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 in the unripe green berries, and immature fruit should be treated as toxic. Most cases of suspected poisoning are due to consumption of leaves or unripe fruit. There are ethnobotanical accounts of "S. nigrum" leaves and shoots being boiled as a vegetable with the cooking water being discarded and replaced several times to remove toxins. Some of the uses ascribed to "S. nigrum" in literature may actually apply to other black nightshade species within the same species complex, and proper species identification is essential for food and medicinal uses (See "Taxonomy" section). "S. nigrum" has been widely used as a