Blackthorn, a shrub with astringent and antioxidant fruits

Blackthorn, a shrub with astringent and antioxidant fruits

The blackthorn (prunus spinosa) is a deciduous shrub up to two meters high, highly branched and with thorny branches. Leaves They are elliptical and toothed.

Common in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsulain mountains of the southern half and in the north of Balearicsgrows on the edges of forests, hedges and somewhat humid meadows, forming dense groups, sometimes almost impenetrable. It is used in gardening to form plant barriers.

Blooms in March and April: white flowers tapeworms that remember their kinship with the cherry tree.

Sloes, the fruits of the blackthorn, are fleshy, round, greyish-blue in color and the size of a chickpea. They ripen in late summer or fall.

sloes They are used in the elaboration of the pacharán –a maceration in brandy–, in addition to preparing jams, preserves and smoothies, among other recipes.

With medicinal purposes are harvested the fruits, the flowers and also, although to a lesser extent, the leaves and bark.

Medicinal properties of blackthorn and its fruits

sloes contain sucrose, pectin, anthocyanins, carotenoids, organic acids, and tannins, all of which make them fruity antioxidants, astringents, antidiarrheals and antihemorrhagic.The fruits result very useful to stop diarrhea. It’s best to take them freshmixed in the yogurt, 5 or 6 fruits at a time, although they can also be taken in juice, with lemonO well dehydratedwhich is how they are found in many herbalists. Sloes are also antioxidantslike most blue fruits of the forest (for example, blueberries), and its regular consumption helps to stop the action of free radicals on the body.The flowers and leaves They contain vitamin C, glycosides and flavonoids. And in opposition to the fruits, they are considered slightly laxativein addition to diuretics and vitamins

What is the sloe plant used for?

Flowers can be taken in infusion on an empty stomach, as mild laxative, kid friendlyMixed with other diuretic plants such as smokehouse can be prepared in diuretic infusion, With bark and leaves –preferably together with plants that reinforce its action, such as burdock or the travalera–, a useful decoction is prepared as diabetes support.Topically, the decoction of the bark –and also of the fruits– applied as an astringent to clean wounds or over scratches and bruises.This decoction can also be used as a gargle or mouthwashto stop oral bleeding, and combat the gingivitis and pharyngitis.

Homemade sloe syrup for diarrhea

with the sloes, being astringent, a very effective sweet syrup can be prepared to stop diarrhea. This syrup, collected by Pius Font i Quer, is made with half a kilo of sloes and the same amount of sugar.

How to prepare it: Heat everything together in water, let it boil for a quarter of an hour and filter through a cloth, removing any remaining brushwood. The resulting liquid, of a bright red coloryou can have it alone or mixed with waterto end episodes of diarrhea.

Advisor: J Mª Teixé, herbalist at “El Manantial de Salud”