How to dry chokeberry at home: 4 ways

How to dry chokeberry? You enter a query into a search engine, read the first article and your eyebrows rise in surprise. The authors of the texts recommend collecting chokeberries only after frost, but drying them in the sun. I wonder where in our climate, after frost, there is such a sun that can evaporate the juice from the fairly dense pulp of the berries? How many days will the chokeberry collect dust on the street? The result will be an incredibly valuable product. With a decent film of all chemical elements.

Gentlemen, use your brains before giving your advice. Otherwise, you will not receive curses from those who follow them. Let's look at how to actually dry chokeberries correctly and debunk other misconceptions.

How to dry chokeberry

Chokeberry is not as popular as other berries. And its tart and bitter taste is to blame for this. If it is collected, it is most often for medicinal purposes.

Rowan is a good vitamin supplement. Vitamins P, K, tocopherol, rutin, riboflavin were found in it. And there is more vitamin C in fruits than in lemon or orange. Therefore, chokeberry is effective for colds, in the form of a diaphoretic.
Rowan is also rich in iron. Moreover, it contains three times more of this microelement than apples.
It also contains essential oils, tannins, iodine, malic, tartaric, sorbic, and succinic acids.
Thanks to pectins, it suppresses gas formation in the intestines.
Chokeberry is a preventative against scurvy.
Rowan fruits are used as a diuretic, mild laxative, choleretic and hemostatic agent.
Rowan is an excellent addition to compotes, compotes, jelly, and fruit tea. It is added in powder form to confectionery products.

Chokeberry is prepared for future use - frozen, canned, dried.

In order for the berry to reveal its medicinal properties and taste, it must be picked from a tree or bush in time.

The fact is that mountain ash ripens in August - September. But at this time, its berries, or rather, its “apples,” are bitter. Therefore, they are harvested in late autumn, preferably after the first frost. Then the rowan fruits acquire a pleasant sourness with a slight bitterness.

Berries are removed from the bush in clusters, cutting with a knife or pruning shears.

Dry rowan berries in the attic, in the oven, in the oven or in the dryer. The fruits are dried both in bunches and in bulk. Most often, rowan berries are dried in clusters if they are harvested for a short time, for example, until the new year.

Health benefits of chokeberry

Chokeberry is a “multifunctional” crop. It has many advantages. Firstly, there is a high content of substances that suppress the formation of tumors. Secondly, a large number of microelements necessary for human health. Thirdly, chokeberry strengthens the vascular walls, making them more elastic. Fourthly, chokeberry is distinguished by a high content of vitamins, especially P and PP, and they, to paraphrase the words of Stendhal, are a means of unfading perfection.

Growing a shrub or small tree is not difficult. It is not picky about soil, is not affected by pests and tolerates frost well. Having it on the site is extremely beneficial. The seedling quickly takes root and grows, requiring almost no care, and in return:

the area becomes beautiful and decorative - trees with large black berries look great in the garden;
flowering rowan attracts the attention of bees, which is beneficial for all flowering trees and garden crops;
chokeberry consistently produces a large harvest of berries, which allows you to prepare a variety of tasty and healthy preparations;

In folk medicine, chokeberry berries (dry, fresh, frozen), their processed products (juice, preserves, jam) and leaves are used. The high iodine content makes chokeberry indispensable in the treatment of the endocrine system. It is used as an adjuvant in the treatment of serious diseases such as typhus, rheumatism and scarlet fever. This is a good anti-allergenic remedy. Chokeberry strengthens the walls of blood vessels, and fresh leaves improve liver and kidney function. This type of rowan is used for blood clotting disorders. Chokeberry is used to minimize autoimmune disorders during pregnancy.

Chokeberry is used as an antispasmodic, vasodilator and hemostatic agent. It has a positive effect on the process of hematopoiesis, improves appetite and activates the immune system. Can be used as a diuretic and choleretic agent. It is used for burns and as an antiallergic drug. Chokeberry is prescribed for radiation sickness, cancer and toxic goiter.

What is the reason for such a wide range of applications? Chokeberry liqueur or chokeberry has a unique biochemical composition. Its berries contain a huge amount of useful substances necessary for human health:

Vitamins. A, C, PP and group B. Beta-carotene and beta-manganese are also present.
Trace elements including boron, iodine, molybdenum and phosphorus.
Sugars, folic acid and pectin.
Anthocyanin.

For treatment and prevention, chokeberry is recommended for:

diabetes;
atherosclerosis;
rheumatism;
vision problems;
low immunity and susceptibility to chronic bronchial diseases;
hormonal imbalances;
problems with excess weight.

Harm: when is it better to refuse chokeberry?

Along with the enormous health benefits of chokeberry, it can also cause considerable harm. To prevent this from happening, you need to be treated taking into account contraindications. Black rowan should be used with caution for those who suffer from:

arterial hypertension;
hypotension and frequent low blood pressure;
gastritis with high acidity;
peptic ulcer;
tendency to increased blood clotting, thrombosis, varicose veins.

How to dry rowan in bunches

Rowan bunches are examined for spoiled berries. Rowan berries that are going to be dried in shields are not washed.

Then the bunches are thrown over a rope, fishing line or wire and dried in this suspended state. The room in which the bunches are stored should be well ventilated and cool.

In this form, the berries remain fresh for a long time and then dry out. They are used as needed.

If rowan needs to be preserved until the new harvest, then it is dried differently.

How to dry rowan berries in bulk

The berries are sorted, spoiled, dried out, rotten, or pecked by birds are removed.

Then remove the stalks, leaves and other debris.

The berries are washed in cold running water and dried well, laid out on a towel or left in sieves.

After this, they are transferred to baking sheets covered with parchment and placed in a low-heat oven. Initially, the temperature should not exceed 40°C. To avoid steaming the berries, the oven must be ventilated. During this time, the berries will wilt.

Then the temperature is raised slightly (to about 60°C) and drying continues, periodically stirring the berries.

Drying time depends on the juiciness of the berries and the capabilities of the drying machine.

If you have an electric dryer, then it produces higher quality raw materials, since in this case the drying process takes place according to a predetermined program.

You cannot dry rowan fruits at high temperatures, otherwise they will turn black on the outside and remain raw on the inside. And in the end they will turn out rancid.

You can check the readiness of the raw materials by squeezing the berries in your fist. Dried berries should not release moisture or stain your hands, but they should not crumble into dust. The color hardly changes.

Another way to dry berries in bulk

Rowan berries are separated from the branches, stalks, leaves and other debris are removed.

Sorted, removing spoiled ones.

Place the prepared berries in a colander and lower them into a pan of boiling water for 3 minutes.

Place the berries on a towel and dry them from moisture.

Then the berries are placed on a baking sheet covered with parchment and sent to the oven or oven. Dry at a temperature of 60—70°C with constant air circulation. The berries need to be stirred frequently. This method is also suitable for drying.

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Dried rowan is well cooled in air and then packed in paper bags. In this form, rowan can be stored for a whole year.

How to dry chokeberries in the oven

Chokeberry berries are harvested in late summer - early autumn. Better after the first frost. Don't be late! Chokeberry is extremely attractive to birds, especially blackbirds. They peck the berries without leaving a single fruit on the branches, so picking it is not so easy.

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Berries can be dried in the open air, but in this case the fruits often rot or become moldy. It is best to dry chokeberries in the oven.

How to dry chokeberries in the oven: the harvested crop is scattered in a thin layer on a baking sheet and placed in the oven. The temperature in the oven or electric dryer should not exceed 50 degrees. Periodically turn the berries over by simply shaking the baking sheet or stirring them with a wooden spatula. Properly dried berries change color, becoming cherry red. This shade indicates that the vitamin complex PP is completely preserved in the fruit. It is better to store medicinal raw materials in paper bags or glass containers with a tight lid.

How to dry chokeberry at home

Chokeberry probably cannot be called the most delicious berry. However, its beneficial properties for the body are so great that it was officially included in the list of medicinal and medicinal plants. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people prepare this berry for the winter - freeze it, make jams and preserves, compotes, and dry it. The last option for harvesting chokeberries will be discussed.

Does chokeberry increase or decrease blood pressure?

When people read about the benefits of chokeberry, they usually miss its effects on blood pressure. But in vain. When treating, you must know whether chokeberry lowers or increases blood pressure, since the effectiveness of this plant and its safety for human health directly depends on this. Remember! Chokeberry significantly reduces blood pressure. Hypotonic patients should use it with extreme caution. This applies to both medicinal decoctions and infusions, as well as chokeberry liqueurs, tinctures, cognacs, as well as jams, syrups, jellies and black rowan jam.

How does chokeberry affect blood pressure?

To lower blood pressure, you can drink fifty milliliters of fresh juices of chokeberry, viburnum and black currant twice a day. Also, for better effect, you can combine the juice with walnuts and honey.
It is necessary to mix equal amounts of chokeberry, horsetail and yarrow grass, birch leaves, crushed dandelion roots, wheatgrass and corn silk. One tablespoon of the mixture should be poured with a glass of boiling water and left for half an hour. You need to drink half a glass three times a day, and the course itself should be carried out for no more than a month. The collection perfectly cleanses blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and helps with hypertension. For a better effect, you can add rose hips or currants.

Chokeberry berries are a wonderful medicine for hypertensive patients.

The following recipe can be used to treat hypertension. We take a three-liter bottle and fill it 4/5 with dry chokeberries, and fill the rest with warm water and sugar. You need to drink a glass a day for twenty days. You should also consume wormwood and cloves once a week.
For hypertension. Take two tablespoons of chokeberry, viburnum (more about this berry here) and rose hips. All herbs need to be poured into two liters of boiling water and brought to a boil. Leave in a thermos for two hours and drink a glass three times a day. You can add a little honey or sugar.
Take a glass of plant berries and pour half a liter of vodka over them. Each berry needs to be pierced with a needle, and the infusion itself should be left for a week in a dark place. After this, you need to strain and take a tablespoon three times a day half an hour before meals. To treat hypertension, the course should be carried out for two weeks, but no more.

A natural, tasty and mildly effective remedy that reduces blood pressure in a short time. But be careful! If you eat a large number of berries for people with normal blood pressure, your health may worsen significantly due to its sharp decrease. Hypotonic patients cannot be treated with chokeberry, because it does not have the best effect on low blood pressure - it can lower it to a critical level with long-term use.

Chokeberry jam for hypertensive and weakened people

To make jam you need to take a kilogram of berries and half a kilogram of sugar. The berries need to be blanched in boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then transferred to a saucepan or other container in which the jam will be prepared. Add sugar to the berries and simmer on low heat. Cook with constant stirring until it starts to boil. Before it comes to a boil, you need to put the jam into dry, sterilized jars and roll up the lids. You should take this tasty treat 1-2 teaspoons three times a day, after meals.

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Preparing berries for drying

Before you start drying, the berries must be properly collected and prepared. Only in this case will it be possible to preserve most of the nutrients and vitamins during processing.

First, you should harvest the chokeberry crop on time. And if most other berries need to be picked from the tree before the onset of frost, then with rowan the situation is the opposite - optimally after the first frost. Just before this moment, the fruits definitely have time to ripen and reveal their healing properties.

Collecting berries from a bush is carried out by cutting off the umbrellas with a sharp knife, garden shears or pruning shears. Already at home, the berries are separated from the stalks, carefully sorted, and spoiled ones are removed. Also, in preparation for drying, the berries are washed in running water, laid out on a towel and given time to dry.

How to dry chokeberry

At home, you can use one of several options for drying berries. You should choose a method based on convenience.

Air drying

Collecting berries from a bush is carried out by cutting off the umbrellas with a sharp knife, garden shears or pruning shears

You can dry the berries naturally. To do this, washed, dry berries are laid out in one layer on a tray or in another flat container. The trays are placed in fresh air, preferably in the sun. It is good if there are no busy roads in the immediate vicinity, since dust and exhaust gases raised by cars will negatively affect the quality of semi-finished products. During drying in this way, you can periodically turn the berries over to speed up the process, and at night the trays must be brought into a dry room so that the dried chokeberry fruits do not become damp. Berries are considered fully prepared if, when pressed with a finger, they do not release juice.

Drying berries in natural conditions

The collected berries can be dried at home in the following way: the fruits are strung on threads using a needle, which are hung in a dry, clean room. Chokeberry is dried in this way until completely cooked.

Berries are considered fully prepared if, when pressed with a finger, they do not release juice

You can also dry the berries in the oven, and it’s quite simple to do. To do this, the fruits must be spread in a thin layer on baking sheets, which are placed in an oven preheated to 35-40 degrees. At this temperature, the berries are dried for half an hour. Next, the temperature is increased to 60 degrees, and the berries are dried until fully cooked, which is determined in the same way as in the previous version. Before harvesting the berries for the winter, they must be allowed to cool to room temperature.

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If you have this electrical appliance at home, then there will be no problems at all with drying berries. Clean dry berries are laid out in a thin layer on the trays of an electric dryer. First, for 3 hours, the berries are dried at a temperature of 50 C, then the temperature is reduced to 45 degrees. And already at this temperature the berries are ready.

Whatever method is chosen, it is necessary to ensure that the berries do not change their color or become reddish or brown. A change in color indicates that the thermal conditions were violated during processing. In turn, this can affect the reduction in the healing properties of the berries.

As for the duration of storage of dried chokeberry, when dried under natural conditions, the berries can be stored for 6-8 months. Whereas when dried in an oven or electric dryer, the berries do not spoil throughout the year. It is necessary to store semi-finished products obtained at home in airtight containers. Glass or plastic jars with screw-on lids are suitable for this.

Dried chokeberry, application

The use of dried chokeberry berries is due to their excellent healing properties.

Dried chokeberry is indicated for disorders of the secretory function of the stomach (low acidity). Chew a few berries before eating and you will immediately feel better.

If there is a lack of vitamin C and iodine, chokeberry will help quickly replenish the deficiency, so dried berries are useful to use for goiter, thyroid diseases and endocrine diseases.

♦ You need to take four tablespoons of berries and pour a glass of boiling water over them. Leave the decoction for two hours, then strain and take a glass three times a day half an hour before meals. The course of treatment is carried out from ten days to a month. After two months, you can repeat the treatment if necessary. This infusion will help cure inflammation of the thyroid gland.

♦ For goiter, take an equal volume of chopped fresh or dried fruits of chokeberry and hawthorn, the herb of cocklebur, sweet clover, St. John's wort, lemon balm, motherwort and dried cucumber. Two tablespoons of the mixture should be poured into a thermos and pour 0.7 liters of boiling water. Leave the broth to infuse overnight, and in the morning strain and drink one hundred milliliters three times a day. You can also drink black or red rowan juice; it also perfectly removes goiter.

Fresh and dried chokeberry berries prevent the accumulation of “bad” cholesterol in the body, have an antitumor effect and increase hemoglobin.

♦ Treatment of atherosclerosis. Take equal quantities of crushed dried fruits of chokeberry, red hawthorn and wild strawberry. Two tablespoons of the mixture should be poured with half a liter of water and placed in a water bath for ten minutes. Strain the mixture and dilute with boiled water at room temperature to the original volume. You need to drink half a glass four times a day, and the course of treatment should be carried out for a month. After this, you need to take a break for a week or even twelve days, and if necessary, repeat the course.

♦ To treat anemia and radiation sickness, you need to take chokeberry berries and drink yarrow tincture for a year.

♦ Vitamin tea according to the following recipe will help against sclerosis. Take crushed chokeberry and rosehip fruits in equal quantities and pour one tablespoon of the resulting mixture with a glass of boiling water. Leave for fifteen minutes and drink twenty minutes before meals.

♦ To raise your hemoglobin level, you need to regularly take fresh or dry chokeberries and raw beets, grated.

Chokeberry increases the body's resistance to infections, strengthening the immune system and purifying the blood.

♦ It is necessary to take two parts of the fruits of the chokeberry, the leaves of the great plantain, the blood-red hawthorn, the flowers of the calendula officinalis, the herb of the trifid herb, and three parts each of the root of the Manchurian aralia and Leuzea safflower. You need to drink the infusion one third of a glass three times a day as a tonic and immunostimulant for cardiovascular diseases.

♦ For allergies. You need to eat fifty or one hundred grams of fresh fruits three times a day or drink a decoction of dried berries. To prepare it, you need to take twenty grams of berries and pour 200 milliliters of boiling water. When the broth has cooled, strain the broth and drink half a glass three or four times a day.

♦ Take two tablespoons of dry fruits and pour half a liter of boiling water. You need to drink it like tea and eat berries. You can also blanch fresh berries and pass them through a meat grinder, then mix them with sugar in a one-to-one ratio. Helps with allergies, fatigue and severe stress.

♦ In case of vegetative-vascular dystonia against the background of high blood pressure, you need to be treated with this mixture. Take two parts each of the roots with rhizomes of valerian and blue cyanosis, chicory roots and the ground part of heather, one part of peppermint and three parts of lemon balm. You need to focus on the fact that one part is thirty milliliters of herbs. Pour three tablespoons of the mixture with 400 milliliters of boiling water, add one teaspoon of crushed dry chokeberries and a tablespoon of hawthorn berries. Place covered in a water bath for half an hour. After ten minutes, strain the broth and drink fifty milliliters four times a day an hour after meals.

Use of dried berries

As noted above, even in dried form, chokeberry berries have healing properties. They are often used for prophylactic treatment of various diseases. Thus, berries are used for vitamin deficiency, to treat allergies, sclerosis, and to alleviate diabetes.

However, as with the use of many other medicinal herbs and plants, there are a number of restrictions and contraindications. The berries in question should not be taken for constipation, stomach ulcers, or increased blood clotting. In this regard, the use of chokeberry for the treatment of a particular disease requires consultation with a doctor.

Medicinal properties of chokeberry and contraindications

Aronia received official medicinal status in 1961. Its positive healing effect on the human body has been scientifically proven and confirmed experimentally. Let the beneficial and medicinal properties of chokeberry not cause you any doubts, but you should not forget about contraindications.

The use of chokeberry for medicinal purposes is quite widespread. I offer the most common recipes for the treatment of various diseases.

♦ For sclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and goiter, you can use the following recipe. Take a kilogram of berries and grind them in the same amount of sugar. You need to take one teaspoon three times a day half an hour before meals. The course of treatment is carried out for two weeks, after which take a break for three months and repeat if necessary.

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♦ To treat persistent headaches, you can drink fifty milliliters of berry juice three times a day, half an hour before meals. In winter, you can replace the juice with an infusion of chokeberry berries, steamed in hot water. To do this, you need to take three tablespoons of dried fruits and pour half a liter of boiling water. The entire mixture must be infused overnight, and in the morning, strain and drink in the same way as juice.

♦ Dizziness, disturbances in the functioning of the vascular system. You need to drink fifty grams of chokeberry juice three times a day, half an hour before meals, for a month. You can also drink an hour after. In winter, it is worth preparing an infusion of dried berries. To do this, you need to take three tablespoons of fruits and brew them in half a liter of boiling water. You need to drink during the day in three doses, half an hour before meals.

♦ Constipation. Take 0.5 parts of chokeberry fruits, three parts of bird cherry fruits and two parts of blueberries. Pour a tablespoon of the mixture into a glass of boiling water and strain after five minutes. You need to drink a tablespoon five times a day twenty minutes before meals.

♦ Endocrine diseases. We take three parts of chokeberry flowers, five parts of motherwort five-lobed, one part of gorse and two parts of lily of the valley. Brew one tablespoon of the collection into 1.5 liters of boiling water and leave. You need to drink thirty grams three times a day.

♦ With optic nerve atrophy. We take one hundred grams of chokeberry, Echinops seeds, drop cap, mistletoe, rose hips, cornflower flowers and seventy-five grams of rue, periwinkle and ephedra. Pour a tablespoon of the mixture into a glass of boiling water and leave overnight. In the morning, strain and drink one hundred grams four times a day.

How to dry chokeberry: 4 ways

Read on. “La-la-la and turn on the oven at a temperature no higher than +45°C with convection.” Hmmm. In the average article, the simplest kitchen stove. And the oven there is also ordinary. Without convection, minimum temperature not lower than +100-120°C. What to do?

Stop blindly following ridiculous advice. The Russian man has always been famous for his guesswork. No convection? Leave the oven door ajar. Having trouble with the temperature setting? Reduce the drying time and stir the berries often during the process. It's very simple.

Just don’t think about throwing whole brushes onto the baking sheet after bringing them from the garden. You can't do without some preparation:

The berries are carefully separated from the bunch.
They sort out garbage and spoiled mountain ash.
Rinse thoroughly under running water.
Place in a sieve or colander.
Scatter on an old towel or piece of unnecessary fabric.
Once the chokeberry is dry, you can begin the drying process.

Try to perform all manipulations with chokeberry as carefully as possible. No, not for fear of losing a lot of juice. It’s just very difficult to wash off and doesn’t wash off the skin for a long time.

How to understand that chokeberry has dried out? There is no exact schedule or time in seconds. You will have to determine it by touch and by eye. Squeeze a few berries into a fist and open your palm. The rowan trees have not become a clump and are easily separated from each other? So we're ready. Still sticking together? So let them dry some more.

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Externally, well-dried chokeberry is dark in color, wrinkled, but with a glossy sheen.

For the happy owners of an electric dryer, there are no problems at all. We prepared chokeberries as described above and laid them out on trays. First, the device was turned on for an hour at +55°C; it must be dried at a temperature no higher than +40°C. On average, 3-5 hours are enough, depending on the load.

Oven

Just don’t think about throwing whole brushes onto the baking sheet after bringing them from the garden. You can't do without some preparation:

The berries are carefully separated from the bunch.
They sort out garbage and spoiled mountain ash.
Rinse thoroughly under running water.
Place in a sieve or colander.
Scatter on an old towel or piece of unnecessary fabric.
Once the chokeberry is dry, you can begin the drying process.

Externally, well-dried chokeberry is dark in color, wrinkled, but with a glossy sheen.

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Thread drying

So, what else do extraordinary experts in drying chokeberries advise readers? Yeah, tie the shields into bundles and hang them up. Without washing or anything like that. Use in winter, etc.

I wonder if they know that it is much easier to wash fresh smooth chokeberries than dried, wrinkled ones? And that individual berries dry much faster than those tied in bunches? They also did not say where to hang such blanks so that they dry. And it's October. What to do?

Remember your childhood. Everyone probably made beads from ordinary rowan. Well, the female half of the country for sure. That's what we'll do. The chokeberry was prepared (washed without fail!) and dried to remove any remaining moisture. Now you will need a needle and strong thread. You shouldn’t take a long one, then you yourself will get confused in it and get angry. The optimal length is from 50 cm to 1 meter.

We prepared and started making rowan beads. At the same time, you can ask the children to help, maybe they will like it. So what if they have other interests. Helping my mother as much as I can—that’s what I understand as interest. Not about that now.

Skewered? Now hang it up. You can do it on yourself, of course, but it’s better in the attic, in a dry shed, on a loggia, in a hot pantry. Just don’t, there are such storage rooms. In the corner apartments of the old Khrushchev buildings they are all hot, and half the country lives in such houses.

What to do if none of these premises are available? Well, there certainly is a kitchen. Hang it there. Yes, higher up, the heat gathers under the ceiling. Just don’t place chokeberry beads on the wall. The wallpaper will be painted, the workpiece will result in unforeseen repairs.

A little about storage

After drying, chokeberry must still be preserved. Like any dried fruit, it has very hygroscopic properties. Therefore, it should not be kept in plastic containers, cardboard boxes or paper bags. The best containers are glass jars with airtight lids. Dried chokeberries can be stored in them for up to 11 months. In second place are tin ones with a tight lid. Dried chokeberries will live quietly in these for up to 7 months. Our hit parade is completed by food-grade plastic containers and special zip-lock bags. Dried fruits can stay in them for up to 4 months.

Just don't put the containers in the refrigerator. Condensation will form on the walls and lid, which will help mold grow inside. A dry, cool, dark place is ideal. For example, the far shelf of a kitchen cabinet or pantry.

How to dry chokeberry? By any described method. Choose the one that's right for you. Just make sure the berries don't lighten during drying. No, they will not become poisonous. They will simply turn from a useful medicine into a sweet preparation. The taste will remain, but the healing properties will no longer be there.