Can You Also Eat Fresh Rose Hips?

Fresh rosehips are rather rare in the trade. Nevertheless, the fruits of wild roses, briar roses or dog roses can also be eaten fresh. The pulp has a sweet and sour to tart taste. Before eating, wash the freshly picked rosehips thoroughly and remove the seeds: they can cause severe itching. Disposable gloves are therefore suitable for coring the rose hips. The kernels are also called nuts and are the actual fruit. However, the healthy ingredients are in the red flesh that surrounds the seeds.

Rose hips are very healthy, mainly because of their high vitamin C content. The fresh fruits contain around 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams. In comparison, a lemon provides “only” 50 milligrams. Due to their vitamin B1 and B2 content, rose hips enrich the menu of a healthy diet. Because the vitamins are heat sensitive, the nutritional value of fresh rose hips is significantly higher than that of processed fruit.

Rosehips are in season in late fall. The later you pick the fruit, the sweeter its taste. Freshly picked rose hips should be eaten or processed as soon as possible, as the healthy fruits are difficult to store. You either freeze rose hips or process them into a mush by soaking them in water for about 30 minutes and passing them through a sieve. Rosehip puree sweetened with honey and filled into jars keeps in the fridge for about fourteen days.

If you don’t want to use the healthy fruits of the rosehip bush raw, they are also good for tea or jams. With a simple guide you can make rosehip tea yourself. Wine, juice, and liqueur are also made from rose hips. The rose hip is also used to flavor game dishes.