- Type
- Trees & Vines
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Season
- Fall
- Sowing
- Plant a sapling
Chinese Hawthorn
Crataegus pinnatifida
Flavonoids, organic acids · the sharp red fruit of the hawthorn tree
Agawoe is an old Korean name for the red fruit of the hawthorn tree. Each one is 1 to 1.5 cm across and looks like a miniature apple, but even ripe it stays sour and astringent, so it is dried or steeped rather than eaten fresh. The tree is common on hillsides in the central and northern parts of the country, and in cities it turns up as a park and street tree. Markets sell it as dried slices under the name sansaja. The Donguibogam said the half-ripe, sour and astringent fruit was the one for medicine, washed, steamed until soft, stoned, and then dried in the sun.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
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Main producer
Known as shanzha, it is grown here in greater quantity than anywhere else in the world. Shandong, Liaoning, Hebei and Henan are the main areas. Harvest September, October
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Wild population
It grows wild on hill slopes from central Korea northward and is also planted as a park and street tree. Harvest September, October
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- Wild population Wild trees occur in the forests of Primorsky Krai and the Amur basin.
It is native to the northern temperate forests spanning Korea, northern China and the Russian Far East, and since no single country can be named as its origin, no place-of-origin row has been created. China is effectively the only country that grows it on a commercial scale, and the rest are simply places where it occurs wild, so the list stops at three rows. What Europe calls hawthorn is the common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna, C. laevigata), a different species from the one in this entry, so it has not been shaded on the same map.
- Optimum
- 15~25℃
- Range
- 0~32℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Day length
- Not applicable
A northern temperate tree that must go through winter cold before it will flower evenly the following year. It endures roughly -30℃, so it grows wild on hill slopes from central Korea northward. It is not fussy about soil, but its roots rot where water collects. Flowering is triggered not by day length but by spring temperatures once the winter chilling has been satisfied.
Harvested 3–5 years after planting. Saplings are planted in March-April and bear no fruit in the year they go in. Grafted trees take three or four years, and seed-grown trees five or six, before they set enough fruit to pick in September-October. The month of planting and the month of picking are not in the same year.
In Korea Nationwide
Wild stands are concentrated on hill slopes from central Korea northward, while in the south the tree is planted and cultivated. Saplings go in during March-April, and the fruit is picked once it has reddened in September-October. Where Chinese juniper stands nearby, cedar rust returns year after year, so the planting site is chosen with care.
How to grow
- Light
- Six hours of sun or more. It will grow in part shade but sets far less fruit.
- Soil and depth
- Not fussy about soil, though roots rot where water sits. Ordinary near-neutral garden soil is fine.
- Spacing
- Four to five metres in the ground. A pot needs to be at least 50 cm across, and even then fruit takes years.
- Watering
- Keep it from drying out through the first season only; after that rainfall is usually enough. Check pots daily in summer.
- Feeding
- A spadeful of compost around the trunk in early spring is plenty. Heavy feeding just makes longer thorns.
- Harvest
- September into October. For drying, pick when the fruit is half red and still firm rather than fully coloured.
What makes the difference. The fruit is not pleasant eaten raw. Halve it, remove the stones, and dry it in the sun for two days to get the sliced form sold in markets. Wear thick leather gloves when pruning, because the thorns are long and hard. Check the site before planting: a juniper nearby means cedar-hawthorn rust every year.
Why this one is harder. A mature tree passes six metres and carries stiff thorns. In a pot it can take more than five years to fruit.
Common problems
- Cedar-hawthorn rust You will see Orange spots on the upper leaf surface, with hair-like projections underneath. What to do Juniper is the alternate host. If you cannot separate the two, apply a preventive treatment in April and May.
- Aphids You will see New shoots curl and ants travel up and down the stems. What to do Hose them off, working over leaf undersides on the new growth.
- Fall webworm You will see Leaves skeletonised, with a webbed tent at the branch tips. What to do Cut out the tent while it is still small and bag it for disposal.
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
What the old record says. Hawthorn appears in the Donguibogam's fruit section as sansaja. The entry specifies the half-ripe, sour and astringent fruit, with the seeds removed and the flesh dried in the sun. This is a record from a seventeenth-century medical text, not a modern medical judgement.
What studies have observed. Animal experiments and small clinical reports have looked at changes in lipid markers with hawthorn extract. Results in humans are not consistent, so this cannot be restated as an effect on any disease.
Nutrition
- Flavonoids (Vitexin-type glycosides in the leaves and fruit) — Classified as polyphenols
- Proanthocyanidins (Condensed tannins behind the astringency) — A frequent subject of antioxidant assays
- Organic acids (Citric and malic acid) — The compounds behind the sharp sourness
- Pectin (The soluble fibre of the fruit) — Sets into jam when simmered
Pectin Hawthorn is rich enough in pectin to set on its own when cooked down with sugar, which is where the Chinese hawthorn jelly bars come from. The pectin sits in the skin and flesh, so you keep it by stoning the fruit and cooking it whole. Strain for juice alone and most of it is thrown away.
Organic acids The sourness comes from citric and malic acid. It peaks when the fruit is half ripe and eases a little once fully red. The half-ripe stage is exactly what the Donguibogam specified for medicinal use. That same acidity means a strong infusion on an empty stomach can leave you uncomfortable.
Flavonoids and tannins Hawthorn carries vitexin-type flavonoids alongside condensed tannins. The astringency is mostly tannin, and steaming then drying softens it somewhat. The old preparation the Donguibogam described, washing and steaming before drying, was in part a way of handling that harshness.
The seeds: stone the fruit and use the flesh Hawthorn is a fruit of the rose family. Seeds in that family often contain amygdalin-type cyanogenic glycosides, and hawthorn seed is reported among them. The order of work is to halve the fruit, take the seeds out first and keep only the flesh. Steeped liquors and syrups are made from stoned fruit too, and the fruit is never blended whole. The Donguibogam described the same handling, removing the stones before drying in the sun.
Pairings
○ Boiled pork — The acidity and pectin cut through a fatty broth. A few dried slices in the cooking water take the edge off the smell of the meat. Add them for the last twenty minutes rather than at the start, or the astringency leaches out.
○ Cinnamon and ginger — Simmered together, the sourness of dried hawthorn locks in with the warm spice. The acid gives the drink a backbone, so it does not taste flat with less sugar. A small handful of dried fruit to a litre of water is a reasonable ratio. Cinnamon · Ginger
○ Sugar preserve — This is the simplest way to use a fruit that is hard to eat as is. Stone it, slice it thin, and layer it with an equal weight of sugar. The high acidity discourages mould, but keep the finished jar refrigerated.
△ Grinding the seeds in — Seeds in the rose family often contain amygdalin-type cyanogenic glycosides, and hawthorn seed is reported among them. The Donguibogam also specified removing the stones before drying. Halve the fruit, take the seeds out first and use the flesh only. Steeped liquors and syrups are made from stoned fruit as well, and the fruit is never blended whole.
△ Strong infusions on an empty stomach — The acidity is high enough that a strong decoction on an empty stomach can cause discomfort. Drink it diluted after a meal. If you are taking medication for a stomach condition, check before making it a daily habit.
△ Teeth — Frequent glasses of concentrated hawthorn syrup can wear at tooth enamel because of the acid load. Rinse with water afterwards. A straw reduces contact.
Varieties
- Native hawthorn (Sapling) — The wild species of Korean hills. Small fruit, strongly sour.
- Large-fruited hawthorn (Sapling) — Berries 2 cm or more across. The raw material for dried hawthorn slices sold in markets.
- Western hawthorn — a different species from the Crataegus pinnatifida of this entry (Sapling) — Brought in as an ornamental. White or red flowers, small fruit.
Source: Donguibogam, Fruit Section (山査子) · Rural Development Administration (nongsaro.go.kr)