Gooseberry may be a deciduous shrub that belongs to the Currant family. It originates from Europe, northwestern Africa and the geographical region. Gooseberry may be found in temperate areas of North America and Siberia also. It grows best in the areas with cold winters and humid summers. Wild gooseberry grows within the alpine thicket, rocky areas, woodlands and hedgerows. It prefers fertile, loamy soils and areas that provide enough sun (it also thrives within the partial shade).

Interesting Gooseberries Facts

Gooseberry on the plant — Gooseberry plant

Gooseberry grows within the kind of a shrub. it’s woody branches with long spines which grow from the axils of leaves. It can reach 4 to six feet tall and 6 feet broad.

Gooseberry has deeply lobed leaves which will be dark green or grey-green coloured (greyish leaves are covered with layers of fine hairs). Leaf arrangements often seem to be alternate.

Gooseberry produces small, bell-shaped, green flowers. They grow on the lateral branches either individually or arranged in groups of up to 4 flowers.

Gooseberry blooms during the spring and attracts various insects. Flowers also are suitable for pollination by wind. Bisexual flowers of gooseberry (flowers with both sorts of reproductive organs) can perform self-pollination in the case that insects or wind fail to pollinate the flowers.

The fruit of gooseberry may be a small berry. They are often roundish, pear-shaped, elongated or oval. the colour of the fruit depends on the variability. It will be yellow, green, white, red, purple, or nearly black-coloured. The skin on the surface is roofed with prominent veins. It may be smooth or hairy. Each berry contains 15 to 30 miniature seeds.

Gooseberry may be a good source of antioxidants and vitamins of the B group and minerals like copper, calcium, phosphorus and manganese. 100 g of the fruit contains only 44 calories.

Gooseberry contains a sweet, slightly tart taste. These berries will be consumed raw or as ingredients for muffins, pies, fruit salads and ice-creams. They’ll be also combined with dishes manufactured from meat and fish.

Jostaberry could be a hybrid created by the interbreeding of gooseberry and blackcurrants.

Gooseberries also are called “fayberries” thanks to the traditional belief that fairies used bushes of gooseberry to cover from danger.

The cooling properties of the gooseberry fruit were used during the centre Ages for the treatment of fever.

Bundle of gooseberries — Gooseberry fruits

Gooseberries contain compounds that may prevent the event of certain sorts of cancer, neurological disorders and inflammation.

Cultivated types of gooseberry are targeted by magpie moth, V-moth and gooseberry sawfly. These insects eat and produce significant damage to the leaves of gooseberry.

William Turner described the gooseberry in his “Herball,” written about the centre of the 16th century, and some years later it was also mentioned in one of Thomas Tusser’s quaint rhymes as a standard object of garden culture.

Gooseberries generally drop when overripe and spread their flavour, which is as delicious as apple, strawberry, or grape.

Gooseberries are categorized as American and European types, which again incorporate several varieties. They’re Pixwell (American) – light green or soft pink ½-inch long berries, Welcome (American) – sweeter and darker than the Pixwell variety, Clark (European) – large, red berries, most popularly cultivated in Europe, Fredonia (European) – available during October and November.

Gooseberries hanging on the branch — Three gooseberries

Today, the gooseberry isn’t centralized only in Britain, it’s also extensively cultivated in other tropical areas like Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, an African nation, Asia, and South America.

Take care while selecting gooseberries. The tip is to choose based on the skin and colour of the fruit. The skin should be hard.

Gooseberries were of great popularity around the 1800s and early 1900s, especially in Britain, though within America, a fungal bacteria carried by the plant had begun infesting native pines, such a large amount of states initiated bans on the cultivation of the berry.

Fruit is cooked in various cuisines in a very dhal (lentil) preparation and in an exceedingly sweet dish indigenous to the northern a part of India (wherein the berries are soaked in sirup for a protracted time).