People of the North and Far East have known about honeysuckle for a long time. They not only supplemented the body with vitamins with the help of this early berry, but also used it for stomach disorders, and also treated it for various lichens and ulcers.
But lately gardeners and middle bands began to grow honeysuckle. Moreover, honeysuckle is undemanding in care, resistant to frost, unpretentious. And if we take into account the fact that it ripens even earlier than strawberries, then, in general, there is no price for it!
Valuable and medicinal properties of honeysuckle
- Honeysuckle fruits contain sugars, pectin, tannins, organic acids, catechins, anthocyanins.
- Berries are rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron. They contain manganese, silicon, copper, aluminum, iodine, barium. But most of all in the honeysuckle magnesium (more than in other wild berries) and potassium.
- In addition to vitamin C, there are vitamins P, A, B, B9 in the berries.
- Honeysuckle berries have bactericidal, diuretic, tonic properties.
- A decoction of leaves and flowers of honeysuckle is used to treat eyes, sore throat, skin diseases.
- Honeysuckle - a preventive and therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis, hypertension, various hemorrhages, gastrointestinal diseases.
- From honeysuckle berries jam is made, compotes, used as a filling for pies.
- Honeysuckle is dried, covered with sugar, frozen.
Which honeysuckle berries can be frozen
Honeysuckle has juicy berries similar to blueberries. While the berries are not ripe, they are grassy green, and in ripe form - dark purple, almost black. The shape of berries in honeysuckle varied: oval, pear-shaped, ovate, sickle-shaped, podiform, spindle-shaped.
The taste of berries is sour or sweet-sour.
Berries on the bush ripen unevenly. Many varieties of honeysuckle, ripening, quickly peel off, so freezing is a very convenient way of harvesting for the future, because honeysuckle can be frozen in small batches as it matures.
The method of freezing is chosen depending on the variety of berries, because there is a honeysuckle with a very thin skin, which is best frozen in sugar or in the form of mashed potatoes. And for freezing whole berries, varieties with dense skin are suitable.
If honeysuckle berries are bitter, then it is also better to freeze them with sugar.
Honeysuckle ripen in mid-June. It is about ten days earlier than garden strawberries.
Berries are collected in several receptions.
Since honeysuckle does not tolerate transportation and long storage, it is better to process it immediately after collection.
Preparation of honeysuckle to freeze
Honeysuckle sorted out, remove the wormy and bird-pecked berries.
The fact is that these berries are practically not affected by diseases, but insects are often the culprits of damaging berries. For example, the caterpillars of the honeysofedum, which feeds on these berries, are introduced into the fruit during ripening and are eaten away by the pulp.
In time, the uncollected berries attract mountainbirds, who feed them with pleasure.
The harvested honeysuckle berries are washed and laid out on a towel so that they dry.
How whole honeysuckle berries are frozen
Whole and strong berries are placed on a tray covered with parchment or tracing paper and put into the freezer for 1-2 hours.
When the berries of honeysuckle froze, they are poured into small bags of 300-400 grams and sealed or well tied. The bags are flattened and put into the freezer.
How to freeze honeysuckle with sugar
If the honeysuckle perepela bit, bitter, or, conversely, very sour, then it is frozen with the addition of sugar.
Pure, dried berries lay out in small containers, each layer is sprinkled with sugar. Containers are closed with lids and put into the freezer. The total height of all layers of berries, along with sugar should not exceed 3 cm, otherwise the berries will freeze for a long time and will be crumpled.
How to freeze honeysuckle puree with sugar
Ripe and ripe berries are sorted, washed and crushed in a blender, adding sugar to taste, but the optimal rate is 250 grams of sugar per 1 kg of berries.
Puree is poured into a portion of plastic containers, not topping up to the edge of 1 cm, as frozen liquids increase in volume. After that, close the lids and cleaned in the freezer.
To freeze the mashed potatoes in the form of briquettes, put a bag in an empty container, pour honeysuckle puree into it and freeze. Then the bag with berry puree is removed from the container, and a neat briquette with frozen mashed potatoes is obtained. The thickness of the briquette along with the contents should not exceed 3-4 cm.
Such briquettes in the freezer compartment take up less space, and also saves packaging that can be used several times.
Store frozen honeysuckle no more than 10 months.
Honeysuckle is thawed, if required by prescription, in the plus compartment of the refrigerator or at room temperature.
