Record harvest of exotic berries in Lithuania – This is a real vitamin C bomb

Laima Česonienė, a researcher at the Vytautas Magnus University Botanical Garden, who has cultivated a branch rich in emerald berries, says the actinidia yield is record-breaking this year.

The aromatic actinidia berries are a real vitamin C pump. They also accumulate a large number of other beneficial substances that inhibit even the proliferation of malignant cells.

“Hundreds of biologically active substances – vitamin C, without competition – because the three margarine actinidia berries, medium size – is the daily rate of vitamin C. Apart from the fact that there are chlorophylls, because the berries do not lose their green color , they can also be preserved in the products ”, says Laima Česonienė, researcher at the Botanical Garden of Vytautas Magnus University.

It is true that actinidia can also cause allergies, so you need to be very careful with them, especially in young children. Oh, you shouldn’t multiply, because it can act as a laxative.

“It can affect the human body, everyone is different, but it relaxes a bit, the fact that in order not to eat too many ripe berries must be taken into account”, says Aurelija Paulauskienė, professor at the Academy of Agriculture of Vytautas University Magnus.

Jonas Matelis, a rare garden plant collector, has been growing and propagating actinidia for 30 years. Prefers pointed actinidia. The size of the berry is about half a kiwi and does not drop when ripe.

“It hangs until frost and it weighs a very different one, it weighs 10-15 grams, and the mullet weighs 3-5 grams and its yield is greater than the mullet. They grow very abundantly, but they have their own quirks, sometimes they can suffer frosts, “says Jonas Matelis, a collector of rare garden plants.

So now the gardener says that he has acquired Chinese actinidia, which is said to resist a big cold:

“She tolerates 25 degrees, so she can fully grow in Lithuania, even more so when the climate is warming up. Her fruit will be like a kiwi, you will have to peel it.”

And gardeners began to grow actinidia as an ornamental plant: it climbs like a liana, and during the day in the spring it grows and fifteen centimeters, so in order to have a beautiful bush, it is necessary to prune. They plant fences, house walls or create arches that provide shade.

“Actinidia is basically an organic plant: no diseases, no pests. We have found aphids on a fork all that time, but they disappear quickly, even the birds don’t eat berries, ”said L. Česonienė.

Lithuanian farmers are not in a hurry to plant actinidia plantations, they fear spring frosts. And to be in shape, it is necessary to have male and female plants.

“It takes a long time before it matures and gives a full harvest; farmers probably estimate that it would take 10 years to get a good harvest, so that investment is in the distant future,” says A. Paulauskienė.

Although industrialists, especially pastry chefs, are hungry for actinides, they are used to make delicacies: freeze-dried and covered in chocolate. And here people boil jams, rub with sugar, freeze.

“Refrigeration maintains that the particularly high amount of vitamin C does not really decrease, it is possible to store it until the next harvest and use it successfully as vitamins in winter”, says A. Paulauskienė.

Almost fifty spiky and variegated actinidia varieties grow in the botanical garden. Four were bred by Lithuanian breeders. Now the researchers are just looking at another candidate and maybe soon the newcomer will be officially registered.