Thorn - beneficial properties and contraindications. The invaluable benefits of prickly thorns for humans

The sloe berry, whose beneficial properties we will consider in detail today, has a very astringent taste and gives dishes a sweet and sour taste. Where do thorns grow? We call thorn both the berries and the bush on which they grow. The shrub is distributed mainly in western Siberia, Europe, and also in the Lower Volga region. It is also commonly called sour plum, oat or prickly plum, black thorn and goat berry. People in different parts of Russia and Ukraine plant it near their homes.

This branchy tree can reach a height of up to four meters, and small thorns can be seen on its branches. The fruits taste astringent and sour, they are quite small, their color varies from black to dark blue, and they are covered with a so-called waxy coating on top.

Sloes are a berry that has a rather astringent taste, and you can’t eat a lot of it fresh. Therefore, such fruits are best suited for canning, in particular for making compotes and jam. This will result in very tasty sweet and sour culinary dishes. But despite the fact that the taste of fresh berries is not very attractive, such fruits are very beneficial for the body.

What are the benefits of sloe, what are the properties of the berries?

The beneficial properties of thorns are such that its fruits help cope with many ailments. In particular, the berries of this shrub are effective against nonspecific colitis, food poisoning, toxic infections, as well as dysentery, and also against giardiasis, since the juice of these fruits has an antibacterial effect.

Jam made from fruits is good to use to stimulate the appetite. In addition, sloe jam helps cope with some intestinal diseases, and is also used for bladder pathologies. It is useful to drink the juice in case of nosebleeds; it is used to gargle the throat and mouth, as it has a disinfectant effect due to the substances present in the berries.

The juice is used for some pathological skin processes. In addition, if you fry the leaves of this plant together with the fruits, you can get a product similar to regular ground coffee; accordingly, you can replace it with similar raw materials.

Does thorn have contraindications for use?

In addition to the benefits of the thorn, it is worth mentioning the contraindications to its use. As for berries, they should not be consumed fresh by patients with hyperacid gastritis (when acidity is increased), since the fruits are quite sour and this can cause a deterioration in health, heartburn, and epigastric pain. Accordingly, you should not eat these berries if you have a peptic ulcer.

And if you subject them to heat treatment, in particular, cook delicious jam from thorns or prepare compote, jam or juice, then you can consume these culinary dishes in small quantities if you have a disease of the digestive tract, but you should exercise maximum moderation so as not to harm your health.

How to cook thorns, what are the best recipes using them?

Flavored jam recipe

Jam made from sloe berries is a wonderful sweet product, many will like it, all that remains is to find out how to prepare this delicacy? And the recipe is quite simple. To make it you will need sugar and fresh fruits.

So, the blackthorn fruits should be soaked in water for a while, then it is recommended to remove the seeds from them, since with them the sweet delicacy will not be very good. Of course, if you don’t have time, then you don’t have to bother removing them.

Now the prepared berries should be placed in a saucepan. After that, the fruits are covered with granulated sugar in a 1:1 ratio, then the container with the future jam can be left for some time, until the blackthorn tree releases juice, thus forming syrup in the container. It is best to leave it like this overnight.

In the morning, when the juice appears, you can begin further preparing the jam, that is, the pan should be brought to a boil, but you should not carry out the thermal process for a long time, it is best to boil it for five minutes and leave for two hours.

Then you should boil the jam again for about ten minutes and you can put it in jars. If heat treatment is carried out for a long time, then the fruits will lose their shape and turn into so-called porridge, which is not very good. It's always nice when you find whole berries in a sweet treat.

Jars for jam should first be prepared, for this they are sterilized under steam or boiled, then you can put the jam and roll up the container with a tin lid. Next, it is recommended to turn the jars over and cover them with a warm blanket. After the preservation has cooled, it should be stored in cool conditions.

This jam is a very healthy delicacy; it is good to eat with tea, and you can also use it as a filling for aromatic confectionery baked goods, in particular for rolls and muffins, and also add it to open pies. It will taste tart-sweet with some sourness, which is vaguely reminiscent of plum jam.

It is worth noting that this jam has an antiseptic effect, has a diuretic effect, in addition, it is effective in cases of impaired intestinal motility when a person has diarrhea, since the substances present in the delicacy exhibit a so-called fixative effect.

In addition, this jam perfectly increases appetite, so it can be taken by those who have digestive problems that result in a reluctance to eat food.

Conclusion

Be sure to use sloe, as it has beneficial qualities, and it is also good for culinary purposes; many people will like the jam made from it.

» Plums

Humanity in the process of evolution has learned to benefit from almost everything. The thorn, known from biblical legends, was no exception, because it was from its thorny branches that the crown for Jesus Christ was woven. Despite the sad glory, this plant has medicinal properties, and its fruits are used in cooking. Let's take a closer look at this plant, what benefits and harm it can bring to the human body.

Thorn is a fairly tall shrub, growing up to 3.5-4.5 m in height.. Some species are presented in the form of low-growing trees up to 5 m high. The thorny branches are completely covered with sharp spines.

The plant blooms in April-May, depending on the region of growth. The sloe blossom is very beautiful– at first, white flowers abundantly cover the branches of the bush, and after a while the leaves open. During flowering, bees collect pollen and nectar, so the plant is classified as a honey plant.

Sloe leaves reach a length of 5 cm and have an elliptical shape with jagged edges.. The brownish-reddish wood of the shrub is used to make a variety of small-diameter carpentry and turning products and is valued for its strength and hardness.

It is found in steppe and forest-steppe zones, on the edges of forests and cutting areas, steep river banks and along roadsides, often forming impenetrable thickets. The roots of thorn bushes strengthen slopes well and prevent soil erosion, so they are planted along river banks and in ravines. In landscape design, shrubs are used as hedges.

The plant's habitat includes Western Europe, Asia Minor, Iran, Tatarstan, Ukraine, the European part of Russia, Crimea and the Caucasus, and in the mountains the shrub is found at an altitude of 1200-1600 m above sea level.

Sloe fruits are black and blue in color, round in shape and about 12 mm in diameter.. The outer part of each fruit is covered with a bluish waxy coating, and inside there is one wrinkled bone.

Calorie content and chemical composition

The chemical composition of sloe varies depending on the geographic region, but the base remains the same. The fruits contain:

glucose, sucrose and fructose;
pectin;
tannins and aromatics;
organic acids;
vitamins A, C, E, B₁, B₂, PP;
iron, potassium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, cobalt, zinc, manganese, chromium;
essential oil.

The energy value of fresh sloe fruits is 49-54 kcal per 100 g.

The tart and sour wild plum berries ripen in July-August, but they are not picked at this time because they are practically inedible, due to their high tannin content.

Fruit harvesting usually begins after the first frost. During the freezing process, the chemical composition of sloe fruits changes - the amount of organic acids and tannins decreases, the berries lose their astringency and become tasty.

From one adult damson bush, up to 12-15 kg of fruits are collected, which are characterized by good shelf life and transportability.

Beneficial properties of terene for the human body

If in many medicinal plants one part has healing power, then the thorn is unique in this regard - not only its berries, but also leaves, roots, flowers, branches and bark are used for medicinal purposes.

fruit fruit

Sloe berries are eaten fresh, and also dried or prepared from them into jams, preserves, and pasteurized juices. The fruits of this fruit have many beneficial properties.:

normalize microflora and improve intestinal motility, relieve flatulence;
remove harmful substances from the body and reduce slagging;
relieve insomnia, increased irritability, nausea and shortness of breath;
reduce and normalize patients’ weight. A specially developed diet includes sloe berries, which help burn fat deposits and normalize metabolic processes;
strengthens the walls of blood vessels, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the blood, reduce the risk of developing heart disease;
improve kidney condition and liver for various pathologies;
strengthen the immune system, mobilizes the body's defenses;
are a prophylactic against the development of prostate adenoma, normalize the functioning of the prostate;
strengthen gums;
reduce menstrual pain.

Flowers and leaves

Sloe flowers are collected during their full bloom, dried in a dark, ventilated area and stored in tightly closed jars (glass or tin) out of reach of sunlight. They mainly use a decoction or tea from flowers, which have medicinal properties.:

cleanse the blood and remove toxins from the body;
get rid of skin purulent and erysipelas inflammations, help with furunculosis;
cleanse the liver, normalize intestinal function;
contribute restoration of metabolism;
have a calming effect for insomnia and neuralgia;
serve as a diuretic and a diaphoretic.

Healing tea is brewed from sloe flowers: 25 g of flowers are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water and the container with the drink is wrapped for 10-15 minutes to infuse. Tea made from thorn flowers is drunk as usual without strict dosage, and is also used for external use as lotions.

Decoctions of thorn leaves have the same properties as flower decoctions.. To prepare them, the leaves are plucked in mid-summer, after the bush has finished flowering. They are dried and stored in the same way as flowers, and the prepared decoctions are drunk like regular tea.

Roots, shoots and bark

The roots are dug up in the fall and dried for 2-3 weeks in the open air. and then dried in the oven. Dried roots can be stored in canvas or cotton bags for up to three years.
Twigs and young shoots are collected in early summer, dried in the open air and stored for a year.
The bark is removed from the bush in early spring until the plant blooms. Drying and storing the bark is carried out similarly to harvesting the roots.

Decoctions of roots, branches and shoots have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic properties, so they are taken for colds and flu.

Decoctions from the bark are drunk instead of regular tea.– they help cleanse the blood and get rid of skin irritations. When diluted with boiled water, decoctions are used for douching for female inflammation.

Contraindications and possible harm to human health

Thorn fruits have no special contraindications for human health. Those who are concerned about stomach problems should reduce their consumption of berries.:

gastritis;
stomach ulcer in the acute stage;
increased stomach acidity.

People with severe allergies will have to stop using teren., although such cases are quite rare.

Fruits cause particular harm to tooth enamel - After eating sloe, teeth turn bluish. This looks extremely unaesthetic, and the blue stains from the teeth are completely washed off only after a few days.

After preparing a decoction of thorn fruits, the berries must be removed. With prolonged contact of fruit seeds with water, toxic components are formed in the liquid that can cause poisoning.

Eating thorn berries not contraindicated for children and pregnant women, and the latter is even useful for toxicosis and attacks of nausea.

Fresh berries can cause stomach upset, sweet preserves and jams are an undesirable gain of excess body weight, but only if these products are consumed in excess.

Recipes with prunes

Sloe fruits are used to prepare sweet preparations for the winter (jam, marmalade, marmalade), as well as all kinds of sauces, seasonings, wine and vodka liqueurs and liqueurs.

Jam

The most popular is thorn fruit jam. You need to cook the sweet delicacy according to the same principle as with any other berries.:

Sort and wash 1 kg of thorn fruit, let the water drain.
Remove the seeds from the berries.
From 1.5 kg sugar and 2-3 glasses of water cook the syrup.
After the sugar has completely dissolved, add sloe to the boiling syrup. boil and remove the pan from the heat.
Cool the jam to room temperature and cook it again, bringing to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes.
The third time Boil the jam and cook over low heat until fully cooked. During cooking, stir occasionally and skim off foam.
Ready jam hot pour into dry sterilized jars and roll up with tin lids. After cooling, remove the jars for storage.

Sloe juice

To obtain juice, use a juicer into which sloe fruits and sugar are loaded. (for 1 kg of berries take 100 g of sugar). The juice is poured into jars, then sterilized and sealed with tin lids. After the jars have cooled to room temperature, they are stored in a dark place.

Sloe kvass

To prepare a refreshing drink you will need 3-4 liters of water, 0.5 kg of sloe berries, 0.5-1 glass of any honey and 15-20 g of yeast:

Grind the washed and pitted fruits to a puree. add water and boil for 40 minutes.
Received strain the broth, add yeast and honey to it.
Leave to ferment for 10-12 hours at room temperature.
After that bottle and put it in the refrigerator.

Simple thorn liqueur

Preparing a classic sloe liqueur takes a lot of time - it will take 4-6 months to age the liqueur. Fans of strong thorn drinks use a faster recipe. For it you need to take 1 kg of sloe, 200-300 g of sugar and 1 liter of vodka. Instead of vodka, you can use ethyl alcohol, diluting it with water to a strength of 40-45%, as well as inexpensive cognac or purified moonshine:

Sort the berries, remove rotten and spoiled ones, wash and remove seeds.
Peeled pulp mix with sugar and put in a glass jar.
Tie the jar with two layers of gauze and place it on sunny windowsill.
After 2-3 days add vodka, mix the berries and place the jar in a dark place at room temperature (cupboard or pantry).
Keep the liqueur for 14 days, and shake the jar with its contents daily for the first week.
In two weeks strain the drink and bottle it. Seal tightly and store.

Sloe liqueur can be stored for up to 5 years, and the strength of the alcoholic drink is 30-32%.

Conclusion

A thorny thorn bush with inconspicuous berries turned out to be a useful plant upon closer examination. You can use it to prepare alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, sweet preparations for the winter, seasonings and sauces for various dishes.

The fruits of thorns and all kinds of decoctions prepared from different parts of the plant are beneficial for the human body. Their use is not limited to certain dosages - Healing infusions are drunk like regular tea.. The main condition for preserving the therapeutic effect of sloe is compliance with the timing of the collection and drying process of raw materials.

Thorn, beneficial properties which is known both in Europe and Western Siberia, is also often called prickly plum. A shrub with a large number of branches, ranging from 2 to 4 m in height. It has thick thorns. Its fruits are small dark blue and black berries with a waxy coating; they are responsible for the beneficial properties of thorns, which are widely used in folk medicine. The taste of these berries is usually astringent and sour.

Turn a very common plant, both in Western Siberia and in Europe, as well as in the Lower Volga region. It grows mainly in ravines, often on slopes and edges not overgrown with grass, as well as in clearings or near roads. Blackthorn is often cultivated by gardeners.

Sweetish-sour and tart in taste, the fruit pulp contains sugar (up to 7%), vitamin C, malic acid (up to 1.7%), pectin and aromatics, as well as a huge amount of tannins, which determine their astringency and viscosity. As a rule, fresh fruits are eaten after the end of frost, when the tannins in them decrease, as a result of which they are more tasty.

Thorn - beneficial properties

The leaves, flowers and fruit of blackthorn are used as medicine. In common people, thorns are called goat berries, sour berries, oat berries, and even black thorns. When preparing medicine in March or April (when the plant blooms), blackthorn flowers are used, and the leaves, on the contrary, are prepared when flowering ends. Blackthorn is used both dried and raw.

Sloe fruits contain sugar, flavone glycosides, ascorbic and malic acid, and tannins. Blackthorn flowers contain a number of substances: hydrocyanic and benzaldehyde acids, glycosides and ascorbic acid.

Blackthorn - beneficial properties of berries

Sloe berries cause strong diuretic and natriuretic effects. The fruits also increase the release of sodium and potassium ions from the body. Among other things, the plant has an antispasmodic effect. Blackthorn fruits have astringent, anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic properties.

Be careful - the fruit seeds of thorns contain the poisonous glycoside amygdalin.

Sloes for food

They eat blackthorn fruits, which are collected after the berries freeze slightly and become softer and sweeter, and also partially lose their astringency. Compotes and jam are made from the berries, which can be added to tea.

Cooking recipes

Blackthorn tea. Blackthorn fruits collected in the fall are used to prepare a tea drink. The berries are dried, then lightly fried and crushed until converted into powder. To brew tea, use 3 parts tea leaves and 1 part crushed fruit.

Sloe and thorn jam. You will need sloe (200g), dogwood (200g), sugar (400g). The berries along with the sugar need to be placed in a bowl, why pour in the amount of water needed to dilute the sugar, and then cook over low heat until ready, stirring gently and skimming off the foam. The finished fruits are taken out of the syrup and placed in jars, and the syrup must be boiled and poured over the berries while hot. Then cool and cover with a sheet of paper or a lid.

From the thorn bush. Required: thorns (1 kg), water (6-8 l), honey (1-2 cups) and yeast - (30g). The fruits of the plant are kept at t = 18-20 degrees for about 24 hours, crushed using a wooden pestle, filled with water and boiled for 40 minutes. Then the broth is filtered, honey and yeast are added. Ferment for about 10-12 hours. The resulting kvass is a good refreshing drink.

Blackthorn jam. You need fruit – 1 kg, sugar – 1 kg. Ripe berries are washed, dried and placed in a steam juicer, then blanched using steam until they soften. Afterwards, the fruits are wiped using a sieve with fractions of no more than 1-2 mm. The resulting puree is placed in an enamel bowl along with the juice that formed during blanching, brought to a boil over low heat with continuous stirring, then sugar is added little by little and brewed until tender. The jam that has not had time to cool is packaged in dry heated jars, hermetically sealed with varnished lids, the jars are placed on the neck and cooled. When they cool to 40-50C, place the lids up.

Thorn tincture

You need sugar - 2.5 kg, sloes - 5 kg, vodka - 4.5 l. Ripe blackthorn with dense pulp is washed, drained of water and poured into a bottle, then sugar is added. The throat is bandaged with gauze and exposed to the sun for 6 weeks. As soon as the blackthorn ferments, you need to pour half a liter into it and leave it for 4 months, then strain the liqueur and pour in another 4 liters of vodka. Then it needs to be poured into an enamel bowl, boiled, cooled and bottled. The necks are securely sealed, paraffin is added and placed in a box, covered with dry sand. It is advisable to store the liqueur in a cool, dry place. It will be ready in 6 months.

In addition to tincture, it is often prepared from thorns. Only well-ripened fruits are used for wine.

Thorn and medicine

The plant is used to reduce capillary permeability and also as a P-vitamin. Sloe preparations are necessary to stabilize urinary and renal function.

Blackthorn fruits are used to treat colds. Popularly, thorn leaf tincture is used mainly to calm the central nervous system. The drug is also a wonderful way to combat nausea.

Sloes have rather small berries that remain tough for a very long time. Blackthorn fruits are edible only after the first frost.

Roasted sloe berries and leaves are used as a coffee substitute.

A decoction of the bark and young branches of thorns is good as an antipyretic for fever and an astringent when the patient has diarrhea.

It is worth considering several recipes for the medicinal use of thorns:

Blackthorn juice is used for certain skin diseases, intestinal inflammation, and also for leucorrhoea.
Decoction: brew 5 g of bark, 200 ml of boiling water or sloe root, place in a water bath and boil for about half an hour. Drink a third of a glass 3 times a day after meals. For leucorrhoea, douching is also done with a decoction diluted 50% with water.
Sloes are a very good laxative. To make it, you need to infuse 1 glass of warm boiled water for 1 hour. l. flowers about 40 min. Drink 1 glass per day.
Infusion of sloe flowers: pour 1 glass of boiled water, room temperature, 40 g of sloe flowers or leaves, leave for 10 hours, filter. Drink 50 ml 4 times a day before eating as a laxative for constipation, kidney, liver, bladder diseases, metabolic disorders and colds.
Infusion of leaves: to prepare an infusion, young leaves that are collected immediately after flowering are brewed with boiling water in the form of tea. Drink 200 ml 3 times a day as a diuretic for edema and kidney diseases.

Thorn is a small thorny shrub. This plant is called blackthorn, prickly plum, and also damson. It belongs to the genus Plum of the Rosaceae family.

The name goes back to the Proto-Slavic root and is translated as “thorn”. Blackthorn was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But his universal fame is associated with biblical legends. The crown of Christ was woven from thorn branches.

The growing area of the prickly plum is mainly located in temperate climate zones. These are steppes, forest-steppes, forests. Wild thorns often form impenetrable thickets. In the mountainous regions of the Caucasus and Crimea, the shrub grows at an altitude of up to 1500 meters. In addition, it can be found in Western European countries, Western Siberia, Asia, areas of the Mediterranean basin, and the northern part of the African continent. The prickly plum is valuable for its healing properties and is used in cooking.

Botanical description of blackthorn

The thorn plant is a tall shrub, the height of which reaches 3 – 5 meters. Some of its species are low trees up to 5 meters high. The branches grow in a horizontal direction. They are covered with numerous sharp and thick spines.

The shape of the matte, dark green leaves of the plant is obovate or elliptical, with a serrated edge. The leaves are about 5 centimeters long.

The blackthorn plum is very beautiful during flowering, when the bush is covered with a cap of white flowers even before the leaves appear. They emit a bitter almond aroma and attract many bees to collect their nectar and pollen. Therefore, the plant is considered honey-bearing. The start time of flowering depends on the area where the sloe grows. The shrub may bloom in April or May.

Blackthorn wood is very strong and hard, and has a reddish-brown hue. It is used for the manufacture of small turning and carpentry products. The roots of the plant go 1 meter deep into the soil and are densely branched, so that they extend far beyond the crown projection.

Thorn is a winter-hardy and drought-resistant shrub. Gardeners speak of it as an unpretentious plant that is easy to care for. It is often used as a rootstock for plums and apricots, planted on crumbling slopes to strengthen the soil, and also to create hedges of thorns. To decorate the garden, it is recommended to plant terry, red-leaved, and purple varieties of blackthorn.

Prickly plum berries

The sloe berry is called monodrupe. In most varieties, their shape is round, with a diameter of up to 15 mm. The color of the fruit is blue-black, with a waxy coating. They are green inside, the flesh does not separate from the single wrinkled seed.

The ripening of prickly plum berries, as well as the appearance of flowers, depends on the region of growth and occurs in August or September, while they remain on the bush or tree throughout the winter months, until the onset of spring. The taste of damson is tart and sour. The astringency of the fruits decreases after frost, so that they acquire a more pleasant taste and become edible.

Chemical composition of berries

The composition of blackthorn berries varies depending on the geography of its growth, but the main components are invariably:

pectin;
sugars: fructose, glucose, sucrose;
organic acids;
tannins;
vitamins A, group B, PP, E, ascorbic acid;
microelements: iron, magnesium, calcium, iodine, phosphorus, sodium;
essential oils.

The nutritional value

The energy value of prickly plum fruits is on average 50 - 53 kcal per 100 grams. Protein content – 1.5 grams, fat – 0.3 grams, carbohydrates – 9.4 grams.

In addition, blackthorn berries include water, mono- and disaccharides, organic acids, dietary fiber, ash and starch.

Useful and medicinal properties of thorns

The healing, medicinal properties of most plants are contained in their individual parts: fruits, leaves, roots. The blackthorn is an amazing creation of nature, since the benefits of the thorn lie in its berries, and in the leaves, flowers, roots, and even bark.

Applications of blackthorn flowers

Flowers are collected at the height of flowering. They are dried in ventilated, dark places, stored in closed containers and most often used to prepare decoctions and teas. Sloe flowers are useful for:

liver cleansing;
removing toxic substances from the body;
normalization of metabolic processes;
blood purification;
increased diuresis;
treatment of chronic constipation;
relieving inflammation of the throat mucosa.

To prepare a healing decoction, 25 grams of dried blackthorn flowers are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water and left for 10-15 minutes.

Application of fruits

The berries are consumed fresh and dried, and jams and preserves are also prepared from them. The beneficial properties of thorn fruits are especially valuable in the following cases:

for dysentery, ulcerative colitis, gastritis, constipation, nausea and other gastrointestinal problems;
in the treatment of liver and kidney diseases, for example, urolithiasis;
with vitamin deficiencies;
with cystitis;
with flatulence and slagging in the body;
for insomnia and irritability.

In addition, damsons help strengthen the walls of blood vessels, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which reduces the likelihood of developing cardiovascular pathologies. Berries activate the body's immune defense, strengthen gums and prevent inflammation of the prostate gland.

Contraindications to eating berries

There are no serious contraindications to eating damsons. However, the harm of thorns can be felt by people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract: high acidity of the stomach, gastritis, gastric ulcer.

It is important to know that you can only eat ripe damson pulp, without seeds. They contain potent poison. For this reason, canned tren fruits with seeds should not be stored for more than a year, since toxic substances from the seeds penetrate into the edible pulp over time. The same applies to preparing decoctions. Berries should not be left in water for a long time, otherwise the harmful components from the seeds will dissolve in the broth. This drink is dangerous to human health. Eating fresh berries and dishes made from seedless damson pulp does not cause harm.

Those who are prone to allergic reactions should treat blackthorn berries with caution. Another feature of sloe fruits is that they stain teeth blue, which is completely washed off only after a few days.

Eating damsons is not contraindicated for expectant mothers and children. Moreover, the berry is useful for pregnant women suffering from toxicosis and attacks of nausea.

Proper collection and storage of berries

The ripening period for damson plums is from July to August. One fruiting bush can produce up to 15 kilograms of berries, which are well preserved during transportation and have a shelf life.

But you can start harvesting thorns only after the first frost has occurred; until this time, damson plums are inedible. It is worth choosing elastic, strong berries, without inclusions of rot, cracks and sores. Damaged fruits are unsuitable for processing.

To ensure that the benefits of damson plums last for a long time, they can be subjected to minimal heat treatment. Store berries frozen or dried. In this form, their healing properties remain unchanged throughout the year. Fresh fruits must be consumed within 10 days.

Prickly, inconspicuous-looking thorn bushes are actually a source of healthy fruits. Skilled housewives prepare healing decoctions, sweet preparations and sauces for various dishes from them. Blackthorn fruits will appeal to those who know how to properly collect and store them. And decorative thorn hedges delight the eye from the beginning of spring until late autumn.