Where does the silverberry (Elaeagnus) come from? A look at the latest distribution of its main producing areas
The scientific name of the silverberry is Elaeagnus pungens, also known as banchunzi, tianbangchui, que'ersu, yangnaizi and so on. It is the ripe fruit of Elaeagnus pungens, a plant of the genus Elaeagnus in the family Elaeagnaceae, a perennial evergreen climbing shrub. The ripe fruit is bright red to purplish red and is eaten fresh. In the past most were wild, and now some are cultivated; cultivation can be done by sowing seeds or by cuttings. Let us take a look below at where the silverberry comes from!
Where does the silverberry come from?
The silverberry is a specialty of the southwestern region. In China it is widely distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places. It is generally used as a fruit to eat, and there are two varieties: one is a bit sweeter, the other has slightly smaller fruit, and the small-fruited type still grows wild on the mountains today.
Morphological characteristics of the silverberry
The silverberry has alternate simple leaves and rusty-colored petioles. The leaves are papery or nearly leathery, elliptical, with a gradually pointed or bluntly pointed tip, a broad wedge-shaped, blunt or rounded base, and an entire margin. The flowers are brown, covered on the outside with brown scales, and usually 1 to 3 are clustered in the leaf axils. The perianth tube is cylindrical, with 4 lobes in the upper part; the lobes are broadly triangular and densely covered on the inside with stellate short hairs. There are 4 stamens, the filaments are very short, and the anthers are elliptical. The style is hairless and almost level with the perianth lobes. The fruit is large, long elliptical, covered with rusty scales, and the stone has 8 distinct ribs. The flowering period is October to November, and the fruiting period is March of the following year.
Nutritional value of the silverberry
1. The silverberry fruit is rich in nutrients, with an edible rate of 73.3 to 91%. Every 100 grams of fresh fruit contains 2.45% crude protein, 2.8% crude fat, 5.1% total sugar, 90.6% water, 1.45% total acid and so on. The fruit is juicy and non-toxic, and can be eaten fresh or processed into fruit juice, soda, canned goods, candied fruit and other foods. Because its fruit ripens relatively early, it can serve as a new variety for the off-season fruit market and for the food industry as a raw material.
2. The root, fruit and leaves of the silverberry are used as medicine. It has the effects of relieving cough and calming asthma, and of astringing and stopping diarrhea. It mainly treats vomiting blood, coughing blood, sore and swollen throat, colds, infantile convulsions, sores and ringworm and other conditions, and can also treat asthma, deficiency cough, chronic bronchitis, enteritis, diarrhea, bruises and swelling, rheumatic pain, and jaundice.