Foraging Aronia Berries or Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)

Aronia Berries, also known as Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) is a nutrient-dense wild edible berry that’s gotten a lot of press recently as a great source of antioxidants.  They’re not cultivated commercially in some areas, but they’re still available for wild foraging across the US.

Several species of Aronia berries are cultivated and marketed as superfoods, but their wild cousins are out there free for the taking.  Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) is native to the Eastern half of the US and Canada (map here), and though the name sounds similar to chokecherry, they’re completely different plants.

In urban areas, they’re common in landscape plantings, and our local Trader Joe’s grows in ditches throughout the parking lot.  They produce beautiful flowers in the spring, and the berries are just ripening in the early fall as the foliage puts on a beautiful show.

I’d never heard of Aronia until I spotted a few plants at a local permaculture nursery that caries more exotic edible plants. The tag said “beautiful native shrub with edible berries, a good choice for wet soils.” 

Much of our land is wet, and I’m always looking to supplement our permaculture plantings with edible fruit.  Once I’d had the chance to watch my plantings for a full year, I started seeing black chokeberry bushes everywhere!

That goes to show you, if you really want to learn to identify a new wild edible, just try growing it.  You’ll have a chance to watch it throughout the seasons, which makes it a lot easier to spot in the wild.

What is Black Chokeberry?

Black Chokeberry, or Aronia melanocarpa, is a perennial deciduous shrub in the Rose or Rosaceae family. It’s known by a couple of common names, including Chokeberry and Black Berried Aronia.

Black Chokeberry is native to eastern North America. You may it from Newfoundland west to Ontario and south as far as Arkansas and Georgia. It has also naturalized in parts of Europe and Eastern Asia.

Is Chokeberry Edible?

It has a scary name, but Black Chokeberry berries are edible and healthy! They get their name because they are quite astringent when eaten raw. For this reason, foragers typically cook them in various sweetened recipes before eating them.

There isn’t much information available on the edibility of the leaves and flowers, so at this point, it’s probably best just to harvest the berries.

Be aware that the fruit has a rich purple juice that will stain your hands (like elderberries), and they’re even used as a wild dye source.  You may end up with purple hands, but it’s worth it.

Black Chokeberry Medicinal Benefits

Native Americans were the first people to explore the benefits of Black Chokeberry. The berries were an important food source, and they also used them to make tea for treating colds. They also used the bark as an astringent herb.

Today, Black Chokeberry remains a surprisingly popular herbal remedy despite not being used often in food. In clinical studies, Black Chokeberry juice, extracts, and vitamin supplements display antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, antiviral, anticancer, antiplatelet, antidiabetic, and antiatherosclerotic activities. The berries are also high in Vitamin C, fiber, and anthocyanins, giving them their dark color.

A particular study examined Black Chokeberry’s ability to prevent recurring UTIs. The study found that long-term consumption of Black Chokeberry juice reduced the incidence of recurring UTIs in nursing home patients, who are particularly vulnerable to this issue.

Some of Black Chokeberry’s anticancer properties have also been tested. One study found that Black Chokeberry extract reduced cell proliferation (growth and division) in human colon cancer cells.

Additionally, Black Chokeberries have been shown to have numerous benefits for heart health. One study found that daily supplementation with Black Chokeberries reduced blood pressure and cholesterol, especially in individuals over 50 years old. 

While most scientists note that more research is still needed, Black Chokeberries have displayed many potential health benefits with no reported adverse side effects.

Where to Find Black Chokeberry

Black Chokeberry grows throughout eastern North America. You can find it growing in Canada from Newfoundland west to Ontario and south into the United States as far as Arkansas and Georgia. Black Chokeberry has also naturalized in parts of Europe and eastern Asia.

Black Chokeberry thrives in moist to wet, acidic soils. It’s highly adaptable and can grow in sand, clay, or loam soils. It even tolerates compacted soil, salt, and occasional drought or flooding.

Black Chokeberry will grow in partial shade to full sun. Black Chokeberry shrubs in areas that receive full sun typically produce more fruit.

When to Find Black Chokeberry

You can identify Black Chokeberry year-round if you know what you’re looking for. However, they are easiest to find in summer. Black Chokeberries are deciduous, so they drop their leaves in the fall. Their showy white flower clusters usually appear from April to June and last several weeks. Those farther south will spot flowers earlier than those in the north.

The berries begin forming in early summer, after the plant flowers. They’re green at first but ripen to purplish-black or black in later summer or early fall. Usually, this occurs in August in southern parts of its range and in September in northern regions. Many foragers believe the berries are the most highly nutritious and tasty after a frost. 

Identifying Black Chokeberry

Black Chokeberry is an upright, rounded shrub with dark green glossy leaves. It’s common to spot Black Chokeberry growing in thick patches as it can reproduce through root suckers, especially in favorable conditions. These root suckers allow the patch to quickly expand and outcompete other shrubs in the immediate area.

It’s most notable when it’s in fruit or flower. You may spot its attractive clusters of white flowers or its downward hanging clusters of berries, which ripen to purplish-black or black.

Black Chokeberry Leaves

Black Chokeberry has alternate, finely-toothed, glossy green leaves. The leaves are elliptical to obovate and 1 to 3 inches in length. In the fall, the leaves change to vibrant shades of red, orange, and purple before dropping.

Black Chokeberry Stems

Black Chokeberry shrubs can have multiple stems and may reach 3 to 8 feet tall. The stems have relatively smooth dark gray or dark brown bark with conspicuous lenticels (a type of raised pore). The bark on young twigs appears different from mature bark. Twigs typically start out green and mature to reddish and then purplish brown.

Black Chokeberry produces new stems, called root suckers, as a reproduction method. These shoots come off the original plant’s root and form a clone.

Black Chokeberry Flowers

In the spring or early summer, between April and June, Black Chokeberry produces attractive, 2 to 3-inch clusters of white flowers with showy pink anthers. Each cluster generally contains 5 to 6 flowers. Individual flowers have five petals and are about 0.3 inch in diameter.

Black Chokeberry Fruit

After flowering, Black Chokeberry produces clusters of berries attached to the main branch by a single stem. Immature berries are green but mature to purplish-black or black in late summer or autumn, typically in August or September. Each berry is usually 0.25 to 0.5 inches in diameter and contains 1 to 5 small seeds.

Black Chokeberry Look-Alikes

Black Chokeberry is sometimes mistaken for Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). However, Common Buckthorn differs in several noticeable ways:

• Common Buckthorn has spines on its branches.
• Common Buckthorn has opposite or sub-opposite leaves, meaning the leaves may be slightly offset but not enough to be alternate.
• Common Buckthorn has yellowish or yellowish-green flowers.
• Common Buckthorn berries appear to be in a cluster, but on close examination, each berry has a stem that attaches to the main branch.

Another look-alike is the similarly named and edible Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). However, it can be distinguished from Black Chokeberry in a couple of ways:

• Chokecherry is often a bit larger and may grow 20 to 30 feet tall.
• Chokecherry forms drooping, elongated flower clusters 3 to 6 inches long.
• Chokecherry flowers also have five petals but are generally larger, about 0.5 inches in diameter, and lack the showy pink anthers. 
• Each Chokecherry berry contains a single large seed.

Another look-alike with edible berries is Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). Black Cherry can be distinguished from Chokeberry in the following ways:

• Black Cherry is a tree that can reach 40 to 60 feet tall with a crown 20 to 30 feet wide.
• Black Cherry bark tends to be dark, rough, and scaly on the trunk.
• Black Cherry leaves tend to be narrower and may be narrowly ovate or lanceolate-ovate.
• Black Cherry leaves have rounded teeth on their margins.
• Black Cherry berries are usually larger, ½ to 1 inch in diameter.

Lastly, Chokeberries may be confused with Shadbush or Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.). However, these also differ in a few easy-to-spot ways:

• Shadbushes have leaves with downy undersides.
• Shadbush flower clusters form at terminal buds and are short-lived.
• Individual Shadbush flowers are produced from wooly buds.
• Shadbush leaves tend to be wider and are oval or rounded. 

Ways to Use Black Chokeberry

Black Chokeberries don’t sound tasty and can be pretty astringent plain, but they are incredibly healthy and make a delicious addition to many recipes. One of the easiest ways to add Black Chokeberries to your diet is to drink them.

You can make sweetened Black Chokeberry juice or add them to smoothies with other fruit.

Black Chokeberries are also a great addition to baked goods and other recipes. You can add them to muffins, pies, quick breads, granola, pancakes and more. They also make a flavorful simple syrup to add to cocktails and other drinks or pour over pancakes, oatmeal, or yogurt.

Extra Black Chokeberries are easy to preserve. You can freeze or dry them whole. You can also can them as preserves, jelly, or jam. 

More importantly, Black Chokeberries have been shown to have many health benefits, from reducing blood pressure and inflammation to helping fight cancer and infections. For easy daily use, try adding dried Black Chokeberries to looseleaf tea blends or powder them to fill capsules. You can also use fresh, dried, or frozen berries to make Black Chokecherry tincture. 

Aronia Recipes

I have a huge list of aronia recipes if you’re looking for all the options, but here are a few to get you started:

• Need an on-the-go snack? Try these vegan Aronia Oatmeal Crumble Bars from Vibrant Plate.
• Craft your own Aronia Berry Simple Syrup for all your favorite cocktails, desserts, and sauces with this easy recipe from Gastronom Cocktails.
• Put up any extra berries with this simple Aronia Jelly recipe from Creative Canning.
• Make your Black Chokeberries the star of the show with this Classic Aronia Berry Pie recipe from the American Aronia Berry Association.
• Get your ferment on with this homemade Aronia Wine Recipe.
• Make an easy-to-take tincture with this Simple Aronia Berry Tincture recipe.

Edible Wild Fruit and Berries

Looking for more tasty edible wild fruit? 

• Foraging Bunchberries
• Foraging Barberry
• Foraging Rose Hips
• Foraging Rowanberry
• Foraging Autumn Olive
• Foraging Partridgeberry