Properties of black currant

General information: black currant is considered to be an old-timer of Russian garden. Without exaggeration, it is the traditional culture of our country that is the favorite in our region: gardening. In the wild, black currant is found in the European part of Russia, Siberia, reaching Lake Baikal. And if in Europe it is only known: din wild species of black currant, then its real kingdom can be called North and South America and Asia. In culture, it was introduced in the Middle Ages at first as a medicinal plant, and later as a berry plant.

Ribes nigrum L. Black currant is a shrub up to 2 m high;in exceptional cases, black currant is grown as a tree. Fruits are black berries. Leaves, fruits and shoots have a characteristic odor. There is a mass of cultivars of black currant. Its leaves and berries are a valuable raw material for the pharmaceutical industry. Berries are processed in the food industry. This plant is useful in beekeeping. The fruits of black currant have an important influence on the metabolism in the human body. They contain a lot of vitamin C - about 10 times more than in a lemon( up to 400 mg in 100 g of mass), then the vitamins of group B. Carotene in black currant more than in orange juice. In the currant there are glucose and fructose, acids( especially citric), a lot of pectin, due to which the blackcurrant is well gelled, anthocyanins, tannins, phytoncides, essential oils, mainly found in leaves and kidneys, bioflavonoids - mostly rutin. Fruits and

leaves of black currant have medicinal properties.

Infusion of dried fruits in folk medicine is used in the treatment of inflammation of the mouth and throat, angina. Fruits have a diuretic effect and are used for rheumatism. Blackcurrant juice is a source of vitamins, it increases the elasticity of blood vessels, it is very useful in pregnancy and for children, as well as for older people. The unpleasant odor in the treatment disappears. Vitamin C in black currant is in a relatively stable connection, so that in properly prepared compotes and juices it is preserved. Black currant fruits also contain mineral substances, mainly calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron. Young leaves after the blossom are collected and dried as a medicine. In leaves there is mainly essential oil( most of it is contained in buds), flavonoid rutin, tannins, vitamin C. Tea from dried leaves is used as a diaphoretic, for colds, rheumatism, inflammation of the ureters, stomach disorders and whooping cough. Fresh leaves of black currant are used as spices when pickling cucumbers and sour cabbage. Tea from them promotes correct metabolism and often serves as an integral part of spring treatment. Black currants can be grown in any garden soil with a supply of nutrients. She tolerates light shading, loves moisture. Cultivated such varieties as "Onyx", "Othello", "Silvegiter", "Karlstejnskaya".From berries of a black currant do jams, juices, syrups, jujube, compotes, liqueurs. They are well used as a filling for the preparation of desserts and additives to fruit soups and sauces. Berries can be dried.

Requirements: currants like sufficiently moist and fertile soils. If the soil is strongly acidic, it must be limed. A place for currants can easily be found even in a shady garden. It not only withstands penumbra, but also berries in this light gives larger.

Most varieties are self-fertile. Consequently, the plant does not depend on pollinators and can grow in plantings of one variety. The undoubted merit of the black currant is its unpretentiousness, but this does not mean that after planting it can be forgotten and remembered only at the time of harvesting. To a currant was productive, you need a good, timely care.

Before planting on a plot of 1 m2, 8-10 kg of organic fertilizers, 200 g of superphosphate granular and 40 g of sulfuric acid potassium are applied. In addition, 8-10 kg of organic fertilizer, 150-200 g of superphosphate granulated and 30-40 g of sulfuric acid potassium are introduced into each landing pit. When preparing the site, remove the rhizomes of perennial weeds( wheat grass, sow, etc.).

Ingredients: sugar, acids, vitamins, pectin( gelling) substances, mineral salts - all this is in the currant, for which it is called a "vitamins storage".According to the content of vitamin C, its berries are inferior only to dog rose and actinidia.

Planting: currant starts growing in early spring, when the ground is not completely thawed. Therefore, planting berries is better in autumn. To grow a powerful harvest bush, with strong root shoots, the currant saplings are planted obliquely, dipping the conditioned root collar 6-8 cm below the soil level. With this planting, additional roots are formed, shoots of renewal appear.

Selection of seedlings

Blackcurrant seedlings must be well branched, with a strong root system, not dried and not damaged during transport.

Two- and one-year-old seedlings are planted. If one-year-old currant seedlings are weak, you can plant 2 seedlings in one direction in different directions to get a more powerful shrub. Each shoot is cut off from the seedling, leaving 2-4 well-developed buds.

This plant is an indispensable inhabitant of garden sites, although it was not until the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century that it was cultivated in Russia. High bushes of black currant exude a kind of thick flavor. You'll tear a large sheet, rub it in your hands, and the characteristic spicy smell will remain on them for a long time. But the currant blooms in May-June completely inconspicuous faded five- and ten-flowered brushes.

In childhood, many even eat green currant berries - it is sour to tears, but it is delicious! And already mature, large, dark-dark blue, almost black, berries, matte gleaming from under the thick foliage - it's just a delight. You take a green branch, pull it away, lift it from the ground, and there, from the wrong side, it's all black from large fragrant brushes. Currant berries appear in July-August, late varieties ripen during September. They are tight, elastic, long retain a fresh look and taste.

Very useful, fragrant and delicious wild currant. You can meet it in the forests of almost the entire European part of Russia, in the Urals, in Siberia. It grows along the banks of rivers and streams, along the outskirts of bogs, in the undergrowth of moist forests. Let the forest berries not so large and beautiful, let them be braided with cobwebs, but taste! But the smell!

To say that currants are rich in vitamins, it means nothing to say. Sending a handful of black berries into your mouth, consider that you ate a whole pack of praised "Tsentrum."These berries have everything: ascorbic acid, carotene, vitamins B and R. In terms of vitamin C content, both fruits and currant leaves occupy one of the first places in the plant world. In the currant, there are a lot of sugars( up to 13%), acids( citric, apple, wine), tannins and coloring substances, salts of calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, manganese, phosphorus.

Black currant berries are good and fresh, and in jam, and in the form of syrups and juices. A dried black currant retains its taste and medicinal properties for two years. If they are properly dried, of course.

Drying technology is as follows: whole mature berries without peduncles are waxed in the sun and dried, if possible, in the attic or in the Russian oven, if not - in the oven or dryer at a temperature of no higher than 65 ° С.Fruits are ready, if, when squeezed in handfuls, they do not stain the palm and dissolve easily, and do not stick together in a lump.

For medical purposes, berries, leaves, buds and currant shoots are used. Berries and leaves - an excellent tool for the treatment and prevention of scurvy, beriberi, improve performance. They are an indispensable component of many vitamin dues. Currant jam, especially not boiled, so-called "fresh", or "raw" is very useful as a preventive and therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis and hypertension. Vitamins in this jam are preserved almost the whole year.

Black currant removes salts of highly toxic metals - mercury, lead, cobalt, strontium and its own toxins, excreted by the body, normalizes the vascular wall, disrupted by irradiation, enhances the formation of red blood cells in the blood, disturbed by irradiation. A huge amount of vitamins and metal salts make black currant especially valuable for the treatment and prevention of radiation injuries, especially for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. With venereal diseases use fresh berries and drink their broth.

In folk medicine, fresh and dried berries are used as a diaphoretic, diuretic and antidepressant. Fresh berry juice is taken with gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcers, gastritis with low acidity of gastric juice. When you cough and hoarseness you will help currant juice with honey.

Water infusion of leaves is used for edema, urinary retention, colds and scrofula in children. Infusion of leaves helps the body get rid of excess uric acid and purine substances, so it must be taken with stones in the kidney and bladder, gout and rheumatism. Baths from decoction of leaves are used for various rashes and skin diseases. Infusion of the leaves of black currant is taken with skin tuberculosis, and the decoction of the leafy branches - with tuberculosis of the lymph nodes.

Young shoots of black currant are an excellent diuretic, diaphoretic and antipyretic. With fever, it perfectly replaces any aspirin.

Tincture of kidneys and currant leaves has long been used as a laxative and to stimulate the action of the adrenal glands.

It will be useful to remember that the content of vitamins in unripe berries is greater than in overripe berries. Therefore, the berries of black currants must be collected quickly, as soon as they are ripe, and necessarily in sunny weather. Leaves can be taken at any time, except for autumn wilting, but better - young, spring. Then, in the spring, as soon as the first leaves appeared, it was time to collect young shoots. Dry the leaves and shoots in a place protected from direct sunlight. Currant kidneys should be collected in the spring, when they swelled and are about to burst.

♦ "Fresh jam" for atherosclerosis and hypertension: 1 part of black currant berries to grind with 2 parts of granulated sugar. Take 1-2 tablespoons 3 times a day.

♦ For atherosclerosis: take 2 parts of the leaves and fruits of black currant and leaves and fruits of hawthorn blood-red, 3 parts of flowers of buckwheat, 4 parts of cinnamon briar. A tablespoon of the mixture is brewed with a glass of boiling water, insist 2-3 hours in a warm place. Strain, take half a cup 3 times a day.

♦ When anemia: take in equal amounts the fruits of black currant and dog rose cinnamon.10 g of mixture pour a glass of boiling water, heat in a water bath for 15 minutes, cool for 45 minutes, strain, squeeze out the raw materials and bring boiled water to the original volume. Take 0.5 glasses 3-4 times a day.

♦ If stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer: fresh berry juice of black currant take half a cup 3 times daily before meals.

♦ With ulcer of the stomach and duodenum: take in equal amounts leaves of black currant, leaves of coltsfoot, leaves of nettle, dicot, grass of yarrow. A tablespoon of collection pour a glass of boiling water, insist 30 minutes. Strain and take in equal parts 3 times a day for 30-40 minutes before meals. The course of treatment is not less than 3 weeks.

♦ Diuretic: a tablespoon of fruit brew like tea with a glass of boiling water and take half a cup 3 times a day.

♦ Diaphoretic, diuretic, antipyretic: 1 part blackcurrant berries pour 10 parts boiling water, boil for 2-3 minutes and slowly cool in a container, tightly closed lid. Take a tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

♦ In case of chronic nephritis: take 2 parts of the leaves of black currant, yarrow herb, white whiteclora and three-parted grass, 3 parts of root of burdock fungus, leaf of wild strawberry and kidneys of birch warty, 4 parts of violet tricolor grass, 6 parts of leafbearberry ordinary.20 g of the mixture boil 10 minutes in 1 liter of water, leave for 10 minutes, drain. Take 2 tablespoons every hour.

♦ When glomerulonephritis: take 1 part black currant leaves, birch leaves leaf, juniper fruits, hop cones of forest, 2 parts of bearberry leaves, large plantain leaves, common cowberry leaves, 3 parts of nettle leaves, horsetail grass,, 4 parts of cinnamon rose hips and 6 pieces of wild strawberry fruit. Two tablespoons of the mixture pour 0.5 liters of water, boil 10-15 minutes, insist 1 hour in a warm place. Strain and take the whole broth warm for 3 times on an empty stomach during the day.

♦ For nephrolithiasis: 60 g black currant leaves, 100 g of wild strawberry leaf and 40 g of common cowberry leaf pour 1 liter of boiling water, insist before cooling, strain. Take a glass 3 times a day.

♦ For nephrolithiasis and cystitis: take 100 g black currant leaves, 60 g of wild strawberry leaf, 30 g of marshmallow flower scepter and 40 g of linden heart flowers. A tablespoon of the ground mixture should be poured into a glass of water, boil for 20-25 minutes, drain. Take 0.5 glasses 2-3 times a day after meals.

♦ For pancreatic diseases: take 1 part of the leaves of black currant and herbs of creeping thyme, 4 parts of black leaves of hood, 2 parts of grass, sprouts, rhizomes, blackberry leaves and blueberry leaves, 3 parts of strawberry leaves. A tablespoon of mixture pour a glass of water, bring to a boil and insist for 1 hour. Take as 1-2 glasses of tea a day.

♦ For skin tuberculosis: 25 g of ground blackcurrant leaves brew 0.6 liters of boiling water, insist 3-4 hours. Take a 0.5-1 glass 4-5 times a day.

♦ For arthritis: take 3 parts of the leaves of black currant and elderberry flowers, 4 parts of hop flowers and horsetail grass, 5 parts of grass, tripartite and 2 parts of nettle leaves. Blend the herbs from the calculation of 4 tablespoons per 1 liter of water with water, bring to a boil, cool, strain. Use for bathtubs.

♦ For joint diseases: 3-5 g dry leaves of black currant, pour a glass of boiling water, insist 10-20 minutes. Take a 0.5-1 glass 2-3 times a day as a tea.

♦ For rheumatism and gout: 25 g of crushed fresh or dry leaves of black currant brew 0.5 liters of boiling water. Insist for 3-4 hours, drain. Take a 0.5-1 glass of 4-5 times a day.

♦ For swelling, urinary retention, catarrhal diseases: 1 part fresh or dry leaves of black currant pour 10 parts of boiling water, insist for 3-4 hours in a tightly closed vessel. Strain and take half a cup 3-4 times a day.

♦ When fever: chop 1 part blackcurrant shoots( possible with young leaves) and brew with 10 parts of boiling water. Take a slightly chilled 0,5-1 cup 3-4 times a day.

♦ With a strong cough: 100 g of fresh juice of black currant berries mixed with a tablespoon of honey or 2 tablespoons of sugar. Take 1-2 tablespoons every 3 hours.

♦ For allergies: 3-5 g of dry leaves of black currant( or 10-15 g fresh), pour a glass of boiling water, soak for 10-15 minutes. Drink like tea 2-3 times a day.

♦ For diathesis and rickets in children: 50 g of a mixture of branches, buds and leaves of black currant pour 1 liter of hot water, boil for 10 minutes. To use on one bath.

♦ For diathesis, rickets and skin diseases: take 2 parts of the leaves of black currant, yarrow grass, nettle flowers deaf, three-parted grass, 3 pieces of burdock root and leaves of strawberry, 4 parts of violet three-color grass and 1 part of leaves of walnutnut.20 g mixture pour 1 liter of water, boil for 10 minutes, cool and strain. Take 30 grams of adults and a tablespoon of children every hour.

♦ For diathesis and skin diseases: take 2 parts of black currant leaves, creeping herbs, 1 part of chamomile and 3 parts of fruits and leaves of cinnamon cinnamon. A tablespoon of mixture pour a glass of water, bring to a boil, insist 30-40 minutes. Take as 1-2 glasses of tea a day.

♦ For venereal diseases: 2 tablespoons dried berries of black currant pour a glass of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, insist 30 minutes, drain. Take 2 tablespoons 4 times a day before meals.

♦ To get rid of freckles: mix 30 g of juice of black currant berries, lemon and juice of the herb calendula officinalis with 40 g of almond oil. Mixture daily lubricate areas of the skin on which there are freckles.

♦ Soothing: take 2 parts of black currant leaves and cinnamon rose hips, 1 part of valerian root and chamomile flowers, 3 parts of thyme creeping herb. A tablespoon of mixture pour a glass of boiling water, insist 30 minutes.strain. Take 0.5-1 glass 2-3 times a day.

♦ Means for the prevention of scurvy, beriberi, radiation diseases: 2 tablespoons of dry berries of black currant brew 2 cups of boiling water, after cooling, drink in 2-4 admission during the day.

♦ Vitamin collection: take in equal parts berries of black currant and hips. One tablespoon of the mixture pour 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes. Insist for 2 hours in a tightly closed container. Take half a cup 3 times a day.

♦ Vitamin collection: 1 part of the currant fruit mixed with 3 parts of rose hips, 3 parts of nettle leaves and 3 parts of the root of carrots. A tablespoon of the collection brew 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes. Insist in a well sealed container for 4 hours. Take half a cup 3 times a day.

♦ Vitamin collection: leaves of black currant, raspberry, lingonberry and hips, mixed in equal parts. Two tablespoons of the mixture to brew a glass of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes. Insist in a well sealed container for 4 hours. Take 0.5 cup 3 times a day.

♦ Vitamin collection: take in equal amounts the fruits of black currant, fruits and leaves of dog rose cinnamon, fruits and leaves of wild strawberry. A tablespoon of the mixture is brewed with a glass of boiling water, insist 15-20 minutes. Take as 1-2 glasses of tea a day.

♦ Vitamin collection: take 1 part of black currant leaves and marjoram common grass and 3 parts of blackberry leaves with sizoy and kostyanika leaves. A tablespoon of the mixture pour a glass of water, bring to a boil, to insist for 1 hour. Drink as a tea with the addition of honey for 1-2 glasses a day. Tones up, improves metabolism.

Unlike many berry and fruit plants, the homeland of black currant is Europe. The glory of the medicinal properties and taste of black currant stretches from ancient times, although the culture of black currant was introduced rather late - by the end of the XVII century. In our country, black currant has been known for a long time and enjoys great love.

Black currant berries are rich in many biologically active substances that are extremely useful for humans. They contain up to 16% of sugars, mostly fructose, about 4% of organic acids( mainly citric and malic), flavonoids, traces of essential oil, pectin and tannins, potassium salts, iron, other minerals, anthocyaninscyanidin and delphinidin and glycosides), coloring agents. But the most important advantage of black currant berries is the high content of vitamins. It is no accident that berries are called a storehouse of vitamins. They contain up to 400 mg% ascorbic acid( vitamin C), vitamins B1, B2, B6, B, E, K, a lot of vitamin P, provitamin A( carotene).

The use of black currant berries and juice from them with medicinal purposes is primarily due to the content of vitamins, iron and potassium salts, pectin and tannins, organic acids in them. Blackcurrant juice is used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular with stomach ulcers and duodenal ulcers, with gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice, hypochromic anemia. Black currant berries and juice from them are a good cardiac remedy. They are taken with violations of the rhythm of cardiac activity, heart defects, atherosclerosis, cardio-neuroses. Juice from berries drink with colds, in particular, juice with honey and sugar is taken with a strong cough and hoarseness, it is recommended for infectious diseases, hemorrhagic vasculitis, paradontosis, glomerulonephritis. Especially valuable are berries of black currant and juice from them as an effective means of treatment and prevention of scurvy and other avitaminosis. It should be noted that unlike many other fruits and berries, black currant contains very few enzymes that destroy vitamin C. Therefore, berries and juice can serve as an excellent source of natural vitamin C throughout the winter and spring.

When you receive juice from black currant berries, you should follow certain rules. To obtain juice should be in closed juicers from food aluminum, steel juicers are not suitable for this, since the juice interacts with the metal and it quickly breaks down vitamin C. Berries of black currant before pressing are heated at 55-60 ° C for 25-30 minutes. To do this, the berries( but not pitted to the end) are placed in a pan, hot water is added( 1 glass of water per 1 kg of berries per 1 calculation), heated with constant stirring and pressed hot.

Family Gooseberries - Grossulariaceae

The Arabic word ribas means "rhubarb with sour petioles".Arriving in Spain, the Arabs began to call this word gooseberry( for the sour taste of its fruits), and only then transferred it to the currant. Specific definition in Latin means "black".

Deciduous shrub 1-2 m high with fluffy, at first light gray or yellowish, then brown shoots. Kidneys with a few leathery scaly scales. Leaves are regular on long petioles, three-stemmed, lean, with wide-triangular acute lobes, the middle of which is larger. On top of the leaves are dark green, matte, glabrous, from below they are pubescent in veins. They have a strong specific flavor, which is enhanced by rubbing between the fingers. Flowers are collected on 5-10 in loose axillary brushes. They are campanulate, 7-9 mm long, pinkish or lilac-gray, pubescent on the outside. The lobes of the corolla are oval, or ovate. Sepals are sharp, bent outward. Fruit - a black or black-brown usually spherical berry, fragrant, with numerous small seeds.

Blossoms in late May - June. Fruits ripen in August.

Geographical spread. Black currant is a widely spread Euro-Asian species, consisting of two varieties - European and Siberian. Plants in the European variety are compact, reach a height of up to 2 m. Shoots pubescent, yellowish-gray. The diameter of the fruit is up to 10 mm. In the Siberian variety the bushes are spreading, up to 1.5, sometimes 1.75 m. Young shoots are brownish or light gray, with age they become dark-brown in color. Fruits larger than the European variety, and reach 15-20 mm in diameter.

Black currant grows from the northern boundaries of the forest-tundra to the Black Sea coast. In the Crimea, it is not. It is widely distributed in Siberia from the Urals to the Lena, in the mountainous forest areas Sayan and Altai, Tuva, Dzhungar and Zailiyskiy Alatau. To the east of Baikal are more frequent currant small-flowered - Ribes pauciflorum Turcz.ex Pojark., as well as currant dikusha - R. dikuscha Fisch.ex Turcz., which grow in the forest areas of the Far East and Eastern Siberia. In Belarus, wild currant grows on the edges of bogs, in boggy forests, especially in alders, where it is often found in significant quantities along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Black currant has long been introduced into the culture as a valuable food and medicinal plant. In Russia it was bred in monastery gardens as far back as the 11th century. Information about her as a healing plant is found in medical institutions and herbalists of the XV-XVI centuries. Its wild-growing thickets were abundantly found along the banks of the Moskva River, which used to be called Smorodinovka. Already at the beginning of the 17th century the black currant occupied a prominent place in the Moscow region gardens.

Currently, black currant is one of the leading berry crops. In Belarus, under the black currant, up to 40% of the entire area of ​​the berry fruit is now taken away. A number of valuable varieties( Minai Shmyrev, Cantata, Pilot Alexander Mamkin, Pavlinka, Belarusian Sweet, etc.) are listed.

Collection and drying. Medicinal raw materials are ripe fruits and leaves. Leaves are collected in June - early July, selectively, tearing off the hands of intact healthy ones. In order not to damage plants, only the middle ones are ripped off, leaving apical and lower leaves. Dry in well ventilated rooms in attics, under canopies, spreading a thin layer on paper or other bedding. Raw materials are gray-green or green dried three-, five-lobed leaves with petioles. The smell is characteristic.

Ripe black currant fruits are harvested usually in August( in the southern regions - in the second half of July).Berries( without peduncles) are collected in the morning after dew drying or at the end of the day. Dry in the air, in the shade or in ovens, ovens, dryers, at a temperature of no higher than 60 °, scattering a thin layer. A combined drying method is also used: within 2-3 days, the fruits are dried in air, then transferred for drying to the dryer.

Medicinal raw materials - fruits( Fructus Ribis nigri).The finished raw material is a shriveled fruit of black or dark purple color from 4 to 10 mm in diameter, with a cone-shaped calyx residue. In the dark violet pulp there are numerous( up to 30 pcs.) Small angular seeds. If a handful of dried berries clench in a fist, they should crumble, not sticking together in a ball and not staining your hands. The smell is weak, specific. The taste is sour.

GOST 21450-75 allows: moisture not more than 18%;admixtures of unripe berries no more than 5%;Burned fruits not more than 3%;fruits, stuck in lumps, not more than 4%;other parts of the plant( stems, stems, remains of leaves and stems) not more than 1%;organic impurity not more than 1%;mineral impurity not more than 0.5%.Dry berries are packed in cloth bags with a net mass of 30-40 kg. Store in a well-ventilated shaded dry room, laying bags on podtovarniki or racks.

Chemical composition. Black currant fruits contain up to 11% of sugars( fructose, glucose, rhamnose), 1.8-4.4% organic acids( lemon, and in small amounts also apple, oxalic, succinic and salicylic), 0.6-1.5% pectin substances, up to 3% fiber. Berries are a valuable multivitamin raw material: 100 g of raw material contains from 50 to 400 mg of ascorbic acid, 0.08 to 0.30 mg of p-carotene, 0.72 mg of vitamin E, 0.12 to 0.15 mg of vitamin B6, 0.3 mg of nicotine and 0.5 mg of pantothenic acids, 0.86-1.8 mg of vitamin K, and a number of other biologically active compounds( vitamins B1, B2, biotin, folic acid, etc.).

The content of ascorbic acid in fruits and leaves depends on many causes - varieties, weather conditions of the growing season, the age of plants, agricultural techniques, etc. Our studies( DK Shapiro, MD Makhtyuk, etc.) showed that the mostrich in vitamin C green fruit, as they mature, C-vitamin decreases and falls sharply when overripe. Young leaves, harvested shortly after flowering, contain up to 400 mg / 100 grams of vitamin C, however, as the fruit forms and ripens, the C-vitaminity of the leaves decreases sharply.

Berries and leaves are rich in phenolic compounds( flavonoids and phenolic acids).Flavonoids of fruits are mainly represented by anthocyanins, flavonols, leucoanthocyanins and catechins with a significant predominance of the first two groups of compounds. In the anthocyanins predominantly derivatives of cyanidin and delphinidin, the main components of the flavonol group are quercetin and its derivatives. The leaves are more rich in phenolic compounds than fruits. Berries contain a lot of potassium and iron, also found barium, boron, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, fluorine and other trace elements. The specific smell of fruits and leaves is caused by essential oil.

Action and application. For medicinal purposes, fruits and leaves are used. Fruits - a multivitamin agent, are recommended for weakened people who have suffered severe illnesses, children, elderly and senile people. Juice, fruit juice, jelly from black currant berries have refreshing properties and are prescribed by a febrile patient. Fruits have astringent, diaphoretic and diuretic effect. They are prescribed in the form of infusion( 1 tablespoon of dry berries per 1 cup of boiling water is insisted before cooling, take 1 / 3-1 / 2 cups 2-4 times a day) or broth( 1.5 tablespoons of dried fruit is poured with 1 glasswater and boil for 30 minutes, take 1 tablespoon several times a day).

Fruits and currant leaves are recommended for atherosclerosis, hypertension and other pathological conditions, characterized by increased fragility of the walls of the capillaries. Due to the high content of vitamin K and flavonoids, prolonged consumption of large quantities of fresh and processed( canned) fruits can increase blood coagulability.

Leaves are used as a good diuretic, antirheumatic and tonic. They are used in the treatment of urolithiasis, rheumatism, liver, kidney and bladder diseases. In folk medicine used in the form of infusions and broths in the treatment of gout and hemorrhoids. In Belarus, they are often used in the treatment of hypertension, and in a decoction of leaves and branches, children are bathed in scrofula.

Currant leaves are used for pickling, pickling and marinating vegetables. Essential oil of fruits and leaves has a bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effect.

Due to the high acidity of berries, their consumption is not recommended for peptic ulcer of stomach and duodenum, liver diseases.

Currant is used both in raw form, and in the form of jam and pasta. Black currant is widely used as a source of vitamin C in the diet of a healthy person, as well as in many diseases, when the body needs vitamin C. The fruits and leaves have anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, diuretic, opposing properties. Apply their calivitis multivitamin( vitamins C and P), as well as to increase the body's resistance, strengthen its compensatory mechanisms, to increase appetite, ie, as a means of restoring the cardiovascular system, with infectious diseases, especially with the phenomena of hemorrhagicdiathesis( inclination to bleeding and hemorrhage), with colds. With gastritis, stomach ulcer, achilias, enteritis take fresh juice from berries 2-3 glasses a day 3 times or use broth and jelly from the currant.

The aqueous infusion of black currant leaves promotes the release of excess urinary and oxalic acids from the body, therefore it serves as a good remedy for rheumatism and gout( 1/2 l of 5% infusion of leaves daily).

In folk medicine, fresh berries are eaten with increased blood pressure, heart disease, liver, sclerosis, stomach, colds and whooping cough.

Fresh juice from berries when consumed 2-3 glasses a day 3 times a day helps with stomach ulcers, achilles and catarrhs, as well as with bowel diseases, regulating its functional activity.

Eat fresh berries and drink a decoction of leaves with venereal diseases, nervous disorders.

Fruits, leaves and kidneys are used as a diuretic( for diseases of the bladder and kidney stones), diaphoretic( for colds).

Decoction of leaves is drunk at elevated blood pressure. Decoction of young branches - with a strong headache, from scrofula( inside and outwardly), to improve metabolism( with massive skin diseases), give drink and bathe in it for children with diathesis and cutaneous tuberculosis.

Hot tea from leaves is used for skin diseases, diseases of the bladder, kidney stones, as a diuretic, with rheumatism, colds, anemia.

Broth of berries : 20 g for a glass of boiling water;Take 1 / 2-1 a glass several times a day( vitamin drink).

Collection: currant leaves - 100 g, ash leaves - 50 g, inflorescence spiraea - 50 g;6-8 g of the mixture brew in 200 ml of boiling water. Take before meals. This fragrant infusion has a good effect on digestion and helps with rheumatism.

Decoction of leaves: 20 g per 200 ml;2 tbsp.spoon 3 times a day.

Infusion : 3-5 grams of leaves per 200 ml of boiling water, 10 minutes to languish, take 2-3 times a day for 1/2 cup with muscle weakness, anemia.

Liquor : berries and alcohol equally, insist, add sugar syrup.

Blackberry currants can be replaced with leaves and berries. Fresh, grated with sugar, the berry is useful( 1-2 spoonfuls) to drink tea with hypertension and atherosclerosis.