Sea buckthorn is a magnificent tree, from branches to fruits filled with microelements and vitamins. As a healing plant, it has been used since ancient times.
Particularly valuable are the golden fruits that appear on the tree in the autumn. They are classified as multivitamin. In addition to vitamins, fruits contain a lot of sugar, acids, macro- and microelements, oils, and vegetable antibiotics. How not to take advantage of such wealth?
If the sea buckthorn is properly preserved, then all the beneficial substances will remain with it. The healing qualities of the plant can be used at any time, not just in the fall.
Berry picking and storage preparation
Sea buckthorn fruits can be eaten fresh, mashed with sugar or cooked marmalade, jelly, fruit juice, vitamin-rich juice, fruit juice or jelly.
They are also frozen and dried. How exactly to process sea buckthorn depends on where it can be stored, what are the temperature and humidity of the room.
But first, the fruits should be collected. It is impossible to be late with this, otherwise crop losses cannot be avoided. In addition, wrinkled and over-ripe fruits cannot be preserved for long.
Dry weather is suitable for removing sea buckthorn from wood. Wet fruit will spoil faster.
It is necessary to prepare the boxes and cover their bottom with a thin layer of paper. Filled sea buckthorn containers are transferred to a cellar or refrigerator.
It is advisable to use sealed plastic bags instead of boxes. In them fresh berries will last longer, but not more than one month. Therefore, it is wiser to recycle the fruits so as to preserve all their beneficial properties.
Storing fresh sea buckthorn
Sea buckthorn does not contain enzymes that can destroy vitamin C. Therefore, it can be kept fresh for up to a month. The temperature should not exceed three degrees of heat. Fresh sea buckthorn can be stored in two ways:
- Cut the branches with berries and place them in the fruit compartment of the refrigerator.
- Carefully transfer the sea-buckthorn fruit to glass or ceramic containers, cover with a lid. Prerequisite: dishes should be opaque. The container is placed in the refrigerator section for fruits and vegetables.
Sea buckthorn will retain its beneficial properties for three to four weeks.
Sea buckthorn frost
The cold has a beneficial effect on the sea buckthorn. At low temperatures, it remains tasty and fragrant. In frozen form, sea buckthorn retains its useful qualities for almost a year.
Fruit freezing should be carried out in the following sequence:
- Clear berries from leaves, debris, remove spoiled and unripe ones.
- Put the fruits in a large bowl and fill with water. This method of washing the berries is preferred. It is more gentle, because under the flow of water raw materials can be mashed.
- Spread clean sea buckthorn on cloth or paper towels and dry. It is impossible to freeze raw berries. Drops of water quickly turn into ice and damage their shell. Juice along with useful substances will flow out. Berries will be covered with snow and stick together.
- Pour dry sea buckthorn in a single layer on a board covered with cling film and send to the freezer (12-17 degrees below zero) for a day.
- Pick up frozen berries in a container and store in the same freezer.
Berries can be frozen only once. Repeat the procedure will destroy all the healing properties of sea buckthorn.
Sea buckthorn canning
Fresh sea buckthorn can be saved as follows:
- Mix washed berries with sugar and mince. One kilogram of sea buckthorn will require 0, 7 kg of sweet sand. Berries should be placed in sterilized jars, close them tightly and store in a cool room.
- Pour the whole fruit into a clean glass container and pour hot syrup over it. Hermetically close and turn. After complete cooling of the glass container should be removed in a refrigerator or cellar.
- Fill cans with sea buckthorn almost to the brim. Put in a container with hot water that reaches the hangers of the glass container. Banks should be covered with lids and kept in boiling water until sea buckthorn juice is allowed and settled. A quarter of an hour after this, the container should be removed from the water and hermetically sealed.
Sea buckthorn processed in this way will be perfectly preserved along with all the vitamins until the next harvest.
Dried sea buckthorn preserved
When the conditions for storing sea buckthorn in canned form are not available, it can be dried. It will be warm and will not lose its qualities.
Drying not only the fruits, but the leaves with the bark. This is done simply. Leaves and bark should be laid out on a flat surface in a dark and dry place, which is well ventilated. After a few days, the raw material can be poured into a canvas bag and placed in the pantry. It is stored, without losing useful properties, up to five years. To dry the fruit, you need to work a little more:
- Go through the sea buckthorn, wash and dry.
- Prepare soda solution by dissolving a teaspoon of soda in a liter of water. Heat it almost to boil.
- Dip the berries into the soda solution for a few seconds and immediately rinse with water.
- After the fruits have dried slightly, put them on trays covered with a fine mesh or paper.
It takes almost a month to bring sea buckthorn to full readiness, subject to dry and hot weather.
Sea buckthorn is quickly dried in the oven. But this should be done carefully, otherwise the useful properties will not be saved. The oven must be heated to 35-40 degrees and keep sea buckthorn in it for two or three hours. Then the temperature should be increased to 60 degrees. The oven door can not be closed.
Dried fruits need to hold a day or two in the open, and then scatter in jars with lids or paper bags.
Store dried sea buckthorn should be in a dry and cool room with a temperature not higher than 18 degrees.
The described methods will allow to preserve the beneficial components of sea buckthorn. Boil the fruit is not recommended, because then the plant will lose most of the healing qualities.
