Description of dubious myrciaria, chemical composition and useful properties. Possible harm when eating berries, recipes. How is camu camu grown? Amino acids in camu camu:
| Name | Benefit | Harm |
| Serine | Stimulates the synthesis of proteins, hemoglobin, regulates metabolism | Causes renal failure |
| Valine | Improves memory, participates in the formation of muscle tissue | Increases the risk of blood clots |
| Leucine | Normalizes the function of the endocrine system | Increases the concentration of ammonia in the blood |
When using camu-camu, the benefits and harms to the body should be taken into account.
Useful properties of rum berry
Traditional healers do not use parts of the plant for the manufacture of potions and preparations, but official medicine is developing medicines that include extracts isolated from the fruits of camu-camu.
Favorable effect on the body of rum berry:
- Strengthens the immune system, prevents inflammation, inhibits the development of pathogenic microorganisms.
- Prevents the spread of infectious diseases during seasonal epidemics.
- Normalizes the work of the cardiovascular system, prevents the development of atherosclerosis.
- Improves night vision, stops age-related changes in the optic nerve.
- Has antioxidant activity, isolates free radicals circulating in the bloodstream.
- Improves memory function and information reproduction ability.
- Normalizes the central nervous system, improves the ability to fall asleep, helps prevent the development of depression.
- Possesses hepatoprotective properties, lengthens the life cycle of hepatocytes.
- Suppresses herpes activity, in adults it reduces the severity of symptoms with shingles.
- It prevents the formation of fatty layers, prevents obesity and the development of cellulite.
- Reduces blood sugar levels, stops the accumulation of ketone bodies.
- Has a mild laxative effect, stimulates bile secretion.
- Increases the strength of bone tissue, prevents the development of osteoporosis.
- It stabilizes the work of the nervous system, allows you to quickly recover from physical and emotional overload.
Currently, the use of dubious myrciaria as an ingredient for the manufacture of drugs that improve reproductive function and prevent inflammatory diseases of the genital organs is being considered. It is especially useful to introduce berries into the diet for women planning a pregnancy. They increase fertility and prevent possible genetic mutations.
Contraindications and harm to dubious myrciaria
Before introducing camu-camu into the diet, you should make sure that there are no allergic reactions. The fruits have a high amount of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds, which has an aggressive effect on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and stimulates the release of histamine.
The harm of dubious myrciaria has been proven for persons with increased acidity of gastric juice, erosive gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. You should not get carried away with berries with gallstone disease, so as not to provoke colic due to the advancement of calculi along the bile ducts.
Tropical berries should not be introduced into the diet for women during pregnancy and lactation, for children under five years of age - the risk of allergy is too high.
It is necessary to take into account the local effect of sour juice. It can cause temporary numbness of the oral mucosa, a feeling of soreness and darkening, and with regular use - and destruction of tooth enamel.
How is rum berry eaten?
Camu-kamu is not popular among the locals. Previously, it was not eaten due to its sour taste. Now dubious myrtiaria is eaten as a flavoring addition to overly sweet dishes - jam, fruit juices, creams and ice cream made from sweeter fruits and berries are acidified.
But consumers in Asia and Europe highly appreciate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the fruit. Juice is pressed from rum berries, sauces, desserts and various drinks are made, used as raw materials for the production of vitamin C.
Powder is made from dried berries, which is introduced into sports nutrition, and immunostimulating drugs.
Camu Camu Food and Drink Recipes
If you plan to make jam or make desserts, the berries are pre-frozen. The taste becomes sweeter and the use of sweeteners can be limited. Before cooking the kamu-kamu fruit, the seeds are removed from them.
Recipes with dubious yummy myrciaria:
- Ice cream … The easiest way to make a dessert is from ripe berries. Warm up 200-300 ml of milk, pour it into a blender bowl, add pitted berries and add honey to taste. Take so many berries to get a fruit puree. Then all the ice cream is poured into one container and put into the refrigerator until it thickens. When the puree thickens, it is again placed in a blender, interrupted for 3-5 minutes and again placed in the refrigerator, previously poured into molds. To keep the ice cream in shape, let it stand for a few minutes at room temperature before removing it to melt.
- Meat sauce … The preparation is very fast. Berries, 200 g, are placed in a saucepan, pour water - about 150 ml, add brown sugar - 3 tablespoons, simmer over low heat until the contents of the container are reduced by a quarter. Dissolve the starch, a tablespoon, and pour in just before turning off. Then the liquid is poured into a glass dish and allowed to cool first at room temperature and then in the refrigerator.
- Chicken sauce … Red onion is fried in sunflower oil, finely chopped, two heads, crushed garlic - 2 cloves, 3 cm of fresh grated ginger root and pieces of green apple (peel off first). Close the pan with a lid, stew for 5 minutes, then pour in cognac - 2 tablespoons. The contents are boiled down until half of the liquid has boiled away, and then 100 g of frozen berries are added. Better to crush the dubious myrciaria. Stew for 3 minutes, add honey and salt to taste. Chill in the refrigerator before serving. The ice sauce perfectly complements the flavor of the hot chicken.
- Fish sauce … The onion is cut into half rings and fried in olive oil until transparent. Remove the zest from one orange, and squeeze the juice from the pulp. Put everything in a pan to the onion, add honey and salt to taste, a little pepper, boil 1/3 or 1/2. The finished sauce is rubbed through a sieve. Before serving, it is advisable to put it in the refrigerator so that it thickens.
- Air cream … Rub the camu-camu berries through a colander using a pestle - 4 tablespoons. Whisk butter, 200 g, with a glass of sugar. When the structure of the cream becomes homogeneous, add berry puree to it, continuing to beat. The cream can be used to decorate biscuits.
Recipes for making drinks with frozen berries:
- Pouring … Frozen pitted fruits are washed, pounded with a wooden pestle and allowed to stand for a while to give juice. Add half a tablespoon of vanilla extract or 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar and pour over 70% alcohol or vodka. For every 100 g of berries - 100 ml of alcohol. Allow to stand for 2 weeks at room temperature in a dark place, shaking daily. Then it is filtered through a filter. To prepare the filter, cotton wool is leveled into one dense layer, wrapped in two layers of gauze. The extraction is removed, and the syrup is mixed with liquid honey, dissolved in a minimum amount of warm water. Allow to stand for another 2 weeks under the same conditions and shake again. Then the liquid is again passed through a filter, poured into bottles and again kept in a dark place, but already in a cool one, for 2, 5 months.
- Smoothie … A glass of kefir, slightly thawed berries, half a glass of heavy cream are poured into the blender bowl, interrupted, sugar is added or honey is poured in. You can make a cocktail from a mixture of tropical fruits - add a few slices of banana or strawberry guava to the blender. If it turns out too thick, the drink is diluted with non-mineral carbonated water.
Interesting facts about dubious myrtirium
Camu-kamu is the closest cousin of jaboticaba, but the berries are very sour. Interestingly, the flowers bloom right on the trunk or large side shoots, not on the branches.
The amount of ascorbic acid in the composition of fruits decreases as they ripen, so the time of harvest is chosen depending on the purpose of their use. If it is planned to use it as a raw material for the manufacture of medicines and food additives, then the dubious myrtirium is torn off until maximum ripeness is reached in order to preserve the valuable substance in the composition.
Now work is underway to cultivate kamu-kamu outside the growing area, since the demand for it is growing, and in the wild, the plant is less and less common. Locals, picking berries for sale, cut branches mercilessly. In the future, the tree dies.
The first attempts to grow dubious myrciaria are already underway. Since the tree bears fruit not only in tropical, but also in subtropical climates, agricultural specialists from Japan and Israel work with the seeds.
With abundant watering, the plant can withstand light frosts with temperatures above 0 ° C and flooding.
The crop can be harvested 3 years after the seedlings have rooted, as soon as the trunk thickness reaches 2 cm in diameter. Fruiting lasts for 2-4 decades.
From a wild tree, 12 kg of berries can be harvested per season, and from artificially grown ones - up to 15-20 kg.
Watch a video about camu-camu:
The tree is grown not only on plantations, but also in winter gardens. The plant during the flowering period can decorate any interior. By visiting the greenhouse, European residents will be able to admire the tropical guest.
