Currants

Apple Bar Orchard grows red currants and black currants. They are members of the gooseberry family, belonging to the genus Ribes. They are medium-sized deciduous shrubs that produce an abundance of tart sweet small berries that are picked mid-July through August.

Red currants are known for their tart flavor, similar to raspberries, cranberries, and pomegranates, but with the same sweetness as black currants, making them prized for jams, syrups, trail mixes and savory dishes including lamb and game. Their tartness comes from high levels of organic acids and polyphenols.

Black currants have a strong, tangy taste with hints of cherry and grape. When dried, black currants have hints of vanilla and wildflower.

Nutrition and Health Benefits

Currants are a rich source of vitamins C and K, as well as dietary fiber. Black currants can help boost the immune system, increase blood flow to eye tissue, improve vision, and prevent the development of eye diseases. The seed oil of black currant contains a chemical called gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid. GLA might improve immune function and help decrease swelling.

History of Currants

The word currant is derived from the ancient Greek city of Corinth, which was known for its production of small dried grapes known now as Zante Currants. Early references to Ribes currants use words like corinthes, corans, currans, and bastarde corinthes.

Currants are more popular in Europe, Russia and the U.K. than in the U.S., although they arrived with the colonists in North America in the late 1700’s, and native Americans were known to harvest them from the wild. In the 1800’s and into the early 1900’s, black and red currants were widely grown in the U.S. and Canada. However, in the 1920’s currants were banned from cultivation in the U.S. to stop the spread of a tree disease called white pine blister rust, a fungal disease that attacks both currants and white pine trees. The federal quarantine was rescinded in 1966, leaving the management to individual states. Today there is renewed interest in the cultivation of currants due to new cultivars and their appeal to consumers.