Description of the white mulberry plant. Composition and calorie content of berries, beneficial properties and expected harm. Recipes for delicious dishes and uses in cooking.

The content of the article:

White mulberry (lat. Morus alba) is a plant of the Mulberry family (Moraceae), the species Mulberry (Morus), whose homeland is China, and to be more precise, its eastern regions. It has been cultivated here for more than 400,000 years as food for silkworms. Other names for deciduous trees: mulberry, tutina, tutina. The fruits are a complex white drupe, 2-3 cm long. The berries have a sweet taste and a pleasant aroma. The lifespan of the plant reaches 200 years, and sometimes even 500. Nowadays, mulberries can be found in many parts and countries of the world: Afghanistan, Northern India, Pakistan, Iran, Transcaucasia. It is also grown in Europe, Ukraine and some regions of Russia. There are 20 species of this plant.

Composition and calorie content of white mulberry

Despite the low energy value of white mulberry, its berries contain a considerable amount of minerals and vitamins necessary for the human body.

Calorie content of white mulberry is 43 kcal per 100 g of product, of which:

• Proteins - 1.44 g;
• Fats - 0.39 g;
• Carbohydrates - 9.8 g;
• Dietary fiber - 1.7 g;
• Water - 86.78 g;
• Ash - 0.69 g.

Vitamins contained in white mulberry per 100 g:

• Vitamin A - 25 mcg;
• Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.029 mg;
• Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.101 mg;
• Vitamin B3, niacin - 0.62 mg;
• Vitamin B4, choline - 12.3 mg;
• Vitamin B9, folate - 6 mcg;
• Vitamin C, ascorbic acid - 36.4 mg;
• Vitamin E, alpha tocopherol - 0.87 mg;
• Vitamin K - 7.8 mcg;
• Lutein + Zeaxanthin - 136 mcg.

Macroelements per 100 g:

• Potassium, K - 194 mg;
• Calcium – 39 mg;
• Magnesium, Mg - 18 mg;
• Sodium, Na - 10 mg;
• Phosphorus, P - 38 mg.

Microelements per 100 g:

• Iron, Fe - 1.85 mg;
• Copper, Cu - 0.6 mg;
• Selenium, Se - 0.6 μg;
• Zinc, Zn - 0.12 mg.

The fruits of this berry contain a large amount of sugars - from 12 to 23%, represented mainly by monosaccharides. This product is rich in nitrogenous substances, phosphoric acids, flavonoids, carotene, pectin, organic acids (malic and citric), as well as tannins.

Useful properties of white mulberry

White mulberry berries contain many useful substances, which makes them a good remedy for the treatment and prevention of many diseases. For this purpose, use fresh fruits, juices, decoctions and infusions prepared from this product.

Benefits of white mulberry:

1. Prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Thanks to potassium, iron and magnesium, these berries are recommended to be eaten by patients with heart disease and myocardial dystrophy. Regular consumption of white mulberry will help reduce shortness of breath, heart pain, cholesterol levels, and also normalize the functioning of this important organ.
2. Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Fresh unripe berries and a water infusion from them should be consumed for diarrhea. But ripe fruits act as a laxative and will help with constipation. In addition, this product is useful for hypokalemia. It is recommended to eat white mulberries for stomach and duodenal ulcers.
3. Beneficial effects in cancer diseases. The berries contain polyphenols, antioxidants and anthocyanins, which have a preventive effect against malignant tumors.
4. Fights nervous disorders. This beneficial property of white mulberry is observed thanks to the already mentioned substances in its composition, namely B vitamins. Consumption of berries improves sleep, increases performance, and also treats neurological diseases.
5. Reduces blood pressure. Thanks to the vitamins and minerals contained in these berries, and especially the polyphenol resveratrol, mulberries minimize the likelihood of stroke and strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
6. Strengthens immunity. Vitamins A, E and C in fruits have the properties to replenish vitamin reserves in the body and improve health. It is useful to use them for those suffering from anemia and dysbacteriosis.
7. Good for the eyes. The vitamins contained in the fruits we are considering, especially carotene, protect the organs of vision from ultraviolet rays and also improve vision.
8. Prevention of liver diseases. Due to its choleretic effect, white mulberry is recommended for consumption for biliary dyskinesia.
9. Prevention of pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchial asthma. For preventive effects against these ailments, it is recommended to take juice and infusion of white mulberry. These products will enhance the liquefaction and separation of mucus.
10. Useful for kidney diseases. These berries, acting as a natural diuretic, remove excess fluid from the body.
11. Helps with type 2 diabetes. White mulberry contains chemical elements that control the level of insulin in the blood and slow down the breakdown of sugar in the intestines, and as a result, it penetrates into the blood slowly, which is why it is recommended to include these berries in your diet.
12. Rejuvenates the body. White mulberry has the ability to cleanse the body of free radicals, thereby preventing the aging of the body and the development of arthritis and arthrosis.
13. Normalizes metabolism. Regular consumption of mulberries will help cope with obesity.
14. Benefits pregnant women. This happens because the berries are rich in folic acid, which is necessary for expectant mothers.

Important to remember! White mulberry berries should be eaten by people who are exhausted after illness, especially boys who have had mumps and scarlet fever, in order to avoid problems in the sexual sphere.

Contraindications and harm of white mulberry

Despite the large number of useful elements and healing properties, white mulberry can still cause harm to the body. Therefore, it is necessary to eat it in moderation, without overusing it.

Contraindications to the use of white mulberry:

• Hypertension. When consuming white mulberries, especially in hot weather, because they ripen on such summer days, blood pressure may increase and there is even a risk of stroke.
• Severe form of diabetes mellitus. The fruits of this plant contain a lot of sugar, so people with this disease should refrain from consuming them.
• Individual intolerance. Berries and fruits are strong allergens, for this reason it is recommended to include white mulberries in your diet very carefully.

Recipes for dishes with white mulberries

The excellent sweet taste and pleasant aroma make white mulberry a very popular berry, which is known and readily eaten in many parts of the world. Various desserts, preserves, jams, compotes, wines and liqueurs, berry and fruit salads, baked goods - this is not the entire list of culinary delights, where these berries are one of the components.

Recipes for delicious dishes with white mulberry:

1. Dessert “The Magic of Tenderness”. Grind 1 piece of shortbread into crumbs with your hands and place it on the bottom of the bowl. Spread 70 g of curd cream on top. Both strawberry and children's curd desserts are suitable for our recipe. We wash 50 g of white mulberries and place them on the cottage cheese mixture. Now we will work with a blender. Beat 50 g of washed fruits, 70 g of curd cream and vanillin (to taste). Add 1 teaspoon of honey. And spread the resulting mass onto the berries. Once again we will need to use the blender: beat 70 ml of heavy cream. Crumble 1 piece of shortbread and pour it into a bowl, spread the creamy mixture on top. Our dessert is ready! It can be decorated with berries and mint leaves.
2. Coffee manna with white mulberries on kefir. First you need to mix 1.5 cups of kefir, 1 cup of semolina, 0.5 cups of sugar and 1 egg and leave to brew for 1 hour. Then add 2 teaspoons of baking powder and mix well. After this, pour 1-2 tablespoons of instant coffee into the dough and mix again until the lumps dissolve. We wash 1 cup of white mulberries, cut off the stems and put them in the dough, mix again and put them in the multicooker bowl. Bake for 1 hour, then remove, turn over and bake for another 10 minutes until the product is browned. Enjoy your meal!
3. Strawberry and white mulberry smoothie. We wash 150 g of strawberries and white mulberries. Grind them in a blender. Add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar, 75 g of ice cream and 2-3 tablespoons of water. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, beat, and the dish is ready. This sweet and sour dessert is perfect for the table in hot weather.
4. White mulberry milkshake. Wash 1.5 cups of white mulberry and beat with 1 tablespoon of honey and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender. Gradually add 150 g of ice cream and continue whipping. The last component is 1 glass of milk, pour it into the prepared mass and mix well.
5. White mulberry wine. We wash 1 kg of berries and leave them to dry for 24 hours. Squeeze out the juice and add the same amount of water. For each liter of diluted juice, add 5 g of ground cinnamon and 150 g of sugar. Pour the product into a jar and leave to ferment for 5-6 days. Filter and pour 1 liter of fortified white wine into 10 liters of wine and leave for 2 weeks. Add sugar to taste, pour and seal.
6. Mulberry compote. We wash 300 g of white mulberries and strain them into a colander. Place the berries in heated jars, pour in syrup made from 650 ml of water, 350 g of sugar and 1 g of citric acid. Sterilize jars with a capacity of 0.5 liters for 10-25 minutes depending on the temperature, seal and wrap until cool.
7. . We wash 1 kg of berries, sprinkle them with 1 kg of sugar and leave for 6-8 hours. After this time, put the jam on the fire, bring to a boil and cook for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, let the product cool and put it back on the stove, continue the cooking process: bring to a boil and cook for 5-10 minutes. And this needs to be done 5-6 times. The finished jam has the thickness of good sour cream. Add 2-3 g of citric acid to it. We sterilize the jars, fill them with the product and seal them.
8. Fruit salad. First, we wash 9 plums, 2 peaches and 30 g of white mulberries. Then remove the seeds from the plums and peaches and cut all the berries into small pieces. After this, add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the ingredients and mix them. Pour 2 tablespoons of any yogurt over the salad.

Residents of the East call the white mulberry the “tree of life”, and its fruits the “queen of berries”.

One large plant has the ability to produce up to 200 kg of berries, and sometimes up to 500 kg.

Christians tell a legend that Jesus Christ once hid under a white mulberry tree. This tree can still be seen in Jericho.

It has become a wonderful tradition in Cyprus to hold a silkworm festival once a year, which is treated with great respect here.

There is a connection between the mulberry tree and silk fabrics. The leaves of this tree are a food product for the caterpillar, which is called the silkworm; its pupa is made of silk threads. Hence the second name of the mulberry tree - mulberry. Silk became known to the world after one very curious incident. There is a legend about this. Chinese princess Xi Liying Shi was relaxing under a mulberry tree and drinking tea. A silkworm cocoon fell into her cup. And in the container with this aromatic drink, the cocoon began to unravel, and its thin but strong threads shimmered in the sun. This is how people learned that the caterpillar living on the silk tree gives us wonderfully beautiful silk fabrics.

In eastern countries and Central Asia, the mulberry tree is treated as sacred. Bark is an excellent material for amulets and amulets. A table is placed in the yard under this tree, where the whole family gathers, because evil spirits are afraid to approach the mulberry tree, and all family members are safe here.

Residents of Europe became acquainted with this wonderful plant in the 12th century. Since the 17th century, it began to be grown in Russia, in regions located near Moscow. But the climate here turned out to be unsuitable for the cultivation of white mulberry, due to its severity and cold. Therefore, cultivation was moved further south. Currently, the mulberry tree is found in both cultivated and wild forms.

Watch the video about white mulberry:

So, white mulberry is a plant that produces fruits that are excellent in taste and aroma, and in addition, they are also very beneficial for health. You can eat them both raw and thermally processed. There are many recipes with these berries. There are dishes that are consumed immediately after preparation, and there are those that are preserved for the winter: preserves, jams, compotes, wines and dried food. You can get the fruits in markets and supermarkets. But it is best to plant a tree on your site and grow these berries yourself, being confident in their complete usefulness and the absence of any chemicals. In addition, this plant will be a talisman for the whole family against bad energy and bad people.

Mulberries are certainly tasty fresh, but it can be difficult to deal with excess harvest within a couple of days, which is why the berry can be prepared for future use, or can be used as an ingredient in your favorite sweets. We decided to discuss some ideas of what can be prepared from mulberries further.

Mulberry ice cream

Ingredients:

• heavy cream - 480 ml;
• granulated sugar - 160 g;
• egg yolks - 6 pcs.;
• mulberry - 2 1/2 tbsp.;
• - 15 ml.

Preparation

Using a blender, beat the berries with 4 tablespoons of sugar and vinegar. Add a pinch of sea salt to the berry puree. Combine the remaining sugar with cream in a saucepan and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Beat the egg yolks and pour the hot cream and sugar over them, whisking continuously with a mixer. Pour the cream and egg mixture back into the saucepan, place on the heat and allow to thicken. Cool the creamy mass to room temperature, and then mix with berry puree. Pour the ice cream into any form and place it in the freezer. After half an hour, beat the ice cream with a mixer, return it to the freezer and repeat the procedure 5 more times after a similar period of time.

How to make mulberry jam?

Jam and mulberry jam can be called one of the most popular berry preparations for the cold season. Having a portion of berries on hand can be turned into thick and sweet jam in just half an hour.

Ingredients:

• mulberries - 2 tbsp.;
• granulated sugar - 135 g;
• balsamic vinegar - 45 ml;
• juice of 2 lemons;
• sprig of rosemary;
• a pinch of nutmeg.

Preparation

Pour sugar over the berries and place over medium heat for 15 minutes. During this time, the mulberry will have time to release juice and the sugar will completely dissolve. Add the resulting berry puree and syrup with vinegar, rosemary, nutmeg and boil for the same period of time. After the allotted 15 minutes, mix the jam with lemon juice and cool. Place the delicacy in clean jars for storage. Mulberry preparations can also be prepared for the winter by pouring the still hot jam into sterile jars and rolling them up.

How to make wine from mulberries?

Ingredients:

• mulberry - 1.8 kg;
• granulated sugar - 470 g;
• citric acid - 10 g.

Preparation

Pour the berries, sugar and citric acid into a glass container with a narrow neck and fill with five liters of water. We put a glove on the neck of the container and leave the wine to ferment in a warm place until the glove falls off, which indicates the end of the fermentation process.

Carefully pour the finished wine into a saucepan, cook to release all the gas, then cool and pour into jars.

Mulberry pie

Ingredients:

For the test:

• flour - 290 g;
• granulated sugar - 45 g;
• - 225 g;
• egg yolks - 2 pcs.

For filling:

• mulberry berries - 9 tbsp.;
• granulated sugar - 155 g;
• butter - 75 g;
• flour - 15 g;
• lime juice - 45 ml;
• a pinch of ground cardamom.

Preparation

Using a fork, mash the ice-cold butter with the sugar and flour. Add the egg yolks to the resulting crumbs, quickly mix, form the dough into a ball and leave in the freezer for an hour.

Cover the mulberries with sugar, add sugar, cardamom and butter to the berries, then put on fire and simmer for 25 minutes. Finally, add flour, add lime juice and let the filling cool.

Roll out 2/3 of the dough and place on the bottom and sides of the chosen form. Leave the base in the freezer for another 20 minutes, then fill with the berry filling. Roll out the remaining dough, cut into strips and place them crosswise on top of the mulberry filling. Cook the pie in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 35 minutes.

Mulberry crispbread
After making juice or syrup from mulberries, tender pomace is usually left over. They are mixed with wheat flour and small loaves of bread are baked in the oven. When fresh, they are very tasty, and when they dry they turn into gingerbread, which can be stored for a long time without any spoilage.

Black mulberry jam (Armenian cuisine)
Sort the mulberries, remove the stalks, then put the berries on a dish, cover with sugar (half the norm) and leave in a cool place for 5-6 hours. Pour the resulting juice into a bowl, add the remaining sugar, boil the syrup and cool it.
Pour mulberries into the prepared syrup, shake the bowl carefully so that the berries are immersed in the syrup, put on fire and cook until tender. At the end of cooking, remove the foam from the jam.
Product consumption: black mulberry - 1 kg. sugar - 1.5 kg.

Mulberry dumplings
Wash the mulberries, sort them, remove the stalks, sprinkle with sugar and put in a cool place for 20-30 minutes, then place in a sieve or colander, strain the juice and make dumplings.
Serve the prepared dumplings with strained mulberry juice.
Product consumption: wheat flour - 3 cups, water - 3/4 cup, eggs - 1 piece, mulberry - 4 cups, sugar - 1/2 cup.

Mulberry marmalade (Bulgarian cuisine)
Rub the washed and stemmed mulberries through a thick sieve, in which only the seeds should remain. Pour granulated sugar into the resulting puree and juice, cook over high heat until tender, stirring constantly. When the marmalade thickens, place it in glass jars, cover with parchment paper and tie.
Product consumption: mulberries - 1 kg, sugar - 0.5 kg.

Mulberry compote
Sort out fresh berries, just picked from the tree, remove the stalks, put them in a colander and place them in a basin or large saucepan with cold water so as not to damage them. Then pour the prepared cold sugar syrup over the mulberries, put on the fire and cook at a temperature of 80 degrees for 20 minutes. Pour the finished compote into prepared jars, leaving 2-3 centimeters to the top.
Product consumption: mulberry - 1 kg, sugar - 1 kg.

Pancakes with mulberries
Grind the yolks with sugar, mix with milk, add flour, salt, stir well and add the remaining milk. Beat the whites until foamy, add them to the dough, stir and bake pancakes. To do this, put a piece of butter in a frying pan and pour in the dough little by little. Let the dough harden slightly over low heat, sprinkle the sorted mulberries, previously mixed with sugar, in an even layer, and pour the dough on top of the berries again.
When the pancake is well browned on one side, turn it over, put the oil back in the pan and fry on the other side.
Sprinkle the finished pancakes with sugar and serve hot.
Product consumption: flour - 3 tablespoons, eggs - 4 pieces, sugar - 3 tablespoons, milk - 1.5 cups, butter - 1 tablespoon, mulberries - 3 cups.

Mulberry marshmallow
Prepare mulberry puree as indicated in the recipe for marmalade, place in a basin, put on fire and cook until the bottom of the basin begins to show when stirred. Then spread the marshmallow in a thick layer on clean glass moistened with water so that it dries for several days. Cut the finished marshmallow into square pieces, sprinkle with powdered sugar or loja (wild olive) flour and place in glass jars.

Silkovichka
Sort the mulberries (white or black), rinse, remove the stalks, add water and cook until completely softened. Then rub the mulberries together with the broth through a sieve, add lightly dried flour mixed with sugar, boil the mixture well and season with sour cream.
The mulberries are served hot.
Product consumption: mulberry-500 g, sugar-1/2 cup, sour cream-1/2 cup, wheat flour-1/2 cup, water-7 cups.

Giving cheerfulness

It is difficult to find among our plants another such seemingly worthless and worthless plant.
It settles where others cannot even grow: in desert and semi-desert regions of the southeast - in sun-scorched wastelands, or even directly on bare sand, dead clayey or saline massifs. And his appearance is such that, as Anna Ashirovna Ashirova, a doctor of botanical sciences from Turkmenistan, once said about him, “even against the background of nondescript desert vegetation he seems like a freak.”
In fact: the growth of this plant rarely exceeds half a meter, the bare branches are covered with powerful spines, the simple leathery leaves are rarely seated, and even those fall off by the time of fruiting.
Cattle avoid thickets of this thorn, and people try to get rid of it with an ax and shovel as soon as it tries to penetrate the crops. And only camels revere this perennial subshrub as a delicacy. That is why botanists gave it the official name - camel thorn.
This plant also has other names: yandak, jantak, camel hay. On the Don, it is simply called camel, although, in fairness, it should be noted that the real camel is a completely different plant of the gonoceae family, whose leaves are linear and the flowers are inconspicuous and small. Camel thorn has oval leaves, larger and red flowers, and it belongs to the legume family.
At the time of flowering - which happens in the fall, when other herbs have already managed to show off their beauty and fade - at this time it is the most desirable honey plant. From dawn to dusk, winged workers buzz above it. Experts have calculated that the average bee colony collects 5-6 kg of fragrant and pleasant-tasting honey per autumn day.
But few people know how difficult it is for this freak of the plant world to exist on earth. To provide itself with moisture, camel thorn sometimes has to sink its root to a depth of twenty meters! You look at a pathetic bush and can hardly imagine that this plant underground is tens of times larger than on the surface. However, this is a feature of all xerophytes - those plants that, as botanists say, have adapted to soil and atmospheric dryness.
The unbearable heat in the conditions of our south is difficult for humans to endure. The temperature is forty degrees, and sometimes even higher - but what can you do? The workers of the land have an open-air workshop all year round and, as they say on the Don, you cannot block the sun with a hat.
It is not easier for those who stand at the melting and heating furnaces - steelmakers, forge workers, rolling mills, and thermal operators. As calculated by scientists, they all lose five to six liters of moisture per shift. But this is not just dehydration of the body, which in itself is difficult for a person to tolerate. But along with sweat, water-soluble vitamins, organic salts, and microelements leave the body.
How to make up for losses, how to maintain strength?
Kvass and fruit drinks in the field, carbonated water with salt in the hot workshops of factories only partially solve the problem.
And yet it has long been known how successful since time immemorial the drink made from flowers and camel thorn shoots, the so-called “Yandach tea”, has enjoyed in Central Asia and Azerbaijan, in these hottest zones of our country, because only it easily and reliably quenches thirst person and sharply reduces sweat production.
Many years ago, Doctor of Botanical Sciences A. A. Ashirova was the first to draw attention to the fact that farmers widely use yandach tea as a medicinal drink in extreme heat. Scientists from the Institute of Physiology and Experimental Pathology of the Arid (Desert) Zone of the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen SSR conducted numerous laboratory studies and found that camel thorn is not at all the Cinderella of plants, but a beautiful princess!
Judge for yourself: Yandach tea contains not only potassium and calcium, but also numerous microelements and vitamins, that is, it returns to the body what it loses when overheated!
The drink turned out to be truly tonic. It quickly relieves fatigue, restores vigor and high productivity to a person, and this, you see, is worth a lot!
Camel thorn contains the greatest amount of useful substances during its flowering period: up to 0.17 percent of alkaloids, B vitamins, ascorbic acid, carotene, vitamin K, essential oil, sugary substances, organic acids, tannins and much more. And almost all of them are preserved in tea, which is now officially recommended for widespread consumption as a tonic drink.
And anyone can cook it.
The thorn is harvested when it blooms. The flowers along with the shoots are crushed and air-dried in the shade. The herb prepared in this way can be used at any time of the year, brewed as regular tea is brewed.
To what has been said, it must be added that camel thorn not only gives vigor and reduces moisture loss in the human body. Tea made from it is also very effective for colitis, gastritis and stomach ulcers, as well as other common diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Unfortunately, this most valuable and accessible natural resource is not yet known to our metallurgists, chemists, miners, field workers, and everyone who needs it so much.
In our region, in addition to the common camel thorn, another species grows - the Persian camel thorn, which secretes a sugary liquid that hardens in air in the form of individual small grains. These grains, called “Persian manna,” are eaten as a very pleasant sweet and nutritious dietary product.

Candidate for our beds

We have three brothers, three heroes: big burdock, small burdock and cobwebby burdock. The small one is really small, three or four times shorter than his brothers, but God did not offend him with his strength and power either. And he can do everything that others can. And the miracle heroes grow in the same places, like brothers, so we will call them by one common name - burdock.
Due to the fact that this plant does not disdain landfills, garbage bins, ditches and ditches, it is officially called a ruderal plant, that is, “usually living near fences, in garbage dumps.”
In vain, of course. We classify burdock as waste and worthless plants only due to our indifference and mismanagement. Burdock has long been cultivated along with potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables in France, the USA, Belgium, and China. And in Japan, gobo or dovo, as they call it there, have turned into a cult. As you know, on the tiny islands of this state, the most valuable thing is land. But the hardworking and wise Japanese do not spare it for burdock plantations and grow our waste savage even in the most labor-intensive way - with seedlings. Its sweet and huge roots, like beets, are used to prepare numerous tasty and nutritious dishes, which are indispensable primarily for diabetes, because these roots are almost half composed of the healing polysaccharide inulin.
Today, burdock is also cultivated in Java, where it is eaten under the name Japanese scorzonera.
Burdock is a powerful plant, a kind of green bumpkin, a bear. That’s what botanists called it, by the way, back in ancient times - arctos, which in Greek means “bear”.
It is difficult to pass by this plant without paying attention to it. If you don’t affect it, then it will definitely affect you. He will certainly leave a “green mark” on his clothes, his “calling card” - a basket of seeds with tenacious hooks. Botanists call the inflorescence of burdock, like a sunflower, a basket, because these plants are close relatives, children of one large family of Asteraceae.
They say that because of his mischievous nature - clinging to every passerby - the burdock ended up in France. Together with the defeated Napoleonic army that fled from Russia, whose soldiers he followed. Since then, our big man has been thriving not only on the banks of the Moscow River, but also on the banks of the Seine.
And he thrives, by the way, on any soil. And he doesn’t care about bitter frosts, drought, or heat.
The burdock lives, however, not for long, only two years, but it lives greedily, violently, rapidly. In the first year, only a rather modest rosette of leaves appears above the ground. At this time, he “builds the foundation” - he puts all his heroic power into the root, which by the fall reaches the size of a large carrot and is filled with such fierce strength that it allows him to
drive out a two-meter branched stem, abundantly equipped with huge, like elephant ears, gray-green leaves and crimson lights of inflorescences.
The bees fly together to these crimson lights, because they contain generous reserves of honey. And burdock honey is not inferior in taste and healing properties even to linden honey. True, it did not come out in color - it is dark and somewhat viscous, but its persistent pleasant aroma and delicate taste make up for these shortcomings.
There is a lot of land in burdock.
First of all, it is very healing. In folk herbal medicine, it is used as a means of stimulating metabolism, used for kidney and bladder stones, gastritis, stomach ulcers, gout, rheumatism - the physiological effects of burdock on the body are varied.
Among other things, it has an antibacterial effect and contains a lot of biologically active substances. Burdock roots contain up to 45 percent insulin, vitamins, a lot of carbohydrates and proteins, mineral salts, organic acids, and even an alkaloid that has an antitumor effect. The leaves are rich in vitamin C (up to 350 mg%), they contain carotene, essential oil, tannins - in a word, everything that our body needs.
All three types are used for food. A variety of salads, soups and green cabbage soup are prepared from young leaves in early spring (which is especially valuable!). Boiled roots and leaf petioles are also suitable for salads and vinaigrettes, and for first courses - seeds and fleshy, juicy one- and two-day-old sprouts and young shoots.
But burdock roots are especially popular in nutrition. They are consumed baked and fried; boiled and pickled in China and Japan are considered a delicacy.
Burdock roots taste like potatoes and can replace them in soups and borscht; they are readily eaten raw - they are juicy, sweetish and very pleasant to the taste. From dried and ground roots, flour is obtained, from which delicious cakes are baked, cutlets are fried. If the roots crushed, dried and fried, you get a good coffee substitute, and if you add sorrel or vinegar, you can make a delicious jam and serve it with tea.
Our good old friend burdock - tasty, healthy, healing, fast growing, not requiring special conditions and special care - isn't it a candidate for our beds and plantations?

Mulberry. Tender, melting berries that fill your mouth with silky, aromatic juice. You can enjoy them endlessly. But, unfortunately, nothing lasts forever under the sun. And the mulberry harvest season is coming to an end. If only fresh fruit could be stored forever. After all, it is impossible to eat the entire harvest at once, no matter how much you want. Jam from will help you remember summer. On winter evenings, sometimes you want to sadly remember the sunny summer when you open a treasured jar.

Mulberry jam

There are various recipes for making mulberry jam. It is prepared in different ways:

• trying to keep the berries intact as much as possible;
• or by crushing the fruit to obtain jam or marmalade;
• They cook an assortment of mulberries mixed with other berries.

Preparing the berries

A mandatory procedure when making any jam.

• The berries are sorted, sorting out the garbage, and the stalks are removed.
• Wash and leave to drain.
• Start making mulberry jam at home.

Jam recipes

"Kilogram per kilogram"

This proportion is a kind of “golden ratio” in the art of making jam. Any housewife knows him. A small nuance: lemon juice or citric acid is added to mulberry jam so that it is not bland.

• 1 kg of mulberry fruits;
• 1 kg sugar;
• 1/2 tsp. citric acid or juice of one lemon.

First version of jam

Mulberry fruits are covered with sugar so that they produce juice. This happens after about five hours. You can leave it overnight.

After the juice appears, the future jam is put on fire. Further:

• bring, stirring gently, to a boil;
• after boiling, reduce the heat and boil the jam for five minutes;
• set aside and let cool;
• then the cooled jam is boiled again for five minutes;
• cool again;
• squeeze the juice from the lemon or add citric acid;
• boil again;
• pour into sterile jars and seal;
• leave the jars to cool. It is not necessary to wrap up.

During the cooking process, there are three passes in total.

Second option

Another recipe for mulberry jam. They do the same thing, but cook the jam in one step for 30–40 minutes. Citric acid is added at the very end of cooking. Jam cooked in this way has a thicker and more viscous syrup.

Option three: jam or marmalade

Take the same components in the same quantities.

• 1 kg mulberry fruits,
• 1 kg granulated sugar,
• Juice of one lemon or citric acid.

• mulberries are kneaded or crushed with a blender;
• then put in a bowl with a thick bottom;
• add sugar;
• boil, stirring for 40–45 minutes, removing foam;
• the jam should thicken;
• At the end of cooking, add lemon juice or acid;
• pour into sterile jars and seal.

In the “golden” proportion for mulberries, a slight reduction in the amount of sugar is permissible so that the jam is not cloyingly bland. For one kilogram of mulberries you can take seven hundred grams of sugar.

“Cold” mulberry jam

• 1 kg of mulberry fruits;
• 2 kg sugar.
  

  Warning! This “jam” does not require cooking or sterilization.

• The berries are sorted especially carefully, discarding dried and damaged ones. It is advisable not to wash them. The washed berries are laid out on a soft towel so that water is absorbed into it.
• Then the dried mulberries are crushed in a blender and mixed with sugar.
• Place in sterile jars.
• Cover with paper, tied with string, or clean plastic lids.
• Place in a cool place.

You can not immediately put the ground berries into jars, but leave them for a day or two in a saucepan or cup. The mixture is stirred periodically. With this method, the “raw” jam does not separate.

Is it possible to make mulberry jam in a slow cooker?

Mulberry jam in a slow cooker

• Take mulberries and sugar in a “golden” ratio of 1:1;
• Place in the multicooker bowl;
• set the “quenching” mode;
• Cook for one hour.
• The finished mulberry jam, cooked in a slow cooker, is poured into jars and screwed.

Mixed berry jam

For assorted jam, sour berries are usually paired with mulberries to compensate for the bland taste of mulberry jam. Combinations can be different. It all depends on the available products and flights of fancy.

The main thing is to maintain the ratio of the total amount of berries and sugar. To avoid confusion, it is better to stick to the time-tested “golden” ratio of 1:1. For example, half a kilogram of mulberries and other berries per kilogram of sugar. Or 700 g mulberries, 300 g other berries, 1 kg sugar.

Usually mulberry jam is cooked with cherries (pitted) or currants. You can replace them with raspberries, strawberries, or make a mix of three components. Finally, come up with a beautiful name for the jam and pass on the recipe for the signature dish from generation to generation.

The assortment is cooked using one of the methods described above. “Raw” jam is also prepared from a mixture of berries.

Here are more recipes for jam made from two ingredients.

Cherry jam

• 1 kg mulberry;
• 300 g pitted cherries;
• 1 kg sugar.

Sugar is poured onto the berries and left to release the juice. Maybe overnight. Cook in one go, stirring and skimming off the foam.

Cherry-mulberry jam

For cherry and mulberry jam you need:

• 2 kg cherries;
• 2 kg mulberries;
• 3 kg sugar.

Grind the berries in a blender, add sugar and cook for 40 minutes. Then pour into clean jars and roll up the lids.

"Raw" mulberry-currant jam

Here's another recipe for mulberry jam:

• 1 cup mulberries;
• 1 cup red currants;
• 1.5 cups sugar.

The prepared berries are crushed with a blender and mixed with granulated sugar until it is completely dissolved.

The jam is placed in sterile jars. Store in the refrigerator.

Mulberry-citrus jam

Mulberries go well with citrus fruits.

Lemon-mulberry jam

For mulberry jam with lemon you will need:

• 1 kg mulberry;
• 2 lemons (or oranges);
• 1 kg sugar.

• The prepared berries are covered with one-fourth of the sugar and the juice is allowed to flow.
• Meanwhile, citrus fruits are washed. To remove the bitterness, they must first be boiled in water or frozen in the refrigerator. You can simply pour boiling water over it for ten minutes.
• Then, after removing the seeds, the fruit is crushed with a blender (meat grinder) or finely chopped.
• The mulberry, which has released its juice, is brought to a boil.
• After boiling for five minutes, add another ¼ of the sugar.
• After another five minutes of boiling, add the next quarter of sugar and crushed citrus fruits (lemons or oranges).
• After another 5-6 minutes, pour in the remaining sugar.
• let simmer for another 5-7 minutes
• Pour into sterilized warm jars.
• Seal with lids.

Beneficial features

The beneficial properties of mulberries are widely known. Berries are rich in microelements: calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron. It also contains a lot of vitamins: A, K, E, C, B-vitamins. The fruits contain anthocyanins.

Does mulberry jam prepared for the winter retain its beneficial properties?

Vitamin C and beta-cartine are the least resistant to high temperatures and are partially destroyed. When cooking jam, up to 80% of ascorbic acid is lost.

And vitamins PP, B1, B2, E are more heat-resistant. And although some of them are also lost during boiling, the bulk is preserved.

After cooking, fiber and pectins, fructose and glucose remain in the jam. Microelements and biologically active substances are also not “digested”.