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Aronia Berries


Overview

Aronia berry (Aronia melanocarpa) is commonly known as “black chokeberry,” although the preferred common name used by individuals who sell the berries or products made from them is “black aronia berry” or simply “aronia.” Aronia berry is a woody, perennial shrub that is native to the eastern United States and was well known to Native Americans and early settlers. It grows in full sun and along woodland edges (Hardin 1973). In recent years, most of its native habitat has been lost to field crops and urbanization.

Aronia berries are firm, one-quarter inch in diameter and produced in loose clusters of 10 to 15 berries at the ends of shoots. The fruit are ripe in September and have a long harvest window of four to six weeks. Fruit can be set without pollination or fertilization. The fruit and the foliage are little, if at all, affected by insects or diseases. Birds do not eat the newly ripened fruit but, if not harvested, songbirds and game birds will eat the fruit during the winter (Hardin 1973).

Aronia is a plant that has benefited from increased interest in phytonutrients, plant compounds that have beneficial effects on human health. Evidence of health benefits is accumulating from large population studies, human feeding studies and cell culture studies. Interest in “eating healthy” has led to worldwide growth in the popularity of aronia berries and products made from them. This in turn has led to the planting of aronia as an alternative cash crop in the Midwest (Trinklein 2007).  January 2010 . . .  Aronia Berries

 
Sources

Hardin, James W., 1973, The enigmatic chokeberries (Aronia, Rosaceae), Bulletin of the Botanical Club 100(3):178-184.

Trinklein, David, 2007, Aronia: A Berry Good Plant, Missouri Environment and Garden,13(9):86.

 

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Links checked January 2010.

 

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