14 Fascinating Facts About Chaenomeles

Japanese quince, or Japanese Chaenomeles, is a representative of the Plum subfamily, the Pink family, of the order Rosaceae.

Facts About Chaenomeles

1. Japanese quince is small in height (grows from 1.5 to 4 m) with falling leaves (rarely semi-evergreen) bush or low tree, which is an ornamental or fruit and berry crop.
2. In shape, its flowers and fruits resemble quince, only the fruits are much smaller. Hence the second name - Japanese quince. In ornamental gardening, Chaenomeles is planted mainly for the sake of flowering. Although the fruits are edible and contain a lot of nutrients.
3. Translated from the Greek "homeless" means "to split an apple". This is probably because his fruits are very tough. If they have just been removed from a branch, it is easier to "split" them with a knife than to cut them. After the fruits lie down a bit, they ripen and become a little softer.
4. Due to the hard, acidic flesh, the fruit is often considered inedible. And yet it is the most valuable raw material for processing. In terms of biochemical composition, Chaenomeles fruits are often compared to lemons. Not yielding to lemons in terms of the content of organic acids, pectins, and aromatic compounds, Chaenomeles significantly surpasses lemon in terms of C-vitamin content.
5. A valuable quality of Chaenomeles is the ability of its fruits to retain vitamins for a long time. In spring, the slices covered with sugar contain as much vitamin C as imported lemons.
6. In addition to vitamins, fruits contain biologically active substances that support immunity. The juice from the Chaenomeles fruit helps to eliminate heavy metals and radioactive substances from the body.
7. Quince fruits are harvested before the onset of frost. They are used to make jam, make candied fruits, freeze them and cover them with sugar, and even prepare a delicious vitamin liqueur.
8. With proper care, Chaenomeles can grow and bear fruit in one place in the garden for up to 60-80 years. What he needs most are enough sunlight and fertile soil.
9. The size of the fruit can also be different - from 2.5-3.5 cm in wild-growing forms, up to 15 cm in domesticated forms, subject to proper care. Fruit color also depends on the variety and growing conditions and can be from lemon to dark yellow, sometimes with a one-sided reddish glow.
10. All fruits are covered with a layer of natural wax, which gives them a matte finish and the possibility of long storage. Inside each fruit are seeds that are very similar in shape to apple seeds.
11. In terms of taste, quince is astringent and sweetish, aromatic, slightly juicy, and tough. Because of such organoleptic properties, they try to eat fresh fruits, but after appropriate processing, you can get high-quality food products, such as marshmallows, jam, preserves, and when you add sweet berries and fruits, high-quality consumables for confectionery production.
12. The gelling substances found in the fruits give quince products a peculiar aroma and attractive appearance, and also have a beneficial effect on the human body.
13. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, for more than 200 years, it was believed that the tough and not entirely clear-tasting fruits of the Japanese quince are not edible, therefore the shrub was cultivated in European gardens as a culture that is easy to process and richly blooming.
14. John Galsworthy, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, dedicated a lyrical and philosophical story to this plant. The flowering tree made such an impression on Galsworthy that he named his collection of stories after him.