and depends entirely on the gastronomic preferences of the cook. Sunberries have a specific taste and aroma of nightshades (also inherent in tomatoes, eggplants, etc.), which will be transferred to the compote when cooked. To minimize these flavor and aromatic properties of sunberry, it must be doused with boiling water three times, each time completely draining the water.
5. Now you can proceed directly to preparing the compote. Each berry must be pierced with a thin needle and placed in an enamel bowl.
6. Now the berries are covered with sugar and left for two hours so that they release their juice.
7. Water is heated to a boil and the berries are poured into it, stirred until the sugar is completely dissolved and filtered.
8. Water mixed with sugar and juice is brought to a boil again and left over medium heat for 10 minutes.
9. The berries are placed in sterilized jars and filled with the resulting syrup.
10. The jars are rolled up with tin lids, turned over and left to cool at room temperature.

The compote is served chilled.