barberry berries

Barberry has many useful properties, and its berries contain many vitamins and deserve special mention.

Externally, barberry berries have an oblong oval shape and a purple or bright red color. In length, they reach up to 1 cm and have a pronounced sour taste. In one berry there can be several seeds half a centimeter long. They flatten slightly towards the center and taper towards the top.

Unripe green barberry berries are poisonous, so in no case should they be consumed. Collection is carried out in the period of full maturation. In its pure form, barberry berries are eaten only pickled or boiled, as they are sour.

Barberry berries have the following characteristics:

• have a rich vitamin composition;
• used as a dye for fabrics and leather.

The berries contain a sufficient amount of organic acids, including malic, citric, tartaric and others, as well as pectin-containing substances. Due to the high content of vitamins C and K, as well as carotene, barberry berries have invaluable benefits.

Barberry berries have the following beneficial properties:

• remove toxic substances due to pectin;
• have a calming effect;
• produce a rejuvenating effect;
• often used in medicine in decoctions and infusions.

Only unripe barberry berries are harmful, which contain a huge amount of berberine and alkaloids and cause poisoning.

Due to their sour taste, barberry berries add piquancy to dishes and are used in cooking as follows:

• added to compotes, syrups and jelly;
• jam is made from them;
• from them produce jelly, sweets, marshmallow;
• participate in the production of strong liquors;
• marinated served with vegetable stews;
• dried, used as a condiment;
• added to oriental dishes;
• in dried form, an indispensable ingredient in pilaf.

Barberry berries are used to make teas and fruit drinks, as well as juice. To prepare fruit drink from berries, you should:

• pour dried berries with hot water and boil for 10 minutes over low heat;
• the broth is insisted for one and a half hours and filtered;
• sugar and vanilla powder pre-mixed in a small amount of water are added to it;
• everything is mixed together.

Barberry berries are used in medicine in the following cases:

• to improve appetite;
• to strengthen the heart and blood vessels;
• as a choleretic agent;
• to normalize the hormonal background and the thyroid gland;
• as a hemostatic agent;
• for the treatment of diseases of the liver and bladder;
• to get rid of fever and fever.

To strengthen the general condition and improve the functioning of the heart, it is recommended to drink barberry tea. To do this, take a spoonful of dried berries, which are poured into 200 ml of boiling water. You can add sugar to taste. Tea is infused for about 10 minutes, after which it can be filtered. It is recommended to heat this tea before drinking and drink half an hour after eating.

You can learn more information about the beneficial properties of barberry from the program "1001 spices of Scheherazade"

A barberry mask prepared according to the following recipe has a striking effect on the skin of the face:

• a few tablespoons of herculean groats are brewed with hot milk, after which the mixture is allowed to cool;
• 200 g of ground barberry berries are mixed with swollen oatmeal;
• an egg and a spoonful of honey are added to the mask.

Keep the mask on the skin for up to 20 minutes. It is especially useful for aging skin, as it makes it more elastic.

Barberry berries are low in calories. 100 grams of berries contain less than 30 kcal. During weight loss, it is extremely useful to drink vitamin barberry drinks, which will improve metabolism and provide the body with the necessary substances.

You can cook compote from barberry berries. To get the maximum effect, you can use compote instead of other drinks, but do not add sugar to it.

But it is better to exclude dried barberry berries as a spice for dishes, since they will only cause excessive appetite.

On the use of barberry berries and their strengthening of immunity, see the following video.