Blackthorn, a shrub with astringent and antioxidant fruits

The blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is a deciduous shrub up to two meters high, highly branched and with thorny branches. The leaves They are elliptical and toothed.

Common in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsulain mountains of the southern half and in the north of Balearicsgrows on the margins of forests, hedges and somewhat humid meadows, forming dense, sometimes almost impenetrable, groupings. It is used in gardening to form plant barriers.

Blooms in March and April: white flowers solitary ones that remember their kinship with the cherry tree.

Sloes, the fruits of the blackthornare fleshy, round, grayish blue in color and the size of a chickpea. They ripen in late summer or autumn.

The sloes They are used in the preparation of pacharán –a maceration in brandy–, as well as to prepare jams, jams and smoothies, among other recipes.

With medicinal purposes are harvested the fruits, the flowers and also, although to a lesser extent, the leaves and bark.

Medicinal properties of blackthorn and its fruits

• The sloes They contain sucrose, pectin, anthocyanins, carotenoids, organic acids and tannins, all of which turn them into fruits antioxidants, astringents, antidiarrheal and antihemorrhagic.
• The fruits they turn out very useful to stop diarrhea. It is best to take them freshmixed in yogurt, 5 or 6 fruits at once, although they can also be taken in juice, with lemonor dehydratedwhich is how they are found in many herbalists.
• Sloes are also antioxidantslike most blue fruits of the forest (for example, blueberries), and its regular consumption helps stop the action of free radicals on the body.
• flowers and leaves They contain vitamin C, glycosides and flavonoids. And as opposed to fruits, they are considered slightly laxativein addition to diuretics and vitamins.

What is the sloe plant used for?

• The flowers can be taken in infusion on an empty stomach, as mild laxative, child friendly
• Mixed with other diuretic plants such as would smoke can be prepared in diuretic infusion,
• With bark and leaves –preferably together with plants that reinforce its action, such as burdock or travalera–, a useful decoction is prepared as diabetes support.
• Topically, bark decoction –and also of the fruits– applied as an astringent to clean wounds or on scratches and bruises.
• This decoction can also be used as a gargle or mouthwashto stop oral bleeding, and combat gingivitis and pharyngitis.

Homemade sloe syrup for diarrhea

With the sloes, As they are astringent, a very effective sweet syrup can be prepared. to stop diarrhea. This syrup, collected by Pius Font i Quer, is made with half a kilo of sloes and the same amount of sugar.

How to prepare it: Heat everything together in water, let it boil for a quarter of an hour and filter through a cloth, removing any remaining debris. The resulting liquid, of a bright red coloryou can take alone or mixed with waterto end episodes of diarrhea.

Advisor: J Mª Teixé, herbalist from “El Manantial de Salud”