By Connie Hardy, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University, chardy@iastate.edu, and based on a report by Eldon Everhart, Iowa State University Extension.

Reviewed July 2011.

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).

This plant should not be confused with chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), which is also a native American plant somewhat similar to aronia in appearance, but whose leaves, stems and seeds contain toxic amounts of prussic acid (Trinklein 2007). About the only thing the two plants have in common are their sound-alike common names. To avoid confusion, aronia is the common name most often used for Aronia melanocarpa.

Planting and Agronomic Data
Planting of aronia in the United States for berry production was established in 1997 at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Oregon. The soil was a clay loam with a pH of 5.7. The cultivars evaluated were ‘Albigowa,’ ‘Darbrowice,’ ‘Egerta,’ ‘Kutno,’ ‘Nero’ and ‘Nowa Wies.’ All cultivars grew vigorously in the planting year. The highest yield was in Nero, with 27.3 pounds per plant or the equivalent of 8.9 tons per acre in 1999, the third year of the planting, and 53.1 pounds per plant (17.4 tons per acre) in year five. Hand-picking efficiency data was not kept separately for each cultivar. The average hand-picking efficiency across all cultivars was 16.1 pounds per hour in harvest years 2000 and 2001.

Machine harvest efficiency was not a part of this study. However, a commercial grower in Oregon has successfully machine harvested aronia berries using an over-the-row rotary harvester with the beater speed set high. No insect or disease pests were observed on any of the cultivars tested. In 1998, there was no fruit harvest due to bird depredation. The plot was netted from 1999 to 2001. The researchers' findings show that aronia was easy to grow in Oregon, aronia plants were very precocious and cultivars differed significantly in yield (Strik, Finn and Wrolstad 2003).

According to Dr. Chad Finn, aronia research at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center was not continued after 2001. Finn says that bird depredation seems to be an indicator of when to harvest. The best time to harvest is as soon as the crows start showing interest. However, Finn’s opinion is that bird depredation is not a limiting problem. As far as is known, there are no commercial aronia berry plantings currently in Oregon. According to Finn, one blueberry grower grew 1 to 3 acres for 6 to 8 years but recently tore them out because it was hard to compete with Eastern Europe even when the aronia berries were machine harvested.

Aronia plants live for several decades. They are deciduous, woody shrubs with 40 or more canes per bush at maturity. As a native North American plant, they are well adapted to a wide range of soil types. They stand wet sites and can survive on dry soils. The optimum pH range of 6 to 7, but plants may produce fruit on very acid soils (pH 5) and on very alkaline soils (pH 8.5). Adaptable and easy-to-grow, aronia thrives in full sun or partial shade in wet or dry soils, according to Jan Riggenbach, a syndicated columnist who has grown aronia plants for more than 30 years. Riggenbach has never seen any kind of pest on the foliage or fruit, and her plants have never suffered from any disease (Riggenbach 2008). Japanese beetles and other insect pests in her garden leave her aronia plants alone.

Two years after planting, aronia shrubs produce about two pounds of berries per bush. By the third year after planting, berry production is about 10 to 15 pounds per bush. Production levels off at 30 to 40 pounds per plant by the fifth year in commercial plantings in western Iowa. On mature plantings in Eastern Europe, yields as high as 37 pounds per bush have been reported. The average yield is around 23 pounds per bush in Eastern Europe (Trinklein 2007).

The berries can be harvested by hand or with a mechanical harvester. In Europe, aronia berries are harvested with a machine that is similar to the blueberry harvesters used in the United States (Trinklein 2007). Oxbo International Corporation offers the Korvan line of blueberry harvesters that include self-propelled and tow-behind models. Oxbo has manufacturing locations in New York, Wisconsin and Washington State.

Planting density for machine harvest is about 620 plants per acre. For mechanical harvest, plants are spaced four to five feet apart in rows that are 10 to 12 feet apart. Numerous suckers are produced from the roots and fill in the space between the plants like a hedgerow.

Commercial Aronia Production
Commercial aronia berry production in the United States is in its early stages of development. Current production is centered in western Iowa, but production does not meet the current demand. In the last two years, 45 of the clients who have contacted Eldon Everhart about aronia berries have planted aronia plants. Most growers start with one-half to five acres. These new growers include 27 in Iowa, 7 in Nebraska, 2 each in Missouri and Oregon, and 1 each in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and South Dakota. At least 40 new acres have been planted in the United States in the last two years. In addition, about 35 acres of aronia in western Iowa are more than two years old. The estimated total number of commercial acres of aronia berries currently in the United States is 75 to 100. Many of the new growers are planning to at least double their acres within the next year. Everhart believes that there was at least 250 acres of aronia in Iowa by fall 2009.

In the last few years, an increasing amount of fruit concentrate and dried or powered berries has been imported into the United States from Eastern Europe. Products made from aronia berries are also gaining in popularity in Japan and other Asian countries.

Public interest in eating healthy, the antioxidants and organic products are driving the interest in aronia as a commercial, easy-to-grow organic crop, according to Charlie Caldwell, an aronia grower in Iowa. Caldwell believes more research is needed, especially on production practices and marketing. He sees the market increasing, as more people learn about the fruit (Sagario 2008).

Aronia has been grown as a commercial berry crop in most Eastern European countries since the 1950s. Large-scale commercial cultivation of aronia started in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s and reached 43,984 acres in 1984 (Kask 1987). According to the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Warsaw, there were 11,119 acres in Poland in 2004. One year later the number had grown to 12,355 acres. One Polish company alone sold 40,000 tons of aronia juice (Kampuse and Kampuss 2006). In Europe, new business startups that use aronia berries as an ingredient have increased from just two launches in 1997 to 108 in 2007 (McNally 2008).

Uses of Aronia
U.S. growers of aronia tend to be fans and promoters of the berries, largely due to the concentration of antioxidant compounds. Many growers have developed recipes including aronia berries and have developed products such as jams, jellies, juices, sauces and salsas that they sell along with whole, frozen aronia berries, both in local markets and via print and Internet advertising. 

Aronia’s high anthocyanin and polyphenol content yield deep reddish-purple hues and color, astringent sensory properties that are desirable in the finished product. For juice and food processors using aronia for color, aronia can contain up to 2,000 mg/l of anthocyanins (Janick and Paul 2008). These compounds are also useful in wine making, particularly in dry red wines for color and astringency. According to New Hope Natural Media Online, "aronia (chokeberry) juice" is an acceptable natural coloring agent.

Well-known food and beverage producers have included aronia juice in products such as: 

• Pepsi – used in Sobe.
• SunOpta – makers of Amp Energy drinks.
• Hipp organics

Health Benefits
Aronia is the new “superfood” in town, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Antioxidant-containing foods are being recommended by doctors and nutritionists as important additions to a healthy diet (Sepulveda 2008). Scientists now agree that one of the best ways to protect against the killer diseases of aging is to consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Even those who manage to consume the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables may not be obtaining enough antioxidant protection to ward off cancer, cognitive decline and cardiovascular disease (Cherlet 2008).

Medical research has documented many health benefits of aronia berries. Most of the effects of aronia berries are due to their high antioxidative activity (Broncel et al. 2007; Naruszewicz et al. 2007; Olas et al. 2008; Skupien et al. 2008; Valcheva-Kuzmanova et al. 2007). Currently, there is no data in the literature about any unwanted side effects of aronia fruits, juice or extracts (Kulling and Rawel 2008 and 2006).

Aronia berries top the list of more than 100 foods that have been scientifically tested for antioxidant capacity, according to Dr. Xianli Wu, a researcher at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock. Wu believes aronia berries have a huge potential to be a healthy food. Other researchers have looked at how aronia affects cardiovascular disease, colon and breast cancers, liver failure and obesity. (Sagario 2008)

Many others have testified to the health-promoting, anti-aging effects of aronia. Information can be found at Web sites such as:

• Orenda International, Tempe, Arizona.
  
• Sawmill Hollow Organic Farm, Missouri Valley, Iowa.
  
• Superberries, Omaha, Nebraska.

For more information, see  Antioxidant Activity and Polyphenols of Aronia in Comparison to Other Berry Species (Jakobek et al. 2007), a study of antioxidant compounds found in aronia and other berries.

Nutrient Composition
Aronia berries and products made from them are gaining in popularity due largely to the rising interest in eating healthier foods. The berries are high in vitamins, minerals and folic acids. They are also one of the richest plant sources of phenolic substances, mainly proanthocyanins and anthocyanins. Laboratory tests have shown that proanthocyanins represent 66 percent and anthocyanins represent about 25 percent of total polyphenols. These chemical compounds are water-soluble pigments that give aronia berries their dark purple or nearly black color (Oszmianski and Wojdylo 2005).

Initial tests on aronia grown in Iowa show that juice has a pH of 3.5, titratable acidity of 8.2 and a total solids content of 6.9 degrees Brix. HPLC analysis showed that succinic acid, malic acid, quinic acid, acetic acid, citric acid and ascorbic acid were present. Glucose, fructose and possibly sorbitol made up the carbohydrate portion of the juice. By comparison, a commercial juice sample from Germany was tested. This juice had a pH of 3.4, titratable acidity of 13.0 and total solids content of 15.4 degrees Brix. HPLC analysis showed that the same acid and carbohydrate compounds were present but in different proportions.

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) values are cited by nutraceutical processors as the most important indicator of juice quality because they are using aronia for its high antioxidant activity components. ORAC is considered an acceptable laboratory method for estimating the antioxidant activity of foods in human tissue. USDA's table of ORAC values lists the value for raw chokeberry (aronia) at 15,280 umol TE/100 g, nearly three times the value in blueberries and blackberries and one and one-half times the value in black currants and cranberries (USDA 2007).
 

Cherlet, Alison. 2008. The Disease-Fighting Power of Berries. Life Extension magazine 9:1-2.

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

Jakobek, L., M. Seruga, M. Medvidovic-Kosanovic and I. Novak. 2007. Antioxidant Activity and Polyphenols of Aronia in Comparison to other Berry Species, J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia, Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, Vol. 72 (No. 4) - This study evaluated the total polyphenols, total anthocyanins and antioxidant activity of various berries, including aronia. Aronia contained the highest amounts of polyphenols and anthocyanins among the berries studied and showed the highest antioxidant activity as well.

Janick, J. and R.E. Paul. 2008. Aronia melanocarpa – black chokeberry. The encyclopedia of fruits & nuts. Jules Janick edition. CABI. 622-623.

Kampuse, S. and K. Kampuss. 2006. Suitability of raspberry and blackcurrant cultivars for utilization of frozen berries in dessert and for getting of products with high contents of bio-active compounds. NJF seminar 391.

Kask, K. 1987. Large-fruited black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa). Fruit Varieties Journal 41: 47.

Kulling, S.E. and H.M. Rawel. 2008. Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) - A Review on the Characteristic Components and Potential Health Effects. Planta Medica 74(13):1625-1634.

Kulling, S.E. and H.M. Rawel. 2006. Current knowledge of Aronia melanocarpa as a medicinal plant. Folia Medica 48(2):11-7.

McNally, Alex. 2008. Demand for superfruit aronia rockets. Decision News Media. January 8.

Naruszewicz, M., I. Laniewska, B. Millo and M. Dluzniewski. 2007. Combination therapy of statin with flavonoids rich extract from chokeberry fruits enhanced reduction in cardiovascular risk markers in patients after myocardial infraction (MI). Atherosclerosis 194(2):e179-84.

Olas B., B. Wachowicz, A. Tomczak, J. Erler, A. Stochmal and W. Oleszek. 2008. Comparative anti-platelet and antioxidant properties of polyphenol-rich extracts from: berries of Aronia melanocarpa, seeds of grape and bark of Yuccaschidigera in vitro Platelets 19(1):70-7.

Oszmianski, Jan and Aneta Wojdylo. 2005. Aronia melanocarpa phenolics and their antioxidant activity. European Food Research and Technology 221(6): 809-813.

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods – 2007, Nutrient Data Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center and Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA, 2007 - This table of ORAC values will provide the user with a listing of antioxidant capacity as measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity method for a number of food items.

Riggenbach, Jan. 2008. Midwest native black chokeberry is a favorite. Globe Gazette, October 10.

Sagario, Dawn. 2008. It’s the berries. The Des Moines Register, September 21.

Sepulveda, Alaine. 2008. Move Over Acai -- Aronia Surges to the Top of the Superfood List. Wall Street Journal Digital Network.

Skupien, K., D. Kostrzewa-Nowak, J. Oszmianski and J. Tarasiuk. 2008. In vitro antileukaemic activity of extracts from chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa[Michx] Elliott) and mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves against sensitive and multidrug resistant HL60 cells. Phytotherapy Research 22(5):689-94.

Strik, B., C. Finn and R. Wrolstad. 2003. Performance of Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) in Oregon. Acta Hort. 626:439-443.

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

Valcheva-Kuzmanova., S., K. Kuzmanov, S. Tancheva and A. Belcheva. 2007. Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of Aronia melanocarpa fruit juice in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 29(2):101-5.

Developed January 2010 and updated July 2011.