ChokeBerry ( Aronia )

About ChokeBerry
The name "chokeberry" derived  from  astringency of the fruits, which makes a sensation feeling to your mouth pucker.
The chokeberry (Aronia ) is deciduous shrubs from the family of  Rosaceae,The genus is normally considered to contain two or may be three species, one of which is in Europe.A fourth form that has long been cultivated under the name Aronia is now considered to be an intergeneric hybrid, Sorbaronia mitschurinii.The chokeberries are sometimes mixed  mistakenly with chokecherries, which is the common name for Prunus virginiana.
Further adding to the ambiguity, there is a variety of Prunus virginiana named melanocarpa. This is easily confused with Aronia melanocarpa which commonly called as "black chokeberry" or "aronia berry."

Morphology /Structure 
                                     
Black chokeberry grows to about 6 feet in height in bogs, swamps, wet woods and commonly in dry sandy soil of oak woods and pine barrens. It can bear partial shade, but it produces the much flowers and fruit, and also the brightest red fall color in peak time of  sunshine. It's range is from zones 4-9.
The leaves are upto 8 cm long, with good serrated edges. The flowers arise in the month of May and are white in color, rounded and with a little claw. These flower results the fruit by August which are upto 12 mm across and turned dark purple to black. The fruit seems as a “pome”, like an apple or like pear where the seeds are in a stiff core and having fleshy tissues around it. The fruit is tastewise sour even when you will  ripe it, so that it persists until midwinter as a “last resort” food source for songbirds, upland game birds as well as for small mammals.

Occurrence

Occurrence of choke berries are normally in eastern North America , commonly found in wet woods and swamps.

Types of chokeberry
There are three main types of chokeberry.

i) Red chokeberry     ii) black chokeberry  iii) Purple chokeberry

i) Red chokeberry
Red chokeberry or Aronia arbutifolia (Photinia pyrifolia),It grows  from 2m to 4m in heightb and in some cases upto 6 m. Leaves range are in between 5 to 8 cm in width and densely pubescent on their underside. The flowers are white or may pale pink which are 1 cm wide having  glandular sepals. The fruits are red in color,and their range is from 4 to 10 mm in width, they persisting into winter.

ii) Black chokeberry

Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa (Photinia melanocarpa) are smaller in size , rarely achieves  upto  3m in height, and these berries spreads readily by area of root sprouts. The leaves of black berries are smaller and normally not more than 6 cm in its width,these are having terminal glands near leaf teeth and have glabrous underside. The flowers are white in color and their width is 1.5 cm, with their glabrous sepals. The fruits are black in color with a 6–9 mm width but not persisting into winter.

                                Black chokeberries and their leaves, Aronia melanocarpa (Photinia melanocarpa)

iii) Purple chokeberry
The Purple chokeberry or Aronia prunifolia (Photinia floribunda) apparently appears as
a hybrid or cross of the black and red chokeberries but thats not 100% sure so these might be more accurately taken as distinct species rather than a hybrid. Leaves  pubescent on the underside with moderately. There may be few or no glands exist on the sepal surface area. The fruits have dark purple to black range of color and are  7 to10 mm in width which are also not persisting into winter as black choke berries. There are also purple chokeberries which seems to be self-sustaining and are independent of the two of their parent species. Also an introduced one in northern Germany where no parent species present.The leading botanist Alan Weakley considered this form as a full species rather than a hybrid or cross of red choke berry and black choke berry. The range of the purple chokeberries are different than that of the black chokeberry.These are found in areas where the red chokeberry is not such as Michigan and Missouri .

Uses & Benefits

• Basic research on aronia uses has ability for reducing risk of disease. 
• Helpful for reduction of blood cholesterol. 
• For treatment colorectal cancer
•  For treatment of cardiovascular disease
• For long term chronic inflammation 
• Stomach or gastric mucosal disorders (peptic ulcer) 
• Eye inflammation (uveitis)
• Liver failure or disorder so for that reason it is helpful in the patient who suffered from anemia.
• Chokeberries can be used in  jams,  juices, soft spreads, tea, salsa, chili starters, extracts,  ice cream  etc.
• These can be used in herbal syrup.
• The chokeberries are attractive ornamental plants for gardens. They are naturally understory and woodland edge plants, and grow well when planted under trees.
• Chokeberries are resistant to insects, drought and several diseases. 
• Chokeberries are cultivated for both purpose as ornamental plants and as food products. 
• The berries can be eaten or used  by raw off the bush. 
• They are rich in  polyphenolic pigment compounds such as anthocyanins .
• In northern Europe , Aronia or Choke berries are commercially bottled and sale as fruit juice. 
• The fruit juice which is rich in anthocyanins,anc can be surved by blending well with other fruit juices.
• The juice contains catachines, phenols leucoanthocyanins, flavonoles, and flavones" that works as a bioactive in humans. 
• In the US,the growing in popularity as landscape shrub as it bears both wet and dry soil and it is suitable from spring through fall and resists pests. Aronia berries commercially used for their antioxidant properties.


• In Poland they are dried and treated as herbal tea which may be blended or mixed with other more flavorful ingredients.
• Aronia are used as flavoring or colorant for beverages and yogurts. 
• Juices extracted from the ripe berries are astringent, sweet (high sugar content), sour (low pH) and contains vitamin C as well. 
• These can be baked into soft breads because of their flavor.

References

•  Potter, D., et al. (2007). 266(1–2): 5–43.   Phylogeny and classification of Rosaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution. 
• Photinia melanocarpa (Michx.) K.R. Robertson & Phipps". USDA PLANTS. Photinia floribunda". USDA PLANTS.
•   A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, and B. S. Walters (February 2011). "Michigan Flora Online". University of Michigan. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
•  Mark Brand (2010)67 (3): 14–25 "Aronia: Native Shrubs With Untapped Potential". Arnoldia .
•   Gross, P (2009). "New Roles for Polyphenols. A 3-Part report on Current Regulations & the State of Science". Nutraceuticals World. Rodman Media. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
•     Kim, B.; Ku, C. S.; Pham, T. X.; Park, Y.; Martin, D. A.; Xie, L.; Taheri, R.; Lee, J.; Bolling, B. W. (2013). "Aronia melanocarpa (chokeberry) polyphenol–rich extract improves antioxidant function and reduces total plasma cholesterol in apolipoprotein E knockout mice". Nutrition Research 33 (5): 406–413. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2013.03.001. PMID 23684442. 
•  "USDA GRIN entry for Aronia".
• "USDA GRIN Taxonomy, distribution entry for Aronia × prunifolia".
• Everhart, Eldon (March 4, 2009). "Aronia - A New Crop for Iowa". Retrieved May 24, 2013.
•     Jump up ^ "Prunus virginiana L. var. melanocarpa (A. Nelson) Sarg.: black chokecherry". United States Department of Agriculture.
•   Prunus virginiana melanocarpa, Black Chokecherry
•  Lala, G., Malik, M., Zhao, C., He, J., Kwon, Y., Giusti, M. M., & Magnuson, B. A. (2006). Anthocyanin-rich extracts inhibit multiple biomarkers of colon cancer in rats. Nutr. Cancer 54 (1): 84-93
•    Bell, D. R., & Gochenaur, K. (2006). Direct vasoactive and vasoprotective properties of anthocyanin-rich extracts. J Appl Physiol. 100 (4): 1164-70.
• Han, G.-L., Li, C.-M., Mazza, G., & Yang, X.-G. (2005). Effect of anthocyanin rich fruit extract on PGE2 produced by endothelial cells. Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 34 (5): 581-4.
•  Valcheva-Kuzmanova, S., Marazova, K., Krasnaliev, I., Galunska, B., Borisova, P., & Belcheva, A. (2005). Effect of Aronia melanocarpa fruit juice on indomethacin-induced gastric mucosal damage and oxidative stress in rats. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 56 (6): 385-92.
•  Ohgami, K., Ilieva, I., Shiratori, K., Koyama, Y., Jin, X.-H., Yoshida, K., Kase, S., Kitaichi, N., Suzuki, Y., Tanaka, T., & Ohno, S. (2005). Anti-inflammatory effects of aronia extract on rat endotoxin-induced uveitis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 46 (1): 275-81.
•  Valcheva-Kuzmanova, S., Borisova, P., Galunska, B., Krasnaliev, I., & Belcheva, A. (2004). Hepatoprotective effect of the natural fruit juice from Aronia melanocarpa on carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver damage in rats. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 56 (3): 195-201.

•  Robertson, K. R., J. B. Phipps, J. R. Rohrer, and P. G. Smith. 1991. A synopsis of genera in Maloideae (Rosaceae). Systematic Botany 16:376–394.
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•  Sennikov, A.N.; Phipps, J.B. (2013). "Atlas Florae Europaeae notes, 19 – 22. Nomenclatural changes and taxonomic adjustments in some native and introduced species of Malinae (Rosaceae) in Europe". Willdenowia - Annals of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem 43 (1): 33–44.
• James W. Hardin ((May - Jun., 1973)). "The Enigmatic Chokeberries (Aronia, Rosaceae)". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 100 (3): 178–184. doi:10.2307/2484630. JSTOR 2484630.
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• Aronia Berries: The new antioxidant super fruit - Food - Yahoo! New Zealand Food
•  http://www.mtt.fi/afs/pdf/mtt-afs-v16n1p46.pdf
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