Cherry plum

Useful properties of a cherry plum

Cherry plum – the multibarrelled branchy tree fructifying at the end of summer. Sometimes call a cherry plum plum, but it is wrong. The cherry plum and plum belong to one sort of plants, but differ in taste and nutrition value of fruits.

The cherry plum for being its part of sugar, organic acids, ascorbic acid and microelements among which there is most of all potassium, calcium and phosphorus is appreciated. Therefore it is often used for prevention and treatment of a night blindness, a scurvy and avitaminosis. It is especially useful for children, elderly people and pregnant women to eat a cherry plum. At the same time the content of many useful substances depends on color of fruits – as a part of a yellow cherry plum there is more citric acid and sugar and there are practically no tannins, and in red and pink grades much more pectin.

Refer its ability to improve digestion and to have laxative effect to one of useful properties of a cherry plum. Not only sweet-sour fruits, but also tree leaves have these properties. Bark and roots of a cherry plum have antiinflammatory, sudorific and febrifugal effect and are often used at colds, especially at treatment of long cough and diseases of a throat.

One more useful property of a cherry plum is ability to remove radionuclides thanks to the high content of cellulose and pectins that is especially urgent for residents of big cities. And fresh juice well satisfies thirst and is tonic.

Use

As a dietary product the cherry plum is useful in a fresh and dried look, and also it keeps many medicinal properties in kissels, compotes, jam and compotes. Jam from a cherry plum is cooked both with stones, and without them. For its preparation usually use an equal ratio of ripe fruits and sugar. Often from a cherry plum add to jam also other fruit – oranges, pears or apples.

Compote from the dried-up fruits of a cherry plum increases appetite, improves digestion and is especially useful at gastritis with reduced acidity. Broths can be used for prevention of locks thanks to easy laxative effect. For preparation of such broth the tablespoon of dried fruits of a cherry plum is brought to boiling in a glass of boiled water, and then insisted 5 hours. In the medical purposes drink broth three times a day before food on 1/3 glasses. For use of a cherry plum at cough and colds it is recommended to prepare similar broths from roots and bark of a tree. And water infusion from flowers of a cherry plum is useful at diseases of a liver, kidneys, and also to treatment of impotence.

Useful properties also oil from cherry plum stones which is used as a purgative in pediatrics has, and also apply in production of medical soaps and perfumery. Also oil can be applied outwardly for healing of wounds. And the shell from stones is applied at production of absorbent carbon.

Unlike plum the cherry plum is used for preparation of traditional Georgian sauce of a tkemala. Except cherry plum fruits garlic and various herbs enter it. The people of the Caucasus use this sauce with meat, vegetable and fish dishes and consider it one of the longevity reasons as the useful substances which are contained in an alycha promote full assimilation by an organism of fat and meat. Also in the Caucasus often prepare an unleavened wheat cake from cherry plum pulp for what the fruits broken in half dry up on wooden boards under the sun. It is considered one of the best ways to keep not only taste, but also all useful properties of a cherry plum.

Contraindications to use of a cherry plum

The cherry plum has practically no contraindications and is a valuable dietary product.

It needs to be eaten with care only at a hyperoxemia of a gastric juice.