When to collect and how to properly store sea buckthorn at home
All parts of this unique tree have long been used in folk medicine, especially berries, which are considered multivitamin. They contain a huge supply of trace elements, essential for humans, antibacterial agents of plant origin, oils, acids. How to properly store sea buckthorn so that it does not lose all its magical properties?
Collection of berries and preparation for storage
An important feature of sea buckthorn fruits is that they start to deteriorate within a couple of hours after harvest. The reason for this is the intense release of the plant hormone ethylene.
Timing of harvesting fruits
Sea buckthorn is harvested in autumn. Choose for this sunny dry weather. The procedure is combined with parallel processing of fruits, which is required to be carried out in just a couple of hours. The exact time for harvesting fruits depends not only on the variety, but also on how the harvest is planned to be used further. The optimal time for picking berries is considered to be the end of August - mid-September, but it can fluctuate depending on the region.
How to determine the ripeness of sea buckthorn
For the preparation of compotes, jelly, jam, or for eating fresh sea buckthorn, it is harvested at a time when the berries become rich yellow, but not yet bright orange. During this period, the skin on them is dense, and there is still a little juice, so it is convenient to harvest. The bright orange fruits are considered overripe and only oil and juice are prepared from them. The fruits of light color contain the most vitamins and nutrients.
How and what to harvest
Harvesting sea buckthorn berries is not an easy process, because gardeners are constantly trying to facilitate it by inventing new methods and devices. Popular gadgets include:
- cobra;
- scraper;
- special gloves;
- slingshot with a string of fishing line.
As for the ways in which fruits are harvested, the most popular among gardeners are:
- manual;
- scissors or tweezers;
- squeezing juice directly from the branches;
- cutting fruit twigs with pruners;
- the use of a variety of inventions and devices.
Methods and duration of berry storage
Several methods have been developed that allow you to preserve sea buckthorn berries at home without losing their beneficial properties.
True, there are certain storage rules that must be followed when choosing one or another option for preparing a vitamin product for the winter.
Fresh sea buckthorn
To keep the sea buckthorn fresh longer, it is better to collect it directly on a branch. Vitamin C in berries is not destroyed, therefore the harvested crop can be stored for about 30 days, provided that the air temperature in the storage does not exceed +3 C. Fruit on twigs can be sent to the fruit storage compartment of the refrigerator.
Freezing
In the freezer, sea buckthorn does not lose its valuable qualities throughout the year. Before sending the berries to the chamber, you must clean them of debris, sort them out, and gently rinse them in a bowl of cold water. Spread clean fruits on a napkin, let dry well. Cover the board with cling film, sprinkle sea buckthorn on it in one layer and send it to the freezer for a day. Then transfer it to the food container and put it back in the chamber. In no case should the fruits be re-frozen.
Drying
If there are no conditions for freezing or storing fresh berries, then they can simply be dried. True, this requires some effort. The fruits must be sorted out, washed and allowed to dry. After that, dilute 1 tsp in a liter of water. soda and heat to almost boiling point. For a few seconds, throw sea buckthorn into this liquid and immediately rinse with water, allow to dry and spread on baking sheets pre-lined with paper. In sunny and hot weather, the berries will be ready in about a month.
Conservation
Sea buckthorn can be preserved in different ways. The easiest way is to pour the fruits sorted out and poured into glass containers with hot syrup, close the lid, let them cool and send them to storage in a cool room. You can also arrange the berries in jars without adding a little to the brim. Put the container in hot water up to the shoulders and keep it there until the sea buckthorn lets out the juice and sits down. After about 20 min. cans are removed, hermetically sealed and sent to storage.
Sugar fruit
For sugaring sea buckthorn, you will need to take the same amount of fruits and granulated sugar (you can add even a little more sugar). The fruits are sorted out and washed in a bowl of cool water, laid out on a towel and allowed to dry. After that, the berries are carefully mixed with sugar (part) and laid out in the jars, filling them by three quarters. The remaining volume is filled with granulated sugar, covered with a lid and sent to the refrigerator.
Soaked sea buckthorn
Soaked sea buckthorn is made from freshly picked berries. To do this, they are laid out in glass jars, poured with boiled water cooled to room temperature, hermetically sealed and sent to the refrigerator or to the basement.
Sea buckthorn juice
To prepare a vitamin drink, the sea buckthorn is sorted out, passed through a juicer. The squeezed juice is removed to a cold place, and the waste is poured with water so that it covers them a little, and left to infuse for an hour. After that, the cake is squeezed out, and the infusion is poured into the cooled juice, after which everything is filtered through cheesecloth and heated to 75 C. Pure drink is poured into glass containers, pasteurized at 80 C, cork up and put in the basement.
Making jam
To make a beautiful and tasty jam you will need:
- ripe sea buckthorn fruits - 1000 g;
- granulated sugar - 1500 g;
- water - 0.5 l.
The berries are sorted, washed and allowed to dry. You can blanch them for 3 minutes to get rid of the bitterness. Water is mixed with sugar and a thick syrup is boiled, after which it is filtered and sea buckthorn is poured. The poured fruits are left to infuse for 4 hours, after which the syrup is poured into a saucepan, put on fire and boiled for 15 minutes, then the berries are poured there and simmered over low heat for 30 minutes. When the jam is ready, they will become almost transparent, and the liquid will become thick. The caramel syrup should not spread when it hits the plate. Dessert is poured into jars and canned.
