North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hank Burchard <hank@burchard.org>]

Well, I guess my olfactory equipment is deficient! But Hector, I'm sorry 
to say that the USDA autumnberry project at Beltsville, although highly 
successful, has been abandoned. The principal investigator has left, his 
assistant has retired, and the plantation has been eradicated. I wrote 
to both of them seeking cuttings of their most successful cultivars, 
several of which apparently were spectacular producers, and was told 
none had been preserved (not even in a germ plasm repository!). When I 
wrote back asking the reason for this extraordinary, I received no reply.

Hank Burchard
Pecker Wood Farm
7b central Virginia

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> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 17:24:29 -0500
> From: "Hector Black" <hblack1925@fastmail.fm>
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] alum in odorous Autumn olive?
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
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> 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 ?-cryptoxanthin, 
> and ?-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
>
>
>
>