Plant Spotlight: Aronia

 Plant Spotlight:
    Aronia - Aronia melonocarpa 

    Aronias or Chokeberries are one of the world's many super fruits. It's more potent nutrionally than blueberries and doesn't even require the low pH that blueberries need. They can tolerate a wide pH range, but ideally they range from 6-6.5. An journal from the National Library of Medicine said:

    "The fruits of Aronia melanocarpa (Aronia berries) have been found to show multiple bioactivities potentially beneficial to human health, including antidiabetic, anti-infective, antineoplastic, antiobesity, and antioxidant activities, as well as heart-, liver-, and neuroprotective effects. Thus far, phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, cyanidins, phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, triterpenoids, and their analogues have been identified as the major active components of Aronia berries."

    They are native to many of Eastern states including Kentucky. Which natives usually require less watering than non-natives. They like blueberries form a small shrub, so one way you can companion plant them is within about 6 feet of a fruit tree or nitrogen fixing tree such as Autumn olive, silverberry, goumi, seaberries, mimosa, and others. If you're planning to incorporate more super fruits into your garden and diet, consider aronias. Other temperate super fruits to consider as well are blueberries, goji berries, elderberries, and more.

Citation

Ren, Y., Frank, T., Meyer, G., Lei, J., Grebenc, J., Slaughter, R., Gao, Y., & Kinghorn, D. (2022). Potential Benefits of Black Chokeberry (Aronia Melanocarpa) Fruits and Their Constituents in Improving Human Health.