Aronia (black chokeberry) is a berry that until recent years, has been relatively unknown outside of health experts, specific industries and countries. This article will cover all you need to know for a solid introduction to Aronia.
Aronia, or chokeberry, are a family of plants originally native to North America. Some are used for ornamental foliage, others such as Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry) are prized for their nutrient and antioxidant content. This has resulted in much scientific interest and research in Aronia.
Let’s continue and answer questions that many have about Aronia. We will cover a LOT of material in this article to provide an excellent framework on Aronia. (For those who are interested, we are in progress of writing deeper analysis and explanation of some of these topics in separate articles.)
How Many Types of Aronia Are There?
Aronia have 3 main types: red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia), purple chokeberry (Aronia prunifolia), and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa). Less commonly, Aronia had sometimes been classified as “Photinia” or “Pyrus”, so, Photinia melanocarpa, Pyrus melanocarpa etc. (It is a long story involving genetics. Essentially, if you stay with using “Aronia”, you will be good)
The type of aronia of predominant interest for most people is the black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa.
Aronia melanocarpa has several cultivated varieties (“cultivars“), which have resulted to selective breeding efforts. There are numerous cultivars: the most well known include ‘Viking’, ‘Galicjanka’, ‘Nero’, and ‘McKenzie’. There has not been reported significant differences in genetic diversity, however there can be differences in growth and uniformity of maturation. These factors are important when harvesting aronia at peak ripeness/antioxidant content.
Are Aronia the Same As Chokecherries?
NO! Aronia are chokeberries which are genus: Aronia, while chokecherries are a different genus: Prunus. They are very distantly related in the same genetic family of plants (Rosaceae).
BE AWARE: THIS IS NOTED INCORRECTLY AT VARIOUS PLACES IN THE INTERNET BY THOSE WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER. (i.e. Aronia sites who refer to their Aronia as “chokecherries” and sites that are supposed to be educational sites, but similarly publish this mistaken information to the public. Those may be a typo, but they are wrong. (For those using Aronia Guide as a source for your own informational articles, please remember to check and recheck to avoid making that specific error, especially at an educational site!)
Aronia (chokeberry) has very small, generally almost unnoticed seeds when you eat them (maybe up to 5 or so), where a chokecherry has a single seed, like a pit (like a cherry or a peach). Also, there are some toxicity issues with chokecherries in the leaves and seeds. (No reported toxicity issues reported at this time in Aronia).
Aronia Guide did an article on “Are Aronia Berries Poisonous?”. Here is the link if you have further interest:
How Tall Does an Aronia bush get?
Aronia bushes can get between 4 and 8 feet tall. When planted in rows for mechanical harvesters, the bushes may be trimmed shorter.
What does an Aronia berry look like?
An Aronia berry is dark purple to black in color, between 1/3 and 1/2 inch in diameter, and glossy when ripe. On the plant, they hang in clusters of a few up to maybe 20-30 in a cluster. There are between 1 and 5 very tiny seeds in each berry.
What Does Aronia Taste Like ?
Of course, this is the one of the most common first questions asked about Aronia.
You may find random articles on the internet that a raw Aronia berry is inedible. This is entirely false. Aronia berries are certainly edible… they are just different than eating a blueberry or other berry.
You will also find articles that talk about delicious unique flavor of Aronia. While this is a true statement for many people, to be honest, for most people, the enjoyment of the flavor of raw Aronia is an acquired taste.
Aronia berries have such a high antioxidant/tannin content, that the flavor is very dry and astringent on the tongue, like a VERY dry red wine. It would not be accurate to say that they are bitter. There is definitely sugar content, but the tannins generally predominate the flavor profile.
While Aronia are certainly edible on their own (I will eat them plain or in oatmeal), most often they are an ingredient in recipes, where they are delicious and provide a very deep dark color to their recipes.
Some have said that Aronia is “a superfood that tastes like a superfood.”
Some compare Aronia to rhubarb in that for many people, rhubarb by itself is not tasty, but when used in recipes, tastes quite delicious. I think that is a fair comparison.
Aronia Guide did an entire article on “What Does Aronia Taste Like”, which provides details into the flavor profile of aronia, as well as some taste tests when mixed with different juices. Here is the link:
Where is Aronia Grown?
Aronia is originally native to North America. Over 100 years ago, Aronia had been introduced into Russia and into eastern Europe. Reportedly, the history of Aronia in Russia is due to the biologist Ivan V. Michurin who was trying to find and develop fruits which would grow in hardy climates for his population. He first cultivated and bred Aronia in Russia around 1900. Aronia subsequently spread into into eastern Europe.
Most of the world’s production of aronia is in Poland (approximately 90%). The vast majority of Poland’s production (90%) is pressed into concentrate and exported.
Aronia berry bushes requires a period of freezing in the wintertime. and thus are reported as suitable to plant in U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 3 to 8.
Source: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Downloads.aspx
Source: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Maps.aspx
How long does it take to grow an Aronia Bush ?
As long as you keep them watered and prevent weeds, Aronia tend to grow well. Fruit should start to develop in the third year. Production may be a few pounds per plant in early years. Depending on soil, water, weed pressure, production should increase to over 10 lbs per plant. Some areas report over 20 pounds, and some even over 30 pounds per plant (your results may vary).
The fruit grows over the summer, and is ripe in late summer- August / September time frame for most locations.
It is overall best to plant seedlings or bare root plants, although Aronia can be planted from seed.
Using Aronia berries to isolate seed requires some forethought, care, and luck. It takes about 100 pounds of aronia berries to produce 1 pound of seed (~276,000 seeds per lb). The berries need to be macerated, cleaned, dried, and separated from the dry pulp for best germination. Once done, then the internal dormancy must be overcome by storing at low temperatures (33-41 deg F) for several months before planting.
What Pests can Affect Aronia?
There have not been a lot of pest problems reported on Aronia. Depending on local geography and regional pests, species of concern reported by some sites include Pear slug sawfly, lace bugs. aphids, blister beetles, cherry fruitworm, brown marmorated stink bug, Japanese beetle, or spotted wing drosophila.
Diseases may include Cedar/Apple rust (Gymnosporangium), powdery mildew, or fusicladium.
Animal interference includes deer and rabbits eating leaves and buds. There have not been a lot of reports to date on bird interference.
Sources:
- https://extension.umd.edu/aronia/pest-monitoring
- https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/carringtonrec/northern-hardy-fruit-evaluation-project/fruit-index/aronia
What Can I Make with Aronia?
Other than eating them plain (a minority of people), most will find that Aronia works very well into many types of food such as desserts, jams, jellies, sauces, salsa, pies, crisps, juices, smoothies, main dishes with fish, venison, pork chops and more.
Drinks including Aronia wine, Aronia liqueurs, Aronia beer, Aronia gin, and Aronia infused mead are becoming more popular as Aronia has become more we’ll known. Aronia is also being used more in cocktails.
Aronia juice, by itself or in combination, and Aronia based ‘superbeverages’ have become more commercially available. Some examples of Aronia-containing beverages include Old Orchard, Tohi, Schade Vineyard & Winery, Superberries, Akronia Valley, and Ax Water.
Aronia Guide also tests and creates recipes and puts them up on the site regularly for others to use and modify to their own interests. Here is the link:
https://aroniaguide.com/recipe/
Aronia Guide also maintains a Pinterest page to help categorize the various aronia recipes and uses. If you have an interest in this area, here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/aroniaguide/boards/
Was Aronia used by Native Americans?
Yes, there are numerous reports of usage of Aronia by Native Americans.
Historically, Aronia melanocarpa had been traditionally used by Potawatomi Native Americans to cure colds. (Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20170359/)
There are reports of Native Americans using Aronia as part of a pemmican– essentially a food for journeys or for winter which contains dried meat and other contents. This made a well-preserved food with a long shelf life.
Aronia are also used in wojapi, which is a berry sauce with various uses. Wojapi can also have other berries. Here is a recipe for wojapi and fry bread: https://cherylkuckpdx.com/2019/05/04/fry-bread-and-wojapi-recipe/
What nutrients and antioxidants are in Aronia?
One serving of Aronia (100g or 1/2 cup) contains:
- Calories: 47
- Carbohydrate, total: 9.6g
- Vitamin C: 21mg
- Vitamin K: 13.6 mcg
- Folate: 24mcg
- Calcium 30mg
- Total Phenols: 2059 mg GAE/100g
- Anthocyanins:
- Cyanidin: 344.07
- Delphinidin: 0.65
- Malvidin: 1.22
- Pelargonidin: 0.98
- Peonidin: 0.08
- Petunidin: 2.79
- Flavonols:
- Kaempferol: 0.34
- Quercetin: 18.53
- Total Procyanidins: 855 mg epicatechin/100g
- Antioxidant Capacity (ORAC): Total ORAC: 16,062
Sources:
- https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/3081828/2
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407391/
- https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/Flav/Flav_R03.pdf
Aronia Guide has done 2 articles covering ORAC. One is on ORAC itself, the other is specifically on the ORAC of Aronia, antoxidants, and the controversy of the ORAC assay.
Is there Research on Aronia?
Aronia is being extensively studied in various areas of health. Some specific areas include antioxidant effects, inhibition of cancer cell growth, liver protection, heart protection, and in diabetes.
If you wish to check out currently published research or do your own research, here is a link for PubMed for you to search aronia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Conclusion
We hope you have enjoyed this article and has succeeded in the goal to provide a solid and accurate overview into the important aspects of Aronia, as well as to peak your interest in exploring further into this interesting and unparalleled fruit.