In Konya, the harvest of aronia berries, commonly known as 'superfruit' and native to North America, has begun.
The manual harvest of aronia berries, known as "superfruit," has begun in Konya.
Tahsin Tosun, who started cultivating aronia berries after discovering them during his wife’s cancer treatment, is now harvesting the berries by hand in his garden. After learning about the health benefits of aronia, a berry rich in antioxidants, Tosun’s wife successfully overcame her nasal cancer with the help of both medical treatment and aronia. Encouraged by a friend, Tosun established an 8-decare garden in the village of Kurşunlu in Sarayönü district, where he now grows aronia.
"We put in effort, work hard, and strive to produce; hopefully, we will achieve good results"
Describing the harvest season as starting and being satisfactory, Tosun said, “We are always grateful for what we have. Our harvest is going well and is abundant. It has started to be collected. We put in effort, work hard, and strive to produce; hopefully, we will see the results. The aronia harvest period has just begun. We hope to have fresh fruit within a month to a month and a half. We harvest by hand, using scissors to carefully cut the stems and avoid damaging the branches. Harvesting is a bit challenging, but it’s our job. One person can collect about 40 kilos a day, and the fastest can gather around 50 kilos.”
"My goal is not to achieve very high yields but to grow the healthiest fruit possible"
Emphasizing that growing aronia in Konya Plain requires significant effort, Tosun said, “The biggest challenge is water, due to both drought and the arid land. We strive to bring everything together positively for production. It is indeed difficult. We want our product to be organic, but for the Konya Plain, growing berry plants is very important for the future of agriculture. Regardless of the size of the land, we generally recommend berry cultivation. Aronia is a shrub plant with origins in North America and was widely used as medicine by Native Americans. Therefore, no one has the right to poison this fruit with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We grow it organically, without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We put in significantly more effort compared to conventional cultivation. Our goal in production is not to have large fruits but to grow the healthiest fruit possible.”
Tosun noted that consuming 35 grams of aronia daily meets the body’s antioxidant needs. “The consumption of aronia is indeed based on grams. 100 grams of fresh fruit has over 16,000 ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) units. The daily antioxidant requirement for the human body is between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units. So, consuming 35 grams of fresh aronia meets the body’s entire antioxidant need.”
"We wanted to try it for its healing properties"
Meriç Reisoğlu, who came to buy aronia berries for health reasons, said, “We started treatment in Konya, and our doctor recommended it. Some friends also suggested aronia. When we learned that the berries are grown in Kurşunlu Village, we wanted to try it for health benefits. We are from Ilgın. We called and visited while passing by. We had previously purchased the powder in winter. Now that the fruit is ready, we came to buy it.”
"I’m eager to grow this fruit, but I don’t have the opportunity to plant it"
Müslüme Oğuz, a foreman working in the aronia garden, said, “We are called to harvest fruit every year. I work as a foreman here, bringing those who want to come. It gets a bit hot, but it’s our bread and pocket money. I am eager to grow this fruit, but I don’t have the chance to plant it myself. I recommend it to those who want to plant it; we are satisfied with it.”