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.
Solanum nigrum food since early times, and the fruit was recorded as a famine food in 15th-century China. Despite toxicity issues with some forms, the ripe berries and boiled leaves of edible strains are eaten. The thoroughly boiled leaves — although strong and slightly bitter flavoured — are used like spinach as horta and in fataya pies and quiches. The ripe black berries are described as sweet and salty, with hints of liquorice and melon. In Kenya, among the Abagusii, "S. nigrum" (Rinagu- singular; Amanagu- plural) is a vegetable delicacy which when blanched and sauteed or boiled to soften and then salted