If there is a shrub that is worth having in the garden, from South to North, this is the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo): it is beautiful, it is good and it is phytotherapeutic, but also easy to grow and low maintenance, without forgetting that it does not he is thirsty for water.
It is also the symbolic species of the Italian Tricolore, adopted as such already in 1860 at the Unification of Italy: it is in fact also called tricolor tree because during the winter the white flowers bloom on the green foliage, while the fruits of the previous season are present which they begin to ripen and take on a red color when fully ripe.
It is a bush of a couple of meters in height (but in exceptional cases it can reach 12 m), which is pleasant in all seasons.
It is covered by persistent and leathery leaves of 7-12 cm, similar to those of the laurel but with a serrated margin.
From September onwards, the plant produces flowers and fruits: the former are gathered in pendulous panicles of yellowish-white bells (maximum 1 cm long), on display until February. The latter are round, grainy and very colorful (from green to yellow-orange-red) with 20-25 seeds, have yellow pulp and a sweet flavor with a sour aftertaste.
In nature it prefers arid and siliceous soils along the coasts covered with Mediterranean scrub and holm oak forests, in central and southern Italy, up to 600 m above sea level.
The phytotherapeutic properties of the strawberry tree It is useful for alleviating minor urinary tract disorders: the strawberry tree has a composition similar to that of the bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), but with a smaller quantity of arbutin and a greater quantity of tannin, so it effectively disinfects and cures mildly. cystitis, prostatic hypertrophy, nephritis, albuminuria and any other urinary system disorder.
However, the high tannin content can irritate the gastrointestinal tract in predisposed subjects.
IF YOU SUFFER FROM CYSTITIS
In case of cystitis, infuse 15 g of crushed fruits in a liter of boiling water for 15 minutes, filter and drink 3-4 cups a day, sweetening with thyme or chestnut honey. Or infuse 10 g of leaves for 15 minutes in a cup of water, filter, sweeten with heather or strawberry tree honey, take 3 cups a day. In both cases, continue taking until 3 days after the symptoms have completely disappeared.
How to use the strawberry tree in the kitchen The fruits, harvested when they turn red, are eaten fresh naturally (possibly peeled), in fruit salads instead of the exotic lychees (which they resemble in appearance), or are used for jams, jellies, syrups and candied fruit. They also perform well in alcohol and, in Sardinia and Corsica, a particular wine is made from them or, by distillation, a typical brandy. From the flowers the bees obtain a rare and delicious honey with a bitter taste (excellent with seadas, typical Sardinian sweets): it is therefore also a plant friendly to pollinating insects.
SEADAS WITH strawberry tree
Seadas recipe
mix 500 g of fine durum wheat semolina with 3 eggs, a pinch of salt dissolved in a spoonful of water and a few spoonfuls of lard, work the dough well until it reaches an elastic and soft consistency, let it rest; grate 1 kg of fresh pecorino and then mix it with the zest of a grated lemon; roll out the dough to obtain a thin sheet; cut it into discs, with the appropriate wheel or an upturned glass; distribute a spoonful of the prepared dough on each disk and overlap another disk of dough, sealing the edges moistened with egg white; proceed until the pasta and filling are used up; fry the seadas in abundant olive oil, very hot, for about a minute, until they become golden; serve hot, sprinkled with strawberry tree honey.