How to collect and dry the leaves of currants for tea?

Berries currants love and adults, and children.This unpretentious plant is found in almost every garden area, as well as in the wild. Not only ripe fruits are known for healing characteristics, but also currant leaves. For many decades, our ancestors used them to make healing infusions and fragrant tea. In order to get a currant leaf drink not only tasty, but really useful, you need to clearly know all the rules for collecting, storing and using such raw materials. We will talk about all these nuances in detail.

The leaves of the currant bush contains an incredibly large amount of essential trace elements. The plant is especially rich in vitamin C - its content in leaves is almost 2 times more than in berries (only 100 g of leaves of this vitamin are more than what is required by the human body per day). Vitamin C directly affects the intensity of the synthesis of connective tissue cells and collagen - an extremely important protein that provides the elasticity and beauty of the skin, the density and strength of dental tissue. Therefore, currant leaves can have a beneficial effect on appearance.

The chemical composition of the currant leaf contains the most important polyphenolic compounds, which are necessary for the full functioning of the whole organism. These include:

• flavonols;
• bioflavonoids;
• catechins and other elements.

They prevent the oxidation / destruction of healthy cells, providing a beneficial effect on the body in the process of combating and preventing cancer diseases.

Natural antioxidants, which are in the leaves, help the body cope with toxic substances from the environment. Minerals contribute to the development and strengthening of bone tissue and muscles, positively affect the work of the musculoskeletal system. Calcium / magnesium in the composition is useful for maintaining the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system, and therefore serve to prevent heart attack.

The composition of the currant leaf can be used as an effective natural remedy for the treatment and prevention of problems with blood pressure, blood vessels, as well as for the prevention of viral diseases. In addition, tea from the currant leaves will become an indispensable tool in the period of colds.

Ascorbic acid in the composition (along with other useful substances) helps to strengthen the body's natural resistance, restore vitality after a long illness, and also increase the overall tone of the body, recharge your batteries. Phytoncides are effective as an anti-inflammatory agent, so the currant drink is useful for throat with sore throat. Some experts compare the healing power of currant leaves with traditional medicines.

As well as any other product, besides curative properties, currant leaves also have contraindications. If you have an individual intolerance to the berries, then tea from the leaves should be used with great care. From such a drink should be abandoned and those people who suffer from increased acidity of the stomach, ulcers, gastritis. If thrombophlebitis is found in you, then currant tea should not be drunk either, since this may result in impaired blood clotting.

It is better for women during pregnancy / breastfeeding to delay taking the drink, as there is a chance of an allergic reaction or other unpleasant side effects.

To collect leaves in which there is the largest possible amount of useful elements, it is important to choose the right time for such an event. It is best to harvest the leaves during the flowering period of the bush. Then natural antioxidants, vitamin C, acids and other useful ingredients will remain in the green. Specific dates depend on the type of black or red currant, as well as the region of your residence, because in the southern regions the plant blooms much earlier than in the north. But the time is quite universal - it is better to tear fresh leaves from 10 to 11 am.

Let us list some more important rules that concern the harvesting of currant leaves.

• Collect only healthy greens. It should not contain any defects, stains, signs of vital activity of parasites and rot.
• Do not completely tear off all the greens from the branches, so as not to harm the plant and not worsen its further development and fruiting.
• Use sharp scissors or pruner to cut leaves. But you can carefully carry out such an operation with your bare hands.
• If you follow the phases of the moon, you want to set a day for picking currant leaves in accordance with the lunar calendar, then choose a growth period. It is believed that at this time the necessary number of trace elements accumulates in the green.

The listed rules are quite simple, but following them will allow you to prepare truly curative raw materials for currant tea.

It is important not only to choose the right, but also to prepare greens for tea, but also to be able to dry and preserve it. This can be done in several ways.

This is the most affordable option for drying tea blanks for the winter, since you will not need any special tools or investment for it. It is only necessary to choose the right place for drying. It should be absolutely dry, warm, direct ultraviolet radiation should not penetrate into it. When the place is found, proceed to the preparation of greenery. Wash it only when absolutely necessary. Most often it is enough just to remove the excess garbage and twigs, if there are any.

Now select the substrate for raw materials. Natural fabric, such as cotton or burlap, is best suited for this purpose. Useful plain gauze, clean sheets.

It is important to evenly spread the greens in order to achieve the best drying of each individual leaf. Do not forget to periodically turn the blanks and ensure that there is no mold on them. Rotted sheets should be removed immediately so that they do not infect the rest. Do not forget to change the material or sheets that were used as the substrate.

Check the readiness of future tea leaves is quite simple. Take one leaf in your hand and see how fast it breaks. Very fragile elements are a sure sign of the readiness of raw materials.

This method of drying is faster, but no more difficult than the previous one. Sort, and then prepare the leaves, then evenly spread them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the greens in such a way that each sheet does not touch the other. Now turn on the equipment at 100 degrees and warm it for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 80 degrees and put the blanks in the oven. It remains to wait about 30 minutes, from time to time checking the readiness of greens. Check it should be all the same method - examining the fragility.

If you have such a technique in the house, then by all means use it.Most often, electric dryers are used to process fruits and vegetables, but they are also suitable for making blackcurrant tea, especially if the device has a function for drying herbs. If there is no such function, you can simply set the minimum temperature. Put the currant leaves in a uniform layer (not too tight), then turn on the device.

The main advantage of this method of drying is that you can be sure that you will not dry the leaves. The same cannot be said about the method of drying in the oven or in the open air. In addition, all the nutrients contained in the green, just survive.

When you have just collected leaves from a bush, they should be put on paper or gauze, and then left for about a day (at least 20 hours) in a dark and cool place, occasionally turning over the greens. At the end of the specified period, take a few leaves, twist them until a liquid appears. Then put the twisted greens in a glass container, cover with a clean natural cloth, which must first be moistened with water.

Leave the blank in a warm room until the room is filled with a noticeable currant smell. Up to this point wet the cloth again if it dries.

Then you should chop the greens. To do this, use ordinary scissors or just break the leaves by hand. Then place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper, then send them to the oven preheated to 90 degrees. Wait about an hour, after which the future tea will be fully prepared for further storage and brewing.

It is also possible to grind dried leaves with a food processor, blender or coffee grinder. The finished raw materials should be stored in a plastic or glass jar, container, or bag of natural fabric. Paper bags made of a material without any ink or foreign elements are also suitable. Remove the container with crushed leaves in a dry and dark place, which is not penetrated by direct sunlight. If even a small amount of water gets inside, it will cause the raw materials to rot.

Now you know all about how to properly collect, dry and store currant leaves. Regular consumption of fragrant tea from them will improve your health, increase your mood! By the way, you can cook not only classic tea, which contains only currant leaves. It is possible to vary the recipe of the drink by adding black or green tea, various berries and herbs, or the leaves of other fruit plants.

As a bonus, consider the proven version of one of these recipes.

• Take 1 part dried and crushed leaves of raspberry and strawberry, mix them with 2 parts of prepared currant greens.
• Put them in the teapot, pour boiled, but not too hot water. At that amount of tea leaves, half a liter will suffice.
• Insist the drink for 15-20 minutes, pic

For information on how to make tea from currant leaves, see the next video.