Nevezhinskaya Rowan

The Nevezhinskaya rowan tree (Sorbus acuparia) closely resembles the wild rowan tree. The fruits are small and red, but are larger and lack the sour or bitter taste of those found on wild trees. The fruits become edible after the first frost and have a sugar content of 8-10.5%. Nevezhinskaya Rowan fruit can be consumed raw or used to make a variety of products including jam, puree, pastilà (mixed with honey and walnuts), kvas (a drink made from fermented bread), juice, flavored wine and liqueur. Rowan is a medicinal plant: it has diuretic and tonic properties. Iron is among the various trace elements found in the Rowan fruit, and so it can be used in treating anemia. It also contains pectins that aid digestion and a substance called sorbitol, which is very useful for people suffering from diabetes mellitus and to in maintaining low cholesterol. The fruits contain considerable amounts of carotene and vitamin C and have antimicrobial properties. Nevezhinskaya rowan trees are very resistant to the cold and are used as wind protection for other plants that are less hardy. They can withstand temperatures down to -46°C and thus serves as a ‘security’ crop in during extreme winters: if the other plants freeze, Nevezhinskaya rowan fruits can still provide a good harvest. The trees’ only requirement is to be planted in a sunny position. The Nevezhinskaya variety is propagated using grafting. Trees are planted from the end of September to early October and only start to bear fruit in their fourth or fifth year. This rowan variety was discovered sometime between the 1950s and 1970s in the Andreevskiy Forest (a forest close to the city of Nevezhino in the province of Jur’ev-Pol’skiy). A farmer started to cultivate the variety, and it spread it to neighboring properties. Shepherds who left Nevezhino city during the summer period for other regions (Ivanovo, Jaroslavl, Mosca and Riazan) took Rowan plants along with them and played a crucial role in the diffusion of the variety. In this way, it gradually spread across Russia. Today it is found in the central regions of Russia, but mainly on the plains of the district of Vladimir, just east of Moscow in central western Russia. The Nevezhinskaya rowan fruit is at risk of being lost because the tree is no longer cultivated in large quantities. Furthermore, it is essentially only consumed by local inhabitants; people living in urban areas no longer know about this sweet variety of Rowan tree. The fruits are produced for home consumption only and cannot be found for sale in markets.