Chicken Food for Free Part 6 Rose Leaves and Hips - Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemicals

For thousands of years the rose, hips, leaves and blossoms have been used as medicinals for both physical and nervous system ailments. The Ancient Egyptians used them in funeral rites and the Romans had over 30 medical conditions they treated with them. Hunter gatherers used the hips as valuable Winter food and the early monasteries and apothecaries valued all parts of the rose for its medical and spiritual value. Even during the inter and post war periods when the World was drawn into a love affair with 'science' and chemical-based medicine, the public's romance with roses continued to flourish, with inner and outer beauty treatments such as rose hip moisturising oils, rosewater perfumes and teas. 

In the last few decades however, witness the rise in the popularity of health visionaries such as Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179), the use of roses both in medicine and cuisine has bounced back into the human psyche.

'Eines der schönsten  Heilmittel ist die Rose'

    Hidegard von Bingen

As you can see from the above, Hildegard was not just referring to the flower, when in bloom, as the most beautiful medicinal, for the rose reveals her beauty and maintains her rich nutritive virtues throughout the year. Here below is Ringo Bingo, our mottled Polish, in action, demonstrating the particular twisting motion he uses to achieve his prize. Notice how he removes the whole fruit, which he then consumes in its entirety, despite the seeds being 'hairy' and an irritant but he obviously knows something about their value!

Roses, in particular the hips in the UK were used in medicine right up to the 1920s and then had a renaissance due to the second World War, when due to the non-availability of citrus fruit, and hence Vitamin C, they were reinstated. A food importer and pharmaceutical company Scott and Turner  in Newcastle, created a Rose Hip Syrup, manufacturing it under the name Delrosa. Left is an advert for the supplement which was popular with children during post-war rationing and beyond.  Thanks to the brilliant 'The Old Foodie' for finding this article - look her up - her research is fascinating. From the Times, dated 15th January 1942

The present supplies of the syrup are the result of a campaign organized last summer and autumn by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health for Scotland for collecting rose hips. School teachers, boy scouts, girl guides, the W.V.S., women’s rural institutions, and other voluntary organizations co-operated, and some 200 tons, equivalent to 134,000,000 hips, were collected. The hips were converted into syrup by selected firms, and their total output amounts to 600,000 bottles. A teaspoonful of rose hip syrup a day will supply half the vitamin C needs of a child. It can be taken neat or diluted with water, and has a pleasant flavour. Plans are being made for another collection of rose hips on a national scale this year.

 

However it wasn't until very recently that the Poultry Industry via academia has turned towards the rose and in particular rose hips to replace chemical antibiotics as both a growth promoter and antimicrobial. For this reason, therefore and unlike with most of my researches to support my observations, it has been relatively easy for me to find the nutritional and hence medicinal value of the fruits of the rose and her leaves.

Rose hips - nutritional value:

Vitamins

Vitamin C - Rose hips are the richest natural source of this vitamin.  The content of rose hips ranges from 300 to 4000 mg/100 g, with the variation in amounts resulting from changes in the levels of sugar during ripening.  

However the rose hip also contains:

Vitamin A – significant amounts of the precursor beta-carotene so an excellent Winter replacement for the lack of grass and other vegetation which usually supplies this need. 

Goodly amounts of:

Vitamin E 

Vitamin K 

Lesser but useful amounts of:

Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin

Vitamin B₃ Niacin

Vitamin B₅ Pantothenic Acid 

Vitamin B₆ P5P aka pyridoxal-5-phosphate 

 

Minerals

Manganese is the richest mineral available in rose hips

with in lesser and joint second place:

Calcium in a particularly bioavailable form and

Magnesium

and then in small but useful amounts:

Potassium

Copper

Iron

Phosphorus

 

Above left 'The Red Rose' Botanicum medicinale : an herbal of medicinal plants on the College of Physicians list by Timothy Sheldrake p. 1768

 

Phytochemicals

Rosehips have high levels of flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanin, phenolic compounds, carotenoid pigments, plant sterols, tocotrienols and high level of catechins and other polyphenolics

 

Rose leaves - nutritional value:

Vitamins

Vitamin B₁ - Thiamine

Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin

Vitamin B₃ Niacin

Vitamin B₅ Pantothenic Acid

Vitamin E

 

Minerals

Iron is the richest mineral available in rose leaves with in second place:

Potassium

Useful amounts of:

Manganese 

Zinc

Calcium - in a particularly bioavailable form

Copper

and a little:

Magnesium

 

Phytochemicals

A valuable source of flavonoids, especially flavone glycosides

..and if you missed it in the previous article on rose petals, then here's the film:

Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

 

Also check my recipe for rose hip syrup and make this delicious kir. Link below.

Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie! 

Sue

Thanks to Pinterest:
Rose hip gatherers - recipespastandpresent
Delrosa ad - Ebay UK 

© 2021 Sue Cross 

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