Aronia melanocarpa for sale – Azienda Agricola Massimo Busdraghi Italian aronia melanocarpa plants Italy

The Aronia is an extremely useful plant and one that has strong medicinal properties. . It originated in North American, where in addition to the Aronia Melanocarpa (also known as Black Aronia), Aronia Arbustifolia (also known as Red Aronia) can be found. The natural habitat of these two species is acidic, humid soil with 1,000 to 1,200 mm of rainfall per year, so it is therefore suitable for any soil or climate. Although it is native to the American continent, the properties of this plant were discovered in Europe.

The Aronia belongs to the rose family (Rosacea). There are several other names for the Aronia melanocarpa such as Aronia nigra, Sorbus melanocarpa, Pyrus melanocarpa and Mespilus arbutifolia var. melanocarpa.

In the wild the Aronia is a bush or shrub with deciduous leaves, 2 – 3 meters high and 2.5 meters wide. One of the main features of the Aronia is its beautiful white flowers, gathered into bunches. In the climatic conditions of continental Croatia it flowers at the end of April. Its oval-shaped leaves have a serrated border and are of a dark green color. In autumn, the leaves turn a vivid red colour that makes the plant very ornamental.

The Aronia is a self-pollinating plant. . Its spherical, reddish-purple fruits are usually numerous. They are little berries shaped much like the apple medlar fruit. The diameter of a single berry is from 6 to 13.5 mm, with a weight of 1.0 – 1.5 g. At first the berries are covered with a layer of whitish wax, without which they would appear shiny. The fruit of the Aronia matures in August. Its flesh has an intense red color, while the aroma can be both sweet or acidic and sour, rather like the blueberry. The fruit of the Aronia, although lacking a stone, has very small seeds.

The Aronia is not a very demanding plant either in terms of the soil conditions where it grows or the climate conditions it requires, so that it can be cultivated in areas with a wide range of different climatic conditions. Even though the Aronia is native to a region where there is the influence of the Atlantic climate, it actually prefers habitats characterized by high humidity levels, both in the soil and in the air. The optimal annual precipitation is between 500 and 600 mm. Aronia cultivation also succeeds on those soils rich in subterranean water, where other species of fruit trees such as apples and cherries would not be successful. When choosing where to plant it, therefore, it is necessary to avoid extremely dry and sandy soils or those that are damp but especially hard. It is commonly said that the seedlings and flowers of the Aronia are virtually immune to the consequences of frost. The flower is resistant to low Spring temperatures, while the plant is resistant even to – 30 °C.

The fruit matures in the period between the beginning and the middle of August. Since all the fruit of the Aronia usually matures at the same time, only one harvest is needed. To prevent it from ripening too much at first and falling off the plants, the harvesting of the fruit must be done quickly, shortly after it begins to ripen. Some berries, however, can mature early. Their gathering can be both mechanical and manual. With manual harvesting, the fruit should be cut off by leaving an inch, with a maximum yield of 12 kg per hour. In plantations, mechanical harvesting is usually used, with a yield spread over 3-4 hours per hectare. After harvesting, the fruit should be processed as soon as possible, but it can also be stored for a short time in plastic or wooden baskets. If it cannot be processed immediately after harvesting, the fruit can be quickly frozen and stored. Under normal preservation conditions, i.e. fluctuating between temperatures of 15 and 25 ° C, with 80% relative atmospheric humidity, ripe Aronia berries can be stored for two weeks.

Depending on the type of planting, it is possible to obtain a yield of about 8 - 12 t / ha. The expected life expectancy of an Aronia plantation is estimated at around 20 years. The usability of the fruit of the Aronia for the production of juice is 75-80%, which can be increased by 6% if the fruit is left to rest at -5 ° before extracting.

With the purchase of our Aronia plants, we also guarantee the specialized consultation of two of our agricultural engineers, both of whom have extensive knowledge and experience in the growing and cultivation of the Aronia.