Blackcurrant Blackcurrant The blackcurrant or black currant ("Ribes nigrum") is a woody shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia where it prefers damp fertile soils and is widely cultivated both commercially and domestically. It is winterhardy, but cold weather at flowering time during the spring reduces the size of the crop. Bunches of small, glossy black fruit develop along the stems in the summer and can be harvested by hand or by machine. The raw fruit is particularly rich in vitamin C and polyphenol phytochemicals.
Epicoccum nigrum "E. nigrum". Epicocconone is a fluorescent pigment unique to "E. nigrum". Epicocconone is valuable in terms of its ability to pigment cells orange, which then fluoresce red without impacting cell structure or function. Industrially, "E. nigrum" has a variety of broad applications. It has demonstrated a capacity to biosynthesize nanoparticles from silver and gold, which have applications in chemical, industrial, and medical processes. It has been applied as biological treatment for mechanical oily effluent, reducing the content of hydrogen peroxide, phenols, and chemical oxygen demand in the oily effluent. "Epicoccum nigrum" pigments have been considered as natural replacements for artificial