I had for the first time some fresh aronia at a friends. Now… I know that they’re not the best eaten fresh. Instead for juice and in other processed ways, but I saw some value in their flavor. They tasted quite good minus the astringency part.
I’m wondering if there’s ways to eliminate that astringency similar to how you could remove the astringency of a persimmon. Oddly enough my girlfriend had some from a local farm and they were much better. Maybe you have to let them hang for a long time after they turn the right color?
If not… I guess they’re called chokeberry for a reason.
Cultivars which have resulted from crosses with sorbus sp(euro mt ash) inherited astringency and larger fruit size. This includes Viking, Nero, and other varieties from European breeding programs. Pure aronia melanocarpa selections like MacKenzie, Autumn Brilliance have less astringency, smaller fruit- still plenty of pucker though.