thumb|Aronia berries.
Aronia is a genus of deciduous shrubs, the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and widely used is Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry) which emerged from Eastern North America. The lesser known Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry) and the hybrid form of the above mentioned species called Aronia prunifolia (purple chokeberry) were first cultivated in Central and Eastern North America. The name "chokeberry" comes from the astringency of the fruits, which create the sensation of making one's mouth pucker. and readily confused with black chokeberry because it is commonly referred to as "black chokeberry" or "aronia". Aronia berries and chokecherries both contain polyphenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, yet the two plants are somewhat distantly related within the Amygdaloideae subfamily. Black chokeberry is grown as a common shrub in Central Europe where it is mainly used for food production. but botanist Cornelis Kalkman observed that a combined genus should be under the older name Aronia. The combined genus contains about 65 species. In 2004, Kalkman expressed doubt about the monophyly of the combined group, and new molecular studies confirm this. They do not place these two genera together or even near one another.
In eastern North America, two well-known species are named after their fruit color, red chokeberry and black chokeberry, plus a purple chokeberry whose origin is a natural hybrid of the two.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Flowers <br /> Fruit !! Scientific name <br /> Common name!!Description!!Distribution
|-
|120px<br /> <br /> 120px|| Aronia arbutifolia (Photinia pyrifolia)<br /> <br /> Red chokeberry||grows to 2–4m (6.5–13 ft) tall, rarely up to 6 m (19.6 ft) and 1–2 m (3-6.5 ft) wide. Leaves are 5–8 cm wide and densely pubescent on the underside. The flowers are white or pale pink, 1 cm wide, with glandular sepals. The fruit is red, 4–10 mm wide, persisting into winter. ||Eastern Canada and to the eastern and central United States, from eastern Texas to Nova Scotia inland to Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky, and Oklahoma
|-
|120px<br /> <br /> 120px || Aronia melanocarpa (Photinia melanocarpa), || Eastern Canada and to the eastern and central United States, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and Wisconsin, south as far as western South Carolina, with an isolated population reported in southern Alabama
|-
|}
<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">
File:Aronia-melanocarpa-Aron.JPG|Aronia flowers and leaves (Aronia melanocarpa)
File:Aronia prunifolia.jpg|Purple chokeberry (Aronia prunifolia)
File:Choke-Berries-IMG 2431 051013 121714.jpg|Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia)
</gallery>
Nutrition
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Nutrient
!Mass in fruit
[g/100g]
!Mass in pomace
[g/100g]
|-
|Total sugars
|6.21–42.1
|—
|-
|Fructose
|2.2–15.8
|—
|-
|Total fiber
|—
|57.8–71.6
|-
|Dietary fiber
|—
|43.8–61.7
|-
|Lignin
|—
|22.68
|-
|Cellulose
|—
|34.56
|-
|Pectin
|—
|7.52
|-
|Protein
|0.7
|—
|-
|Fat
|0.14%
|—
|-
|Vitamins
|[mg/100g]
|[mg/100g]
|-
|Vitamin C
|7.25–98.75
|—
|-
|Vitamin A
|0.77
|—
|-
|Vitamin B<sub>5</sub>
|2.845
|—
|-
|Vitamin B<sub>6</sub>
|1.132
|—
|-
|Minerals
|[mg/100g]
|[mg/100g]
|-
|Na
|0.427–1.18
|—
|-
|K
|135–679
|—
|-
|Ca
|11.9–116.7
|—
|-
|Mg
|8.3–66.9
|—
|-
|P
|23.9–95.6
|—
|-
|Organic compounds
|[mg/100g]
|[mg/100g]
|-
|Anthocyanins
|284–631
|—
|-
|Proanthocyanidin
|522–1,000
|6,200–9,720
|-
|Flavonols
|3.9–61.7
|22.7–43.7
|}
Cultivation
Soil and climate requirements
The chokeberry is a characteristic shrub of the northern hemisphere. Its climatic requirements are temperate and cool temperatures. The shrubs are extremely winter hardy and can survive temperatures down to −30 °C without damage if they are in winter dormancy.
The chokeberry has a shallow and compact root system and thrives in humus and nutrient rich soils that are frost free, unflooded and with a rather low groundwater level. While the plant is moisture-loving, it also tolerates dry periods. Depending on the timing and intensity, these dry periods are yield limiting.
Cultivation management
For the first two years, much attention should be given to keeping the understock area clear during maintenance. The understock maintenance can be done by machine hacking or by using a string trimmer with protection. Covering the plant strip with mulch also helps to minimize weeds. When maintaining the alley, it is important to cut it every 3–4 weeks.
The young plants are sensitive to drought stress, so proper watering should be guaranteed. At the beginning the plant needs to put its energy into vegetative growth, therefore it helps to remove flower buds. In order to achieve a balanced fruit quality in the long term, the plant, which grows as a shrub, should be trimmed regularly. Furthermore, uniform plant stands are easier to manage and harvest by machine. As a rule, chokeberry branches achieve the highest yields in the 5-6 year period, so cutting is not done again until the 7th year.
The aim of both the mechanical and the manual cutting system, is to let the shrubs grow into a closed hedge. While in the mechanical cutting the whole plant is cut back to a few centimeters above the ground every 6th year during the winter dormancy. The manual cutting removes the oldest shoots, the weak annual shoots and those shoots that are inside the cane slightly above the base of the cane in the winter dormancy. In the case of manual cutting, the ages of 1-6 year old shoots should be present in equal proportions after cutting, thus the chokeberry forms robust shoots and allows uniform harvests from year to year.
The breeding success of the black chokeberry for food production in Europe and Russia has been restricted because the genetic pool of the domesticated Russian plants is homogeneous. Breeding efforts aim to increase the content of polyphenol compounds while maintaining or increasing the fruit size. Further breeding targets are improvement of flavor.
Pests and diseases
Chokeberries have a low susceptibility to plant diseases and only little problems with pests.
Here is a list of some possible pests and diseases of chokeberries:
Pests
- Tooth-nose snout weevils (Rhynchitidae)
- Wasps
- Cockchafer grub
- Codling moth
Also, birds, mice and deer might feed on different parts of the chokeberry and thereby damage the plant.
Fungal diseases In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the berries are sold fresh and frozen or made into juices, jams and teas. Aronia is also used as a flavoring or colorant for beverages or yogurts. The berries have a tart flavor and, in addition to juice, can be baked into breads. anthocyanin content is 1480 mg per 100 g dry weight, and proanthocyanidin concentration is 664 mg per 100 g fresh weight. These values are among the highest measured in plants to date. The black aronia species contains higher levels of anthocyanins than purple (Aronia prunifolia) or red aronia (Aronia arbutifolia), whereas red and purple aronia are richer in phenolic acid and proanthocyanins.
The plant produces these pigments mainly in the leaves and skin of the berries to protect the pulp and seeds from constant exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and production of free radicals. Many of these pigments are able to absorb UV light—beyond the visible spectrum—reducing damage to plant tissues. In the visible light range, the pigments appear blue, purple, or red because they reflect those colors while absorbing other wavelengths. These same bright colors also attract birds and other animals to eat the fruit, which helps disperse the seeds.
Analysis of polyphenols in chokeberries has identified the following individual chemicals (among hundreds known to exist in the plant kingdom): cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside, quercetin-3-glycoside, epicatechin, caffeic acid, delphinidin, petunidin, pelargonidin, peonidin, and malvidin. All these except caffeic acid are members of the flavonoid category of phenolics.
For reference to phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and similar plant-derived phytochemicals,