Cornelian Cherry – The forgotten elixir of ancient forest

Cornelian cherry is almost a deity in Eastern European stories and myths. From the times when ancient people were discovering healing potentials of certain foods, this magical tree has been used from root to fruits. I don’t know why it got the suffix “cherry” in English, but I assure you, it’s not even a cousin of those typical cherries! However, It’s a plant that has so many benefits! It could be considered as another alien tree growing on Earth. The reason I am claiming this lays in the fact that Cornelian cherry can survive almost all conditions and give fruits for hundreds of years.

Bringing the ancient wisdom back

The consumption of Cornelian cheery is becoming popular again. Around the colourful globe, people are going back to it for its beneficial effects on health and high nutritional values. The berries contain a large number of antioxidants that protect our bodies against harmful free radicals. Also, they are associated with a lower mortality rate due to tumours and heart disease in regions where people consume them often. These berries contain anthocyanins which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Cornelian cherries also contain organic acids and pectins. They are a very rich source of Vitamin C, and depending on genotype or origin, can contain up to twice the amount of vitamin C in an orange.

But what about the sugar content in Cornelian cherry?

Don’t let th

e modern cultivated varieties full you! The Cornelian cherry we talk about is the wild one! It is growing in the forest and it’s rarely ever available for nutrition facts online.

OK, it has a certain amount of natural sugar, but the fruit is so nutritious and flavour-dense, that you can’t overeat it!

Things are simple, their syrup is so intensive in colour and taste, even when no sweetener is added. They can bring flavour and nutrients to a higher level in dishes prepared with them! Maybe you will find that 100g of Cornelian cherries has 27g of sugar per 250g, but this is referring to the cultivated variety. Wild ones will rarely have that much!

These berries have been used for millennia due to their medicinal properties. They respond to the human body and provide it with the necessary vitamins, acids and everything else necessary to function normally and healthy. Due to the resilience of the wood itself, people used the bark, leaves, flowers and roots of this tree to prepare various remedies.
Healthy as Cornus Mas

Unripe berries, as well as ripe ones, are used in treating various intestinal problems such as diarrhoea or fever conditions caused by digestive problems. This scientific article covers all the functional properties of cornelian cherry. According to this scientific work, Cornus mas fruits and their extracts have meaningful antiatherogenic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties. The beneficial effect of these berries components has been determined in numerous papers focused on functional food.

This historically important fruit has lost favour in the post-industrialised era because it’s not easy to have mass production. The fruit has a pit that is difficult to remove. Modern humans just don’t like th

at! But luckily, in distant parts and countries, this fruit still plays a major role in autumn when people go to the forest to collect the gems of nature.

interesting facts about Cornelian cherry

Even though they are called cherries, they are in no way similar to standard cherries or sour cherries. They don’t even taste similar to them.
Although the berries are unfamiliar to Americans, Cornus mas is quite generally raised in the USA as a small decorative tree.
In Italy, they call them Corniolo and they pickle them in vinegar and salt, as the olives.
In Russia, they are used for sour soup and meat sauces. They are especially good in a sauce similar to Bolognese.
In France, they widely cultivate them to grow bigger and those contain much more sugar.
In Balkan countries, you will find festivals, wine production, alcoholic beverages, jams, juices, syrups and tea made of this plant. Their seeds can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute.
They have been used for over 7,000 years as a food and medicine in ancient Greece. The pits of cornelian cherries have been excavated from a neolithic site in northern Greece.
Research has discovered that Cornus improves liver function by applying a potent hepatoprotective activity.

The designation “cornelian” is chosen from the semiprecious gemstone, sometimes spelt carnelian, since it looks like that.
Cornelian berries possess unique medicinal properties due to their high mineral content. They are rich in calcium, potassium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc and a good source of sodium
The Greek name Κρανιά was a poetic synonym for “spear.” But don’t use the wood to make boats! Cornelian Cherry wood is so dense that it sinks in the water!
The quickest way to harvest it is to spread a blanket under the tree, shake the tree so only the ripe fruits will fall.

Description

It is a medium to large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–12 m tall, with dark brown branches and greenish twigs. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin. The flowers are small (5–10 mm in diameter), with four yellow petals, produced in clusters of 10–25 together in the late winter (between February and March in the UK),[1] well before the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, containing a single seed.

Fruit

The fruits are red berries. When ripe on the plant, they bear a resemblance to coffee berries, and ripen in mid- to late summer. The fruit is edible, as used in Eastern Europe, the UK, and British Columbia, Canada, but the unripe fruit is astringent. When ripe, the fruit is dark ruby red or a bright yellow. It has an acidic flavor which is best described as a mixture of cranberry and sour cherry; it is mainly used for making jam, makes an excellent sauce similar to cranberry sauce when pitted, and then boiled with sugar and orange, but also can be eaten dried.

In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is used for distilling vodka, in Austria and the German Alps, for distilling Dirndlbrand. In Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia, it is distilled into rakia.

In Turkey and Iran, it is eaten with salt as a snack in summer, and traditionally drunk in a cold drink called kızılcık şerbeti.

Cultivars selected for fruit production in Ukraine have fruit up to four centimetres long. It is eaten in Eastern Europe in many ways including as a traditional medicine.

The fruit of Cornus mas (together with the fruit of C. officinalis) has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine in which it is known as shānzhūyú, 山茱萸 and used to retain the jing.
Flowers

The species is also grown as an ornamental plant for its late winter yellow flowers, which open earlier than those of Forsythia. While Cornus mas flowers are not as large and vibrant as those of the Forsythia, the entire plant can be used for a similar effect in the landscape.
Wood

The wood of C. mas is extremely dense and, unlike the wood of most other woody plant species, sinks in water. This density makes it valuable for crafting into tool handles, parts for machines, etc.

Cornus mas was used from the seventh century BC onward by Greek craftsmen to construct spears, javelins and bows, the craftsmen considering it far superior to any other wood. The wood’s association with weaponry was so well known that the Greek name for it was used as a synonym for “spear” in poetry during the fourth and third centuries BC.

In Italy, the mazzarella, uncino or bastone, the stick carried by the butteri or mounted herdsmen of the Maremma region, is traditionally made of cornel-wood, there called crognolo or grugnale, dialect forms of Italian: corniolo.

Cornus mas, the Cornelian cherry or Cornelian cherry dogwood, is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae. There are nearly 50 species of cornelian cherry in the world. Apart from the cornelian cherry, the most popular include: alternate-leaved dogwood, flowering dogwood, kousa dogwood, wedding cake tree and Japanese cornelian cherry. The plant is native to south western regions of Asia and southern Europe. In Asia, it is found growing in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Israel, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. Common dogwood, Cornelian cherry, Male dogwood, Cornejo macho, Sorbet, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, dogwood, European cornel and Cornel cherry are some of the popular common names of the plant.

Cornelian Cherry Facts

Plant Description

Cornelian cherry is a light-demanding and medium to large, slow-growing, and deciduous, multi steamed shrub or small tree that normally grows about 20-25 ft. (6-8m) tall and spread up to 15 ft. (4.5 m) wide and short bole is usually up to 25 cm in diameter, occasionally to 45 cm. The crown is regular, bushy, hemispherical, and may expand more horizontally up to 5 m. The trunk is straight, sometimes with sinuous or multiple stems, the branches ends often drooping. The bark is grey-brownish, peeling off in scaly flakes like crocodile skin. The young shoots are hairy grey-greenish, becoming hair less lately. The plant is found growing in woodlands, especially in calcareous soils, undergrowth in light, mainly oak and hornbeam forests, also at forest edges and in shrubby thickets on slopes. The plant can be easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade and normally prefers moist, organically rich soils. It also a long living tree, surviving up to 300 years.

Culinary Uses

Fruit can be consumed raw, dried or used in preserves.
Fully ripe fruit has a somewhat plum-like flavor and texture and is very nice eating, but the unripe fruit is rather astringent.
It is rather low in pectin and so needs to be used with other fruit when making jam.
At one time the fruit was kept in brine and used like olives.
Small amount of edible oil can be extracted from the seeds.
Seeds are roasted, ground into a powder and used as a coffee substitute.
In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is used for distilling vodka, in Austria and German Alps is used for distilling Dirndlbrand.
In Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina it is distilled into Rakia.
In Turkey and Iran, it is consumed with salt as a snack in summer, and traditionally drunk in a cold drink called kızılcık şerbeti.
Cornus mas is also a traditional component of liquors, jams, comfitures and other fruit-based products
The leaves can be used as a tea substitute.