Chokeberries (thank goodness for the alternative name “Aronia”)
Obviously, this is a berry with a marketing problem…Who would eat a chokeberry? Luckily, they also go by the more appetizing name Aronia berry. And although they are from Appalachia, they have been almost entirely forgotten, except by the deer. At AFFN, we are pretty sure this is their absolute favorite bush…
Forgotten in Appalachia, it is studied in…Iowa (?!). And the country exporting 90% of the world’s Aronia products is not even the USA. It is…Poland (?!). Bravo to the Poles for having recognized this berry’s amazing antioxidant properties and fine flavor!
We are trying to grow and re-popularize this fruit, if we can save some from the deer…Some varieties that we have on hand: MacKenzie, Viking, Nero, PI 662003, AMES 34423 and AMES 30007 (These last two come to us from the USDA GRIN program, whose valuable work makes germplasm available to growers like AFFN! These germplasms would not be available or preserved without the work of the USDA-ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network which is through the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. ) An interesting fact about Viking and Nero is that they have come back to North America from hybridizing in Europe with European Mountain Ash, much like the hybridized Asain-American persimmons. These hybrids bring something of the best of two worlds.