Table of contents
Dried and unsweetened, the sour cherry ( Prunus cerasus , also called cherry ) is often available raw. In contrast to the fruity sweetness of cherries or sweet cherries, sour cherries have a characteristic sour taste even when dried.
Use in the kitchen:
Dried sour cherries have a fruity, sour taste. They are an enriching ingredient for sweet dishes and desserts such as cakes, muffins or other baked goods. Dried sour cherries are ideal for breakfast muesli (cereal), as a snack when you're a little hungry or as a topping for your favorite ice cream. The lack of storage and sensitivity of the fresh produce puts dried sour cherries in a positive light. In addition, the dried produce is available all year round.
Dried fruits such as dried sour cherries can also be processed into jams. To do this, soak the fruit in water for around 4 hours, chop it up with a hand blender, boil the mixture for a few minutes and fill the jam into jars. The jam made from dried fruits can be refined with bourbon vanilla, cinnamon , lemon or orange peel . For more sweetness, you can add a little sugar.
Fresh or pickled sour cherries are the most commonly used cherry variety for all kinds of baked goods, such as Black Forest cake.
Vegan recipe for energy balls with sour cherries:
Ingredients: 60 g almonds , 15 g pistachios , 100 g dried sour cherries (pitted), 50 g pitted dates , 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla pulp , 2 tablespoons water , sesame seeds for rolling.
Preparation: Coarsely grind the nuts in a high-performance blender, then add the cherries, dates and vanilla and mix until you have a homogeneous, sticky mass. Depending on the consistency, you can add up to 2 tablespoons of water. Form small balls and roll them in sesame seeds. Stored in cans or jars, the energy balls will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Vegan recipes with unsweetened sour cherries can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".
| Not only vegans or vegetarians should read this: Vegans often eat unhealthily. Avoidable nutritional mistakes . |
Shopping - where to buy?
Supermarket chains such as Coop , Migros , Denner , Volg , Spar , Aldi , Lidl , Rewe , Edeka , Hofer etc. or organic supermarkets such as Alnatura and Denns only sometimes stock dried sour cherries. In the former, they are often sweetened.
Health food stores, drugstores, organic shops and online shops also sell the dried, fruity and sour sour cherries in raw food quality . The key here is a natural and gentle drying method. When buying, look for untreated products that are free of additives and preservatives. When consuming, make sure that the product does not contain any stones or pieces of stones.
If possible, organically grown cherries should be preferred, as insecticides are unavoidable in conventional fruit growing due to the pest pressure - even if Greenpeace classified the pesticides used as "particularly harmful to health" in 2009. In particular, the larvae of the cherry fruit fly ( Rhagoletis cerasi ) attack not only sour cherries ( Prunus cerasus ), but also sweet cherries ( Prunus avium ), honeysuckle ( Lonicera ), snowberries ( Symphoricarpos ) and black cherries ( Prunus padus ). In organic fruit growing, attempts are made to combat these pests with close-meshed nets, insect-damaging nematodes and fungi. 1
Homemade preparation:
It is certainly possible to dry sour cherries yourself, but pitting these small fruits is a bit more laborious than fleshy sweet cherries.
First, wash the cherries and remove the stems. A cherry pitter is usually only suitable for larger fruits; but if you have one at home, you can definitely try it. It is important to check each cherry to make sure that there really are no stones left. If you cut the cherries by hand and remove the stones, you will probably be even faster than with the pitter. Dry the cherries with a kitchen paper towel beforehand and then place them with the cut side facing up on a baking tray or in the dehydrator.
To maintain raw food quality, cherries should not be heated above 40 °C (if the oven can be set to below 50 °C). Depending on the temperature and size of the cherries, they need to be dried in a circulating air oven for around 16 to 24 hours. To allow the moisture to escape, it is best to wedge a wooden spoon into the oven door. The dried cherries are ready as soon as they are hard, but still flexible and sticky. No more liquid should come out when you press them together.
Storage:
Ideal conditions for dried sour cherries are a cool, dry environment protected from light. The humidity should not exceed approx. 60% and the temperature approx. 7 °C. Opened packages should therefore be used quickly or transferred to a sealable container. If dried properly, dried fruit will last a very long time even without preservatives.
You should always check dried fruits for pests and mold. Dried fruits can also be frozen in small bags and thawed again as needed.
Ingredients - nutritional value - calories:
The calorie content of dried sour cherries is about 260-310 kcal/100g and the water content is less than 40%. The carbohydrate content is about 60%, of which 8% is fiber. Protein is about 2.7% and fat 1.5%. 2
Due to the loss of water, all other ingredients also concentrate, assuming gentle drying. This is because the first vitamins are lost at temperatures above 40 °C.
You can find all the ingredients, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.
Health aspects - effects:
What are sour cherries good for? Cherries contain flavonoids, such as anthocyanins. These red, violet, blue or blue-black pigments also have bioactive properties and have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. 3
Sour cherries are said to have a positive effect against arthritis (wear and tear disease of the joints). Animal products, alcohol and coffee have a negative influence. On the other hand, a wholesome, low-fat and plant-based diet with lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre can alleviate symptoms of arthritis, gout, cardiovascular problems, digestive problems and autoimmune diseases.
In particular, the juice of the Montmorency sour cherry is said to have positive effects due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 4,5
The melatonin contained in sour cherries (up to 13.5 ng/g) is said to help with sleep disorders. If taken regularly, it can increase the natural melatonin level and, depending on the amount and variety, can have a positive effect on the sleep-wake rhythm. 6,7,8
The increased fiber content in dried fruit can promote intestinal activity.
Losses due to the drying process:
At temperatures above 40 °C, the first losses of vitamins occur. Especially at high temperatures, aroma and taste can also be lost.
Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments in plants with the colors red, violet and blue. Their structures are very sensitive, especially when it comes to post-harvest treatment. Further processing of food can lead to a high degradation of anthocyanins. 9
The choice of drying method can also have a significant impact on the retention of vitamins and minerals. In 2005, the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena looked into various drying processes. The so-called MVT (microwave vacuum drying) performs significantly better in terms of the content of vitamin C , anthocyanins, plant phenols and the antioxidant capacity compared to freeze- or air-dried strawberries . The loss of ingredients could be reduced by 35%. For example: 50 g of MVT-dried strawberries have the same micronutrient content as 600 g of frozen strawberries. 10
The popular "soft fruits" require additional treatment in a bath of steam after drying to maintain their soft consistency. Although they appear juicier, the nutrients suffer significantly. 1
Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects:
The low water content in dried fruit means that the calorie content is significantly higher, which is why you should also use dried sour cherries sparingly.
When eating dried fruit, always make sure to chew slowly and salivate well, because the volume of food determines the feeling of satiety. In addition, the human digestive system cannot digest more than 25-80 g of fructose per day. If you consume more than 50 g of fructose per day, triglycerides will rise. 11 If you are fructose intolerant, you should avoid both dried sour cherries and all other dried fruits. The concentrated fructose content can cause symptoms such as a feeling of fullness, flatulence or even diarrhea with cramp-like pain.
Diabetics should also always consume dried fruit with caution. The higher sugar content in dried fruit causes blood sugar to rise very quickly.
Which preservatives can be found in dried fruit?
To make dried fruit last longer and to preserve its color, the food industry uses sulfur dioxide (E 220) as a preservative and antioxidant. The sulfur-containing compounds can also be found in the form of potassium sulfites (potassium metabisulfite: E 224, potassium hydrogen sulfite: E 228), sodium sulfites (sodium hydrogen sulfite: E 222, sodium metabisulfite: E 223) and calcium sulfites (calcium sulfite: E 226, calcium hydrogen sulfite: E 227). In addition to its antibacterial effect on food, sulfur also has a bleaching effect. This is why fruits that have been treated with sulfur are lighter in color. An enzyme in the body normally ensures that this substance is broken down quickly, which is why the salts of sulfurous acid are harmless to most people in small quantities. If you have less of this enzyme, you may experience health problems such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches. Asthmatics (sulfite asthma) or people with skin allergies can also react sensitively to this substance. According to the Consumer Initiative eV, the daily maximum content is 0.7 mg of sulfur per kg of body weight. The maximum amount of sulfur dioxide in dried fruit is between 500 and 2000 mg/kg, depending on the type of fruit. 12
Sulfur-containing preservatives reduce the absorption of vitamin B 1 (thiamine) in our body. This water-soluble vitamin is important for the peripheral nervous system.
Sorbic acids are also found in conventional dried fruits (sorbic acid: E 200, potassium sorbate: E 202, calcium sorbate: E 203). Even though sorbic acid is naturally present in the fruits, the artificially added version can cause vomiting or diarrhea if consumed in excessive amounts.
In order to preserve dried fruit, the industry also uses pesticides such as methyl bromide. This poisonous nerve gas is intended to kill pests such as mites, moths and their eggs. Although the agent is water-soluble and is supposed to evaporate quickly, residue analyses prove the opposite by detecting dangerous concentrations. This poison causes chronic health problems and damages the ozone layer more than the well-known CFCs. In addition, methyl bromide is not subject to any labeling requirements. 13
Untreated dried fruit from organic production is packaged in a protective gas atmosphere with no oxygen and high pressure. 14 They can often be recognized by their significantly darker color (especially apples or apricots ). Methods involving rapid water removal, shock freezing and storage at temperatures of -34 °C as well as special pressure chambers with CO 2 can destroy pests and their eggs. Fumigation or irradiation are not used due to the EC organic regulation . 1
Occurrence - Origin:
Cherries probably originate from the Middle East, more precisely from Turkey. The ancient city of Kerasous (now Giresun) gave the cherries their name. The origin of the sour cherry is not entirely clear, however. It is assumed that it originated from the wild cherry ( Prunus avium var. sylvestris according to Martens & Kemmler or Prunus avium 16 ) and the dwarf or steppe cherry ( Prunus fruticosa ). 15
In Finland, sour cherries are cultivated up to 63 degrees latitude and in Norway up to 68 degrees latitude. Sour cherries sometimes grow up to 1800 m above sea level. 16
Cultivation - Harvest:
The sour cherry bush or tree can reach a height of up to 10 meters. The sour cherry grows best on loose, light, nutrient- and base-rich, sandy loam soils. After the flowering period from April to May, stone fruits form that are about 15-20 mm in size. 17 The spherical, red to dark red-black fruits are harvested from June to mid-August. The flesh can be red or uncolored depending on the variety. 18
For additional information on cultivation, harvesting, subspecies and differences between sweet and sour cherries, see the article Sour cherry, red, raw (soft cherry) .
General information:
The sour cherry ( Prunus cerasus ) belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae) and the tribe of stone fruit plants (Amygdaleae). The genus Prunus also includes well-known species such as apricot ( Prunus armeniaca ), plum ( Prunus domestica ) and almond ( Prunus dulcis ).
Alternative names:
The dried sour cherry is often called dried sour cherry (plural: dried sour cherries); the sour cherry is also called tart cherry and occasionally morello.
Literature - Sources:
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