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Cherry plum is a fruit plant from the subfamily Plum families Pink. Several subspecies are known, including plum-tkemali, “cherry plum”, mirabolan. Forms with various colors of fruits were identified - red, pink, burgundy, yellow, etc. Cherry plum, plum, one of the original forms of domestic.
In the wild and in cultivation, cherry plum is distributed in mountainous areas in the Tien Shan, the Balkans, Central and Asia Minor, Iran, the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Moldova and southern Ukraine.
In Russia, cherry plum is cultivated in Kursk, Voronezh, Bryansk and other regions. The productivity of an adult tree is up to 300 kg.
Calorie content of cherry plum
Cherry plum is low in calories and amounts to only 27 kcal per 100 grams of product.
Composition and benefits of cherry plum
In their composition, ripe cherry plum fruits contain 4-5% sugar, organic acids, substances. The combination of all these substances in them is very successful, thanks to which both fresh fruits and various seasonings prepared from them contribute to the absorption of meat and fat by the body.
It is interesting that the chemical composition of cherry plum fruits is to a certain extent related to the color of the fruit: yellow-fruited forms have a particularly high sugar content and almost no tannins, while chokeberry cherry plums have a high content.
Cherry plum seeds are also beneficial. From them an oil is obtained that is close in composition to oil - up to 41-43% of its weight in the seeds (not counting the shell). Cherry plum oil, like , contains the glycoside amygdalin (calorizer), which has the ability, in the presence of water and the emulsin enzyme, to decompose into glucose, benzoaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid.
Using cherry plum fruits in cooking
The fruits of the cherry plum are tasty, sweet and sour, used fresh and in canned form (compote, syrups, jam, marmalade, jelly, oriental marshmallow-lavash made from sun-dried puree from mashed plums, marmalade, juice, wine). They are the main component.
An essence is made from cherry plum juice. In the Caucasus, lavash made from the pulp of cherry plum fruit is popular. It is stored for a long time, has a pleasant taste, is valued as a nutritious and dietary product, and prevents the development of scurvy.
The use of cherry plum in production
The shells of cherry plum seeds do not disappear either: back in the 30s, they began to produce activated carbon from it, which was necessary for cleaning a variety of food industry products - from to.
The main use of cherry plum oil is in perfumery and in the production of medical soaps (calorizator). And the meal remaining after oil extraction contains up to 73% protein and is an excellent raw material for the production of vegetable casein.
Cherry plum has several names, for example, spreading plum or cherry plum. The life form is a tree or shrub; there are both cultivated varieties and wild species. The fruits are fleshy, up to 3-4 cm in diameter, with a seed inside. The color of cherry plum at full maturity can range from yellow-green to red-orange, purple and almost black.
Green cherry plum at the moment of full maturity can have either a rich green color or a pink or yellow blush on top of the main color. The fruits of green cherry plum are useful because they are sources of vitamins:
- group B;
A decoction of green cherry plum is used:
- with acute lack of vitamin C;
- for rinsing gums to reduce their bleeding and looseness;
- for various inflammations of the respiratory system;
- to increase appetite;
- as an antipyretic.
Green cherry plum is used to make a seasoning with the addition of salt, which promotes faster digestion of meat and fatty foods.
Juice and decoction of cherry plum can be used not only internally, but also externally. Green cherry plum pulp, included in cosmetic masks, relieves inflammation, tightens pores, and removes age spots.
Green cherry plum and dishes made from it should be excluded from the diet of people suffering from stomach ulcers and gastritis with high acidity.
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The benefits and harms of Azerbaijani cherry plum
On the territory of Azerbaijan there are both wild and cultivated cherry plums. Depending on the region of growth, the fruits may differ slightly, but, as a rule, they have thin skin and delicate flesh, are quite large (up to 40 - 45 mm in diameter) and very juicy. They can perfectly satisfy not only hunger, but also thirst: the water content in cherry plum juice reaches 89-90%.
The benefit of Azerbaijani cherry plum, first of all, is that its low sugar content allows the fruit to be included in the diet of patients with diabetes, both in fresh and processed form, if no sugar was added to the final product.
The minimal amount of light-colored tannins in cherry plum makes it useful for digestive disorders. Various sauces can be prepared from the fruits of Azerbaijani cherry plum, which have a positive effect on digestion and reduce harm from fatty foods.
People with stomach and duodenal ulcers and individual intolerance will have to give up cherry plum.
Harm and benefits of red cherry plum
Red-colored cherry plum fruits differ from yellow ones in their high content of anthocyanins. It is anthocyanins that give fruits their red or purple color. By their chemical nature, cherry plum anthocyanins belong to plant glycosides. They have a beneficial effect on:
- digestion due to excess fat consumption;
- relieving inflammation from the intestines and improving its functioning;
- discharge of bile.
Polyphenols and vitamin C, which red cherry plum contains, perfectly cleanse blood vessels and increase blood clotting.
Red cherry plum decoctions are good at thinning mucus and calming the nervous system. They can also be used externally to relieve inflammation from the skin of the face and to lighten it.
It is harmful to eat cherry plum for people with gout, heartburn and high acidity.
Cherry plum is a close relative of plum. This plant is also called tkemali and cherry plum. The range of applications of cherry plum is incredibly wide: food industry, traditional medicine, cosmetology, design, cooking. But this is not a complete list of industries in which this tree and its fruits are actively used by humans. This popularity is due to the fact that there is practically no waste when processing the mentioned fruit. Even the seeds have been used: the outer shell is used to produce activated carbon, and the contents are used to make various cosmetic oils.
Useful properties of cherry plum
The pulp of the cherry plum fruit is very valuable - only 35 kcal per 100 g of product. Fresh fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, its amount can reach 13 mg per 100 g. Green cherry plum is also incredibly rich in vitamins E, PP, A, B, P, as well as fiber and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium and iron . An interesting feature of cherry plums is that the proportions of minerals and vitamins directly depend on the color. Thus, the Shater variety of cherry plum has large yellow-green fruits, incredibly rich in vitamin C and citric acid, while the iron content in them is much less than, for example, in the orange-pink fruits of the Gek variety.
What are the benefits of green cherry plum?
Even the unripe fruits of this tree can be incredibly beneficial. Green cherry plum contains a huge amount of citric acid, the content of which can reach 14% of dry volume. This means that unripe specimens are best suited for cheap industrial production of this type of acid. In cooking, green cherry plum serves as an excellent addition to various meat dishes: side dishes and sauces containing unripe cherry plum fruits not only give the dish a piquant taste, but also improve its digestibility.
While cherry plum is green, it is also an excellent antioxidant. Therefore, cosmetologists recommend using this product as one of the components for various programs of rejuvenation and cleansing of the body. For example, a mask made from crushed seeds and cherry plum pulp can restore freshness to the face after a long hot day. It is especially useful for those with oily and sensitive skin. However, when creating a list of necessary procedures using a fruit such as green cherry plum, you should carefully read the contraindications.
The use of cherry plum in the household
Everyone knows that heat treatment often destroys almost all the vitamins and nutrients contained in raw materials. However, cherry plum fruits are so rich in these very substances that even in jam, compotes and other types of preservation, green cherry plum is still incredibly useful. Supporters of a raw food diet can be recommended to dry or freeze these unique gifts of nature.
Green cherry plum in folk medicine and cosmetology
Traditional healers often recommend cherry plum decoction as an excellent remedy for improving digestion and appetite. It will be especially useful for people suffering from Cherry plum - an excellent antipyretic, diaphoretic and anti-inflammatory agent, therefore decoctions and infusions are prepared from the roots of this fruit tree and are used in the treatment of colds.
One can talk about the beneficial properties of green cherry plum for hours... However, the amount of information that the reader will glean from our article is quite enough to arouse interest in this amazing product.
Botanical name: Cherry plum, or spreading plum (Prunus nodivaricata Ldb), or cherry-like plum, a species of fruit trees from the genus Plum of the Rosaceae family, the most valuable representative of wild plums, the original form of domestic plum.
Homeland of cherry plum: Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Iran.
Lighting: photophilous.
The soil: any soil neutral reaction.
Watering: drought-resistant.
Maximum tree height: 13 m.
Average lifespan of a tree: 45 years, some specimens - up to 60 years.
Landing: propagated by seeds, layering and grafting.
Biological description of the cherry plum fruit in the photo
A fruit tree, branched, with one or several trunks, in the southern regions reaches a height of 15 m, in the northern regions it grows no higher than 4-5 m, sometimes it looks like a large shrub.
The trunk of the cherry plum tree is about 50 cm thick, the shoots are reddish-brown, prickly, the crown is spherical-spreading, less often pyramidal, thickened in most varieties.
The root system is superficial, powerful, on loose soils it penetrates to a depth of up to 12 m, on denser soils – up to 2 m, and spreads laterally up to 10 m, going beyond the crown. Root shoots rarely develop, only when the roots are damaged.
The leaves are simple, oval or oblong, with a pointed tip, up to 4 cm long, dark green in summer, yellow in autumn. The culture is characterized by a high degree of bud awakening, due to which overgrowing branches appear even on skeletal branches.
Cherry plum tree blooms
Cherry plum flowers (see photo below) are white and light pink, with yellow or orange anthers, with a diameter of 20 to 40 mm, located on long stalks of 1, less often 2 pieces. They appear in large numbers on annual and overgrowing shoots, simultaneously and sometimes even before foliage; during this period the trees are very decorative. Cherry plum blooms in early May for 7-11 days, sometimes in the fall there is a weak re-bloom.
The crop is distinguished by its exceptional precocity, it begins to bear fruit 3 years after planting, and some varieties lay flower buds in the nursery. The fruits are a round or elongated, sometimes flattened drupe with a slight longitudinal groove, weighing from 3-6 g in wild varieties, up to 60 g in cultivated varieties. The pulp of the fruit is green, yellow or pink, watery or gristly consistency, with a sweet and sour taste. The color of the peel can be green-yellow, yellow, red, purple and even black, depending on the variety; the fruits have a white waxy coating and a seed that is difficult to separate from the pulp; they ripen in August-September.
Use of cherry plum in culture
In the wild, the tree grows not only in Transcaucasia, which is traditionally considered the birthplace of the culture, but over a vast territory from the foothills of the Alps to the northern foothills of the Himalayas. Found in undergrowth and bushes along river banks. It has long been cultivated in gardens; cherry plum was used as a fruit for food back in the 1st-3rd centuries.
Until the middle of the last century, due to insufficient frost resistance, it was grown only in warm regions, but now, thanks to the selection work carried out, new varieties have appeared that feel good in Central Russia, the Moscow region and the more northern Leningrad region; they have begun to be grown even in the Far East . Winter-hardy forms were obtained mainly by crossing cherry plum with a related species, Chinese plum, the wood of which can withstand temperatures down to -50 ° C.
The plant is valued for its healthy and tasty fruits, which are consumed fresh, as well as in the form of compotes, jams, marmalades and marshmallows; various sauces and seasonings are prepared from them; dried cherry plum completely replaces prunes. There are decorative forms with variegated or red foliage, as well as with a weeping or pyramidal crown, from which alleys, hedges and borders are formed. In addition, green cherry plum is used for the industrial production of citric acid, which is not only found in large quantities in unripe fruits (up to 14% of dry weight), but can also be easily and cheaply extracted.
The advantages of the crop include unpretentiousness to soils, drought resistance, early fruiting and high annual yield, up to 300 kg per mature tree. The plant has a long lifespan, up to 45-60 years, while it actively bears fruit for 20-25 years.
Cherry plum also has a number of disadvantages, the main one of which is still insufficient winter hardiness. At low temperatures in winter, damage to wood is possible; a short period of dormancy causes the beginning of the growing season during prolonged warming, which leads to damage to the awakened buds when cold weather returns. In addition, most varieties are self-sterile, so for successful pollination there should be at least 2-3 of them in gardens.
Varieties of cherry plum in the photo
As mentioned above, cherry plum has two scientific names, plum, spread and cherry-like plum, while among taxonomists it is customary to use the first name for wild-growing ones, and the second for cultivated forms of the plant.
In addition, the species is divided into three significantly different subspecies or varieties: typical, or Caucasian wild, oriental, or Central Asian wild, and large-fruited. The first two subspecies include the wild cherry plum, which grows in the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Caucasus (typical or Caucasian cherry plum), or in Iran and Afghanistan (eastern cherry plum).
Large-fruited cherry plum includes all cultivated forms of the plant grown in gardens. In turn, this subspecies is also conventionally divided into a number of varieties characteristic of a particular cultivation region. A distinction is made between Georgian, Crimean, Iranian, Armenian, Tauride and red-leaved cherry plum (pissarda), and recently some experts have proposed separately considering the Balkan and Indian forms.
This division is due to significant differences between plants caused by different purposes of their cultivation in different regions. For example, the Georgian subspecies, or the tkemali group, is mainly red cherry plum with a tart and sour taste, intended for making hot sauces, and when growing the Crimean variety, emphasis was placed on large fruit and dessert taste.
Cherry plum pissard with pink and red leaves, flowers and fruits is used as an ornamental plant, although it has a number of forms with large fruits of good taste.
Most domestic large-fruited varieties were created on the basis of Crimean cherry plum. Among them there are trees with yellow, red, orange, purple and even black fruits. Interestingly, the color of the fruit has a significant impact on its chemical composition.
Thus, yellow cherry plum contains many carotenoids, sugars and citric acid, it contains practically no pectins, chokeberry, on the contrary, is rich in pectins, as well as anthocyanins, which protect the body from cancer and atherosclerosis.
Among modern promising developments, it is necessary to note the columnar cherry plum, created by the domestic breeder G. B. Eremin. This compact form is characterized by the fact that the fruits grow along the trunk and there are practically no branches.
Such a tree takes up little space, does not require pruning, is easy to treat with chemicals, and harvesting is also easy. The fruits of this cherry plum are large, up to 40 g, burgundy, with tasty yellow pulp, and the form is frost-resistant.
Finally, one cannot fail to mention such an important feature of the culture as the ability to cross with plants of related genera, thereby producing fertile offspring. Thus, it has been established that the well-known nectarine is a natural intergeneric hybrid of cherry plum and peach, Fergana plum, growing in the Tien Shan and Pamirs, is a natural hybrid of cherry plum and almond, etc. This property of cherry plum provides breeders with ample opportunities to create various cultural interspecific hybrids.
