North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[rob hamilton <lostman_amiga@yahoo.com>]

I too wish to learn a bit more about this fruit. My
Rodale's Fruits and Berries book 
mentions that "The flavor is usually tart but some
species have enough sugar to be dried into raisins." 
They also say, "Besides common barberry (B. vulgaris),
other species that have been used for thier fruits 
include Napal berberry (B. aristata) and rasin
barberry(B. asiatica) 


There is a thread on the Gardenweb's forum about
barberries.
Someone posted this:

BARBERRY USES: 
Harvest and Preparation: 
Pick fruits in autumn when full color has developed.
For gelly, 4 cups crushed barberries,
2 whole oranges chopped (sans peels) 2 cups water, 1
1/2 cup sugar, 1 pkg pectin. Combine berrries, 
oranges and water in a saucepan. bring to boil, simmer
until tender, about 20 minutes. Strain juice 
thru cloth or jelly bag. Combine juice and sugar,
bring to rolling boil. Add pectin, bring back to boil.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, and seal. Yield: 3
pints. For straight barberry jelly, cook berries and 
extract juice, boil juice to 200 degrees F, pour into
hot sterilized jars, and seal. Needs no pectin, 
very tart. Juice can also be used in sauces and
beverages where tart is needed. To relieve thirst, 
chew on a few of the leaves. 

Robert


--- Mark Lee <markl@nytec.com> wrote:
> A month ago I sent a message asking about experience
> growing barberry for
> its fruit.  I had one reply from India (thanks Dr.
> Parmar).  What I'm
> looking for is a reply from an American fruit
> explorer that knows anything
> about barberry as an edible.  I know Berberis
> aristata is used in Middle
> Eastern rice dishes in dried form similar to
> raisins.  Maybe the work to
> eradicate barberry as a host for grain diseases has
> turned people off to the
> possibilities for barberry in the edible landscape. 
> Any interest in this
> fruit?
> -Mark Lee, Seattle
> 
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