North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Hector Black" <hblack1925@fastmail.fm>]

One of my great pleasures in April is to walk among the  trees and breathe 
in the fragrance of the autumn olives which are planted extensively through 
the orchard to fix nitrogen.  A USDA study showed a 25-35% increase in 
growth in nut trees interplanted with autumn olive and we have replicated 
that in our orchard.  Nut trees, not fruit trees which branch lower causing 
the autumn olive to interfere with sunlight, pruning, etc.
    We also used the best cultivars (Hidden Springs) for jelly,  I swallow 
the seeds, chew them as they don't seem to have much taste.  For me the 
pucker, if there is any, disappears after the first couple of berries. 
They're also a beautiful sight on the bush, flowers a great source of honey, 
and foliage makes good forage for animals.
   Below are the results of studies at the USDA in Beltsville on the 
nutritional content of the berries.
    They can be invasive, but we mow the orchard which stops that.
    Hector Black, zone 6 middle TN

Fordham's colleague, (at USDA Beltsville) Beverly Clevidence, analyzed the 
berries. Her analysis showed that, ounce for ounce, the typical autumn olive 
berry is up to 17 times higher in lycopene than the typical raw tomato 
(80-90 per cent of the US intake of this nutrient comes from tomatoes and 
tomato products).

"The red berries of autumn olive have a high carotenoid content," writes 
Fordham, "and particularly high levels of lycopene (30-70 mg/100g). Lycopene 
has powerful antioxidant properties, making it of interest for nutraceutical 
use."

The berries also contain high levels of vitamins A, C and E, and flavonoids 
and essential fatty acids. Lycopene is their main attraction, though. 
Lycopene, adds Clevidence, who heads ARS' Phytonutrients Laboratory in 
Beltsville, Maryland, has generated widespread interest as a possible 
deterrent to heart disease and cancers of the prostate, cervix and 
gastrointestinal tract.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fruit Lab gave the fruit a new name (or 
an old name made new again) -- Autumnberry. They've opened an Autumnberry 
Research Lab. "A New Fruit for Processing: Autumnberry, Aki-gumi, or Autumn 
olive, they say, has "Organic Farming Possibilities." Requires little or no 
fertilizer. Easily harvested by hand or machine. Flavorful fruit, which can 
be:

consumed fresh

processed into jams, jellies and sauces

dried into fruit leather

And to top it off...An excellent source of the anti-oxidant lycopene! Rich 
source of carotenoids including: lycopene, phytoene, a- and ß-cryptoxanthin, 
and ß-carotene."

In Maryland USDA has begun testing managed plantings of the shrub, both 
cultivated varieties and wild types, for potential commercial fruit 
production. Annual productivity of autumn olive ranged from 9 to 35 pounds 
per plant.

"Mechanical harvesting was accomplished using a commercial blueberry 
harvester on plants that had been appropriately pruned." they said, adding: 
"Productivity under low-input management and the possibility for machine 
harvest indicate that autumn olive may be a commercially viable crop, 
especially on poor-quality land that may be unsuitable for other 
agricultural uses."

Published in PSA Rising, Prostate Cancer Survivor Support and News

"Autumn Olive - A Berry High in Licopene" by Jacqueline Strax



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Karen Kellogg" <garuda2@comcast.net>
To: <lostman_amiga@yahoo.com>; "North American Fruit Explorers" 
<nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 8:43 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] alum in odorous Autumn olive?


> My Autumn Olive perfumes my entire backyard when in bloom; those who
> hate invasives advise me to get rid of it, but I so enjoy that week.
> I have not tried to use the fruit, other than a nibble.
>
> Karen,
> NW Conn Zone 5
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2008, at 9:18 PM, rob hamilton wrote:
>
> > My Autumn Olive smells wonderful!! ...and the bees love it.
> > In fact a student of mine was wearing this perfume that smelled
> > just like it.  It was from the company Diesel.
> >
> > Cant imagine a company named that would turn out a fragrance like
> > that.
> >
> > robert
> > --------------------------------------------
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