When to tear raspberry leaves for tea. When to Harvest Raspberry Leaves

Nature has given us thousands different ways in order to strengthen and maintain their health, as well as to cure diseases. People have known about the properties of various herbs, plants and roots since ancient times. healing plants dried and boiled, giving health drink to those who needed it.

Today we are used to going to the pharmacy. However, many medicines can be replaced by the gifts of nature. Currant leaves, for example, have huge amount

Everyone knows how many important elements for the body are contained in the berries themselves. Currants come in three varieties: red, black and white. It contains a large number of vitamin C and a number of others useful substances. At the same time, they are found both in berries and in leaves - approximately in equal number. It's just that many are accustomed to eating only fruits. It is believed, however, that the benefits are even greater in the leaves than in the berries themselves.

But first, let's figure out when to collect currant leaves. Much here depends on what goal you are pursuing. Knowledgeable people claim that at the very beginning of flowering (this period falls on June), currant leaves are young, juicy, full of useful substances. It is from them that the most useful decoctions. They are best used within a few days of cutting.

However, in August and September, currant leaves have the strongest and most pleasant aroma. There are already a few less vitamins in them, but they still have healing properties, and tea from them is very tasty. They can be used immediately or dried for the winter.

Currant leaf: benefits

Of course, the most important purpose of this wonderful plant is to be brewed in. You can prepare both a pure currant drink and mix currant leaves with leaves. ordinary tea one to one.

It is curious that by drinking it, you can fight both beriberi and hypovitaminosis.

In addition, currant tea is shown to all smokers. Everyone knows that nicotine is a substance that prevents the absorption of vitamin C in the body. However, such a drink can correct this situation.

If you have heart problems, then brewed currant leaves, which are rich in potassium and iron, are what you need.

Apart from plain tea, you can also do They contain more vitamins. Interestingly, currant leaves help to calm down, relieve stress, tension. Drinks prepared on the basis of currant leaves are indicated for people with nervous exhaustion.

They are also recommended to drink for those who have cystitis, gastritis, kidney failure, peptic ulcer stomach. Currant leaves have an excellent anti-inflammatory effect. For this reason, in addition to its internal healing effects, this plant helps fight skin problems. Wash with infusion or take a bath to which a small amount of decoction is very useful for people who have micro-inflammations and acne on the face and body. A decoction of currant leaves is an excellent natural hair rinse that will make them shiny.

As you can see, currant leaves are a real storehouse of benefits for our body!

Currant tea - fragrant, healthy and tasty herbal drink, which has almost no contraindications, and therefore can be used by both children and adults. Currant is a berry shrub, so unpretentious that it grows even in harsh Siberian conditions. That is why currant tea is so common and popular.

Collection of currant leaves

Each plant has its own special phases of life. In order for it to benefit a person as a medicinal raw material, it must be collected at those moments when it is concentrated in its aboveground or underground part. maximum amount useful substances.

When to collect currant leaves for tea and how to do it? There are many varieties of currants and they all differ in the timing of flowering and fruiting, so it is difficult to say exactly what period of the year to collect leaves from them. The main landmark here is the appearance of the first blooming flowers. At this time, the maximum amount of substances such as:

• vitamin C;
• organic acids;
• essential oils;
• micro and macro elements;
• antioxidants, etc.

It is better to collect young apical leaves that have not yet had time to darken, but if you need a lot of raw materials, then older leaves are also suitable. Correct workpiece- This is the collection of clean, healthy, even leaves that are free of damage, insects, spots, rot and other signs of disease or insect infestation.

perfect time for collection is the period from 10.00 to 11.00 in the morning, when there is no dew and moisture on the bush, the foliage has dried out, but has not yet had time to warm up with the sun. Leaves can be plucked by hand or cut with scissors or secateurs, being careful not to damage the trunk. All leaves from the branch can not be plucked.

Tea is prepared from dried leaves, and from fresh. If it is possible to prepare fresh drinks, blackcurrant leaves can be harvested throughout the summer, and left dried for the winter. No less useful is a drink made from branches and berries.

Drying

There are many options for harvesting currants for the winter. Freezing, drying, fermentation. Freeze whole dry leaves in flat containers so that they can be easily removed for making tea. How to dry currant leaves for tea? Drying in classic version is the process of withering and drying of plant materials in vivo.

To properly dry hard leaves, they are laid out in a thin layer on a flat, dry surface in a room with access fresh air. Direct Sun rays and moisture must not get on the raw material. An attic, gazebo or balcony is considered an ideal drying place.

To properly dry the leaves, you need to constantly mix them so that air circulates between them and ugly spots do not appear on the surface. This method allows you to speed up the drying of any plant.

This is what healthy dried raw materials look like

At home, you can dry the collected leaves in the oven at a temperature of 100 ° C. This is done for the first 15 minutes, then the temperature is reduced to 60 ° C and continued until completely dry. Suitable for such purposes and electric drying. Be sure to ensure that the raw materials do not dry out and do not brown. In this case, some of the nutrients will be lost. It is considered preferable natural way, especially since currant leaves dry out in 3-5 days.

Dried leaves are stored in linen bags or containers with tight lid about a year. Any dried vegetable raw materials are stored away from spices, coffee and tea, in a cool unlit place, it is possible in a distant kitchen cabinet.

fermentation

Another way to harvest currants is to ferment the leaves. It's a process light fermentation crumpled fresh material in order to obtain a more aromatic and delicious drink.

Fermentation is carried out in several stages:

• Collection and easy drying of leaves.
• Twisting, crushing or grinding in a meat grinder.
• Bookmark for fermentation.
• Drying.

At the first stage, you need to slightly dry the leaves so that they wilt and lose some of the moisture. It is impossible to dry the material here, otherwise fermentation will not occur. The readiness of the leaves is checked as follows: the plate itself should be soft and lethargic, and the petiole should become flexible and not break. The average drying time is 5 hours.

This is how the leaves are rolled for fermentation

At the second stage, vegetable raw materials are twisted into tubes between the palms or crushed with a rolling pin. The third option is grinding in a meat grinder, but the first two are preferable. The purpose of the stage is to release the juice from the leaves, under the influence of which fermentation will occur.

At the third stage, the twisted raw materials are placed in basins, pans or other containers in several layers. From above, the container is covered with a damp cloth and placed in a room with a temperature of 25-26 ° C. The fermentation time depends on the conditions created, the quality of the raw material and its quantity.

When a pleasant fruity aroma begins to emanate from the mass, the leaves are taken out, laid out on a baking sheet and dried in the oven at a temperature of 100 ° C in two passes. First, drying is done for 30 minutes, then another 30-60 minutes until completely dry. The main thing is not to overcook.

From the currant, it looks and tastes like ordinary black currant, but it contains many more useful substances, and the cost of such a product is very low. What other leaves or plants are suitable for fermentation? This is the well-known fireweed (Ivan tea), raspberry and blackberry leaves, pears and cherries, strawberries and sea buckthorn. They can be mixed in ready-made for fragrant blends.

Useful properties of currant tea

To prepare healthy tea, you need to remember that freshly boiled water is not suitable for this. She must stand for intense steam to come down, and only after that she can pour tea leaves. If a drink is prepared from fresh leaves, they can take about 4-5 pieces per 1 serving. When preparing tea from dried raw materials, take 1 teaspoon per 200 ml. hot water.

Tea from leaves that have undergone fermentation is prepared according to the principle of ordinary black tea. Pour about 1 tsp. brewing with water at a temperature of 95 ° C and insist 3-5 minutes. You can brew both monotea and add ripe currant berries or other types of tea to it.

You can make such drinks for the whole day and even prepare them according to the principle of iced tea. It will be active in the summer hot weather, as it restores strength and quenches thirst.

Beneficial features tea:

• is a rich source ascorbic acid;
• has an anti-inflammatory effect;
• relieves attacks of skin allergies;
• improves the health of the musculoskeletal system;
• improves immunity;
• is a prophylactic against skin and eye diseases.

Benefits of tea currant leaf rated by women in position and at breastfeeding. In the first case, currant helps to reinforce defensive forces body, relieve the load on the skeleton and spine in particular. Pregnant currant helps to cope with swelling and cramps in the legs.

Currant tea will strengthen the immunity of an adult and a child

When breastfeeding, currants reduce the risk of developing allergies in a child, slightly stimulate milk production and help the mother get stronger faster after childbirth.

Possible harm tea can bring people with individual intolerance and a tendency to allergies to the plant, although there are only a few such cases.

At daily use currant drinks for 1-2 months, you can significantly improve your own well-being, strengthen immunity, improve mood and prevent many diseases. You can combine currants with honey and lemon to enhance the effect of tea.

Raspberry leaves contain a lot of tannins, they have a slight hemostatic effect, so inflammation of the oral mucosa and diarrhea are treated with an infusion of them. Tea and infusions from raspberry leaves have a strengthening effect on the gums, cleanse the blood, they are used for gastrointestinal diseases and skin rashes. Vitamin C, which is found in raspberry leaves, is essential for the treatment of colds.

Raspberry leaf tea is especially useful during pregnancy - it strengthens the walls of the uterus, preventing miscarriages, and has a beneficial effect on all functions of the reproductive system. They contain a lot of magnesium, potassium, iron and B vitamins, these substances have a complex effect, relieving nausea with toxicosis, pain in the legs and giving a calm and sound sleep.

Currant, its buds and leaves are also rich in vitamin C, they contain essential oils and phytoncides, which give them a unique characteristic flavor. They also have a rare vitamin P, contain potassium salts. Currant leaves in the form of infusions and teas are used as a tonic, they also have a diuretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. In addition, they contain substances that protect against inflammation of the lungs.

How to properly collect and dry currant and raspberry leaves

The maximum amount of vitamins and other useful substances in raspberry currant leaves is contained during the flowering of the plant, it is best to collect and dry them at this time. But, if you did not have time, pick mature leaves that have a rich green color, you can during June, choosing leaf plates that are not affected by fungus or rust, from which blackcurrant suffers quite often. Leaves should be collected in dry weather, after the morning dew has evaporated from them.

For amplification healing properties tea made from blackcurrant and raspberry leaves, drink it with lemon and honey or milk and honey.

In order for your herbal tea with raspberry and currant leaves to retain their natural aroma and to avoid the taste of hay, the raw materials must be dried properly so that the leaves are fermented like real black tea. Dry the leaves, laying them out for a day in a dry, shaded place, with a layer no thicker than 5 cm. Periodically stir up the leaves so that they wither not only at the edges.

Store fermented dry raspberry and currant leaf tea in a special container with a ground-in lid.

The next day, collect the leaves in stacks of 8-10 pieces and twist them into sausages, rolling them between your palms. During this procedure, juice should stand out, while the leaves darken. Lay these sausage-rolled leaves in layers in a deep enameled bowl, cover it with a wet, clean cloth and leave in a warm place for 6-12 hours. The warmer, the fermentation will go faster. The readiness of the leaves and the end of the fermentation process are checked by the aroma emitted by the leaves - the smell of grass disappears, and a pronounced aroma of flowers and fruits appears. After that, the leaves must be cut and laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Put them in the oven and dry at 100°C for an hour.

Not the only thing you can get from the bushes. Therefore, today we will tell you about how they are used and how useful they are, as well as figure out how they need to be brewed.

Benefits of raspberry leaves

With leaves has such beneficial features: it not only helps to cope with the symptoms of a cold, but also has an anti-inflammatory effect, like aspirin; has an expectorant effect and increases the resistance of the immune system to viral diseases.

Used to treat all diseases respiratory tract and also to stop bleeding. In this case, both tea and infusion are used, with which you can rinse your mouth. It is worth saying that it is recommended to use tea from people whose work is associated with hazardous production, since such a remedy removes poisons and toxins from the body.

Astringent properties help to cope with loose stools as well as tablets, and if you have a large enough amount of raw materials, then you can take a bath with raspberry leaves, which will help get rid of many female diseases.

In cosmetology, crushed green plates are used to create effective masks. Raspberry helps to get rid of teenage acne, and also removes inflammation. A decoction is also prepared on their basis, which is used to rinse the hair. This remedy helps with hair loss and accelerates their growth.

Important! The beneficial properties of the leaves directly depend on their condition, the presence of fungal diseases or sunburn.

Raspberry greens are used not only for making tea, so this raw material is very valuable. Next, we will talk about when to harvest raspberry leaves for tea and other needs.

When, how and where to collect

To get high-quality material, you need to collect greens in the first 2-3 weeks of June. At this time, the leaves are of the greatest value, since the plant directs all its forces to the development of the green part, and not to the formation of fruits.
You should choose bright intact plates. It is better to give preference to leaflets that are near the top, as they receive the largest number Sveta. Also look for insects or fungus. We do not need such greens, since its use can lead to poisoning.

It is worth talking about when you need to collect raspberry leaves for drying for the winter. Collection period for further storage not limited to the first weeks of summer, but it is better to collect raw materials before flowering. If you collect during the flowering process, then you, at a minimum, will harm the plant, and as a maximum, you will receive products that will not best quality and leave yourself without the lion's share of the harvest.

You need to collect in the morning, when there is no longer dew on the bushes, and the sun is not yet very hot. It should be understood that if the plant is already suffering from weather conditions or lack of nutrients, then the absence of a few leaves can “finish it off”.

Important! In no case do not collect raw materials at a time when neighbors are processing plantings from pests. You will receive the strongest poisoning.

How to dry raspberry leaves

After collection, they must be washed under running water and lay out on a woven fabric under a canopy in one layer. The canopy should be well ventilated and completely protect the leaves from sunlight.
Also, do not forget that raw materials are needed turn over regularly so that it doesn't get stuck.

Did you know? fresh berries raspberries help with drunkenness. Eating just a few berries will help you sober up faster.

Raspberry leaf fermentation

Before describing the fermentation of raspberry leaves, it is worth understanding what this process is and why it is needed.

So, fermentation V this case- This is the process of decomposition of organic matter under the action of enzymes. Fermentation is carried out to obtain from tea leaves high quality product. Simply put, fermentation is the oxidation of products under the action of oxygen, in which enzymes participate.

More or less figured out, now let's talk about the sequence of actions that will help us make real tea.

• The first option (labor-intensive). We take pure raspberry greens and grind in the palms so that it darkens and curls up into a “sausage”. A similar action must be carried out with all the leaves from which you want to get tea.
• The second option ("mechanized"). We take the same washed green leaves and pass through a meat grinder. In this case, it is better to use an old mechanical machine, since the electric one will twist everything into a homogeneous mass and no tea will work anymore. It is important to use the largest grate so that the leaves are not crushed too much.

Of course, you can come up with a lot of other options that will also prepare raw materials, but the ones proposed above are the most common.

If you use the first option, then after grinding, you need to pour everything into a large container and put it under a press. If the second option was used, then just pour it into a bowl and crush it with your hand.

Important! Do not lay out the leaves in a thin layer, otherwise the fermentation will be poor.

In order for everything to go right, you need to regularly check the moisture content of the fabric, and if it is dry, moisten it again.
It is worth remembering that the optimum temperature for fermentation is 22–26 ° C, no more, but no less. In the event of a decrease or increase in temperature, fermentation will stop or will not proceed as it should.

The finished mass should have a greenish-brown color and give off a fruity smell. After fermentation, the raw materials are laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet and dried in the oven for about 2 hours. Optimum temperature- 100 °C.

Now let's talk about what is the strength of fermentation:

1. Easy. If the tea is fermented for 3 to 6 hours, then its taste will be soft and light, but the aroma will be too strong.
2. Average. After 10-16 hours taste qualities change: the taste becomes tart and sourness appears. The aroma becomes less "acidic".
3. Deep. After 20–36 hours, only a faint aroma remains, while the taste becomes more tart.

How and where to store dried leaves

Dried leaves (not tea) are stored at room temperature in places with low humidity. Completely dried leaves are crushed and placed in linen or paper bags.

If you made tea, then you need to store it, like any other tea, in a dry, dark place.

Best before date

When storing the product in suitable conditions its shelf life is 24 months.

Did you know? Unlike other berries, the usefulness of raspberries does not decrease after processing, so raspberry jam provides the same vitamins and minerals as fresh berries.

Recipes for delicious and healthy tea

It's time to talk about the variety of tea options from crimson leaves as well as how to prepare them.
Let's start with the fact that in order to get tasty and healthy drink enough to take 1 tsp tea leaves for a standard cup of 150–200 ml.

Traditionally, raspberry greens can be brewed paired with fruits or raspberry jam. So you will not only improve the taste of the drink, but also make it more useful, and most importantly, you will refuse to use sugar, which will only reduce the usefulness of tea.