Rosehip is a real storehouse of vitamins and nutrients. It contains antioxidants, carotene, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and rose hips contain more vitamin C than black currants, lemons and oranges. Rosehip strengthens the immune system, contributes to the improvement of the digestive tract and rejuvenation of the body. But you need to procure and store it correctly.
Instructions
Step 1
Harvest rose hips from late August until frost. Pick ripe, but not overripe (soft) fruits, and make sure they are not damaged or spoiled. Pick the fruits with sepals, scatter the collected berries in a layer of no more than 5 cm and store until processing for no more than 2-3 days in a cool room, the temperature in which does not exceed 15 degrees. Longer storage of freshly harvested fruits will lead to a loss of vitamin C.
Step 2
Fruit processing takes time and patience. To prepare the berries for canning, rinse the rose hips well. Then cut off the tips of each berry and, by cutting the fruit in half, remove the seeds and hairy fibers. The berries prepared in this way can be mashed. To do this: chop the rose hips in a blender or pass through a meat grinder. Then transfer the puree to plastic bags and freeze in the freezer. You can store such mashed potatoes for up to a year.
Step 3
in the oven and just a well-ventilated area. This process is lengthy and takes place in several stages. To dry the rose hips in the sun, wash the berries, spread them in a thin layer on trays and place them in a sunny, but protected from the wind, place. Stir the fruit during the day, cover with plastic at night and bring it indoors. In the morning, take out the trays of berries again in the sun. When the berries are well dry, become firm and will not stick together, pour the rose hips into glass jars, wrap the necks of which with gauze or cloth, but do not cover with lids.
Step 4
To dry rose hips in the oven: wash the fruits and spread them in a layer (no more than 2 cm) on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 55-60 degrees and place a baking sheet with rose hips in the oven for 2-3 hours. Then increase the temperature to 70-80 degrees and dry for another 4-5 hours. The general drying process should take at least 6-7 hours. The dried berries should remain bright, break easily, and not crumble. Transfer the finished berries to glass jars or bags. The shelf life of properly dried fruits is up to 2 years.
