Cornelian Cherry Fruit
Cornelian Cherries are small trees, usually growing to
around 15 feet in height, though they can reach up to 25 feet depending on the
cultivar. Trunks can reach around eight inches in diameter.
Cornelian Cherry has a centuries long cultivation history
in south-eastern Europe and western Asia as a fruit tree. Today it is grown as
a commercial fruit crop in Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Georgia and Iran. Ripe
fruits are often processed into juice or preserves. The juice is sometimes
fermented into wine. The unripe fruit can be pickled in vinegar to make a
product similar in taste and appearance to preserved olives. The ripe fruit is
high in vitamin C as well as a range of phytochemicals, these have attributes
have drawn the interest of researchers to this lesser known fruit in last
decade. The Cornelian cherry is also known as dogwood.
This small tree providing multi-season interest. In late
winter to early spring, a profusion of small rounded clusters of tiny, bright
yellow flowers open on the naked branches and will persist for several weeks.
The showy blooms are followed by attractive glossy red, cherry-like fruits in
midsummer. Edible, they may be used for syrups and preserves.
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), well before
the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2-3 cm long and 1.5 cm in
diameter (depending on the cultivar), containing a single seed.
Cornelian Cherries can be grown in soil of moderate to
good fertility, including heavy clay. They prefer moist soil and sunshine, and
will tolerate shade and exposure to wind. They are also resistant to drought
and suffer from very few pests and diseases. While Cornelian Cherries can be grown
from seed, grafted Cornelian Cherries reach maturity more quickly; grown from
seed, they can taken 3-5 years to flower, and 6-10 years to bear fruit, while
grafted varieties will usually start fruiting within 1-2 years of
transplanting. These trees can be very long-lived.
The wood of this tree 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. The species is also grown as an ornamental
plant for its late winter yellow flowers.
Its green leaves and reddish or yellow oval fruits are
associated with many beneficial properties such as anti-oxidative and
anti-inflammatory effects. These features are driven by the rich polyphenolic
composition, with anthocyanins and iridoids in Cornelian cherry fruits as well
as flavonoids and phenolic acids in leaves. The antioxidant behavior as well as
the composition significantly depends on the cultivar of the plant and its
genotype. The functional properties of Cornelian cherry have been recognized in
many in vitro and toxicological studies.
Fruits are edible with an oval or pear-like shape and
ranging in colour from red to purple and yellow. The weight of the Cornelian
cherry’s fruit ranges from 2g to 10g, depending on the plant genotype and
cultivation conditions. Fruit harvest yields 500–1000 kg per hectare in the
case of wild-growing plants, but in orchards the yield can increase even
fivefold. The wild-growing bush of
Cornelian cherry can yield 3–10 kg of fruit, whereas yield reaches 80 kg per
bush for trees cultivated in an orchard.
The fruits are usually harvested when their peel colour
becomes very intense and the flavour develops to an acceptable limit. Cornus
mas is famous for being a rich source of vitamin C. This fruit is also a traditional component of
liquors, jams, comfitures and other fruit-based products. Cornelian cherry has
many regional cultivars which differ between each other in physical properties
(i.e., shape, fruit colour etc.) as well as nutrient composition. This fruit is
a recognized food ingredient in traditional cuisines of Poland, Czech Republic,
Serbia, Romania, Turkey, and Iran.
In Turkey, the fruits are used to flavour sherbet, as
well as to make jams and marmalades. In Ukraine, they are juiced and sold
commercially as soft drinks, and are also fermented into wine and distilled
into liqueur. People in the Caucuses make fruit leather from Cornelian
cherries, as well as canning them or drying and grinding them into a powder
that can be used in sauces or sprinkled onto grilled meat. In Russia, the fruit
is used in jams, jellies, fruit candies, purees, soft drinks, and sauces.
The water concentration in fresh as well as in frozen
fruit was three times higher than in dry fruit. Cornelian cherry’s fruit is rich in micro-elements
such as copper, iron, zinc, manganese and potassium. Juice
made from the Cornelian cherry was rich in calcium (32.3 mg/100 ml).
If weather conditions are poor and bees are not out and
about while they are flowering, it may be necessary to hand-pollinate in order
to get a good crop. It’s also been found that planting several cultivars of
Cornelian Cherries can improve the fruit yield. Mature trees yield around 24
pounds of fruit, though different cultivars can produce as much as 48 pounds
per tree. Fruits ripen over a long period of time, around August and September.
The easiest way to harvest them is to wait until fruit has changed colour (ripe
fruits are usually bright red, though different cultivars can produce fruits in
colours ranging from cream to dark reddish-purple and yellow), and then to
shake the branches. The ripe fruit will fall and can then be collected from the
ground. Fruit will continue to sweeten and intensify in flavour as it ripens,
so it’s worth keeping it on the tree until fully ripe, or letting it sit on the
counter for 1-2 days at room temperature.
To start Cornelian Cherries from seed, sow seeds from
fresh fruits in fall, or stratify dried seed for 23 weeks, cold, or 16 weeks
warm and then 4-16 weeks cold. Germination can take as long as 12-15 months ( ie. once the seed coat slowly breaks down the seeds
will emerge in 1-2 years and some in the 3rd year, always a few sprout the
first year too). Nicking the seed coat prior to stratification can
help to speed up the process. Seedlings raise two large irregular oval seed
leaves when they sprout, followed by normal foliage with leaves in pairs.
Cornelian Cherries can be grafted using any method, as long as scions are
grafted low on the rootstock. Plants branch close to the ground, so it is
important to make sure that all branches are coming from the scion rather than
the rootstock.
Cornelian Cherry has been used as a part of traditional
medicine systems for over 1,000 years. Products made from the leaves, flowers,
and fruit are used to treat sore throats, digestion problems, measles,
chickenpox, anemia, and rickets. Juice made from the fruit has been used to
help with diabetes. Leaves, dried and powdered fruits, and dried ground drupes
(fruit plus seed) are used to alleviate diarrhea and hemorrhoids. Products made
from the bark and from evaporated juice can be used to treat skin wounds and
boils. Researchers found that the fruit flesh and seed oil can help damaged
skin to recover, and successfully used them to cure difficult-to-heal wounds,
stomach ulcers, and colitis. Recent Russian research has found that the fruit
contains substances that can leach radioactivity from the body. The fruit,
bark, and leaves have also been found to demonstrate antimicrobial activity
against Staphylococcus and E. Coli bacteria.
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