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Rosehips are the fruit of the rose flower. Most people are familiar with and understand how to use rose petals but are not so familiar with rosehips.
If a rose is left on the plant and not picked, it is fertilized by pollinators and the petals will fall away. The base of the flower then swells and develops its "fruit" which will look like a pod.
It is usually a soft peach color or can be pink during the hot months but once the frost hits the fruit it becomes a beautiful crimson color. This is when the "hip" is ready to be eaten.
You see, all of the nutrients are not present in the rosehip until the frost occurs. This freezing creates the vitamin C in the rosehip and helps to create the other nutrients within it. This is why we wait till after the frost to harvest rosehips.
The hips have a very different chemistry from the petals and provide incredible nutrients!
Often known for their super high Vitamin C content, which is wonderful for immunity, rosehips also contain flavonoids which, help support tissue strength and elasticity throughout the body, all of which is important to reduce inflammation in the body. These flavonoids make it a strong anti-inflammatory food.
Did you know that wild rosehips are known to contain as much as 200% of the daily recommended dose of vitamin C! Not bad for a little fruit!
They also contain carotenoids, those beautiful, colorful pigments which, are loaded with antioxidants- great for the immune system and heart health as well as skin, nail, hair and eyes.
Rosehips are amazing for inflammation...unlike turmeric and nettles which bring heat and are drying to the body, rosehips, just like the rose flowers, are actually cooling and moistening. This is very beneficial for people whose bodies do not do well with heat or are battling inflammatory conditions like arthritis.
Eating the whole plant makes it so much easier to get a lot of the nutrients on a daily basis. Just take a spoon full of jam or make a honey electuary (infused honey) to get all of the benefits of rosehips.
Most people that are familiar with rosehips know that they are super high in vitamin C. You will see a lot of folks talking about making a rosehip tea to get your daily dose of vitamin C.
However, one of the things that is often not discussed is the fact that vitamin C is very sensitive to heat. We already reduce some of the vitamin C content by drying, sifting and chopping rosehips, but when you also add heat to them by cooking them or making a hot tea, you will lose a lot of the vitamin C you are hoping to get from the fruit.
Also keep in mind if you are looking for those wonderful carotenoids, they are not water soluble and you therefore will be missing out on those benefits if you make a tea out of them or add them to most watery liquids. Great news...there is a way to get all of these benefits from your rosehips - EAT THEM WHOLE! Eating the whole plant makes sure you are getting all of the very best of everything the plant has to offer.
I LOVE to make cold infusions like jam, with rosehips and of course a honey electuary (infused honey) keeps the vitamin C, flavonoids and carotenoids intact and you also get the added benefits from the honey. Not to mention honey is a wonderful way of preserving the rosehips so they last a lot longer.
Carotenoids are not water soluble which makes a honey electuary a perfect way to get that nutrition from the rosehips
Rosehips have natural pectin, so they will thicken without the use of other ingredients to do that. It is also great to add rosehips to syrups when you want to thicken the syrup a bit without having to cook it all the way down. (just add a teaspoon of rosehips to a elderberry syrup after you have cooked it and let it sit, then strain out the hips).
Whole rosehips have lots of seeds and little hairs that can irritate your GI tract if you were to eat them. It's best to buy rosehips that have already been deseeded with the hairs removed.
If you pick your own or use rosehips whole and unsifted and make them into a tea, just be sure to strain them through musulin or a coffee filter to catch the little hairs.
If you buy whole rosehips with the seeds & hairs, one great way to utilize those is to make an infused body oil...grind up the hips, infuse into some jojoba oil or 6 weeks, strain them and apply the oil to the body. The oil is great for healing the skin and contains lots of healing nutrients.
A slightly easier way to remove the seeds is to freeze the hips and use a knife to cut them open and deseed. You can add them to honey for a fresh, delicious infused honey.
I'm a pretty lazy herbalist when it comes to rosehips and usually just buy them already cut, sifted and deseeded. Its much easier if you are making large amounts of foods with them.
Since honey has about 15% water in it, your rosehips will naturally rehydrate. This will make the hips soften, expand and leave some chewy bits behind. All of which taste delicious. The natural pectin in rosehips will also make the honey thicken and it will be a bit more of a thicker electurary than many other plant infused honey.
Another way to enjoy rosehips...if you happen to make it too thick, is to spread it out on parchment paper, allow it to dry in the oven and now you have rosehip fruit leather - Yum! Bake it on your ovens lowest setting (usually 170°) which will keep the rosehip leather "raw" and maintain a lot of the nutrients.
Super easy to do and takes no equipment to make. You can make this jam in just a few hours - most of which is just letting it sit and turn to jam!
I make this in small batches as there is no preservative in it and you will want to eat it up within 2-3 days.
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Keep in mind again, these are not preserved, although if you add some honey it will last a little longer.
Optional: Since the hips are fruity tasting you can add any fruit juice you prefer. Try orange, cranberry, pomegranate, cherry or pear. Whatever juice you want to help rehydrate. You can even use just plain water.
This jam is perfect for toast, pancakes or fun desserts. Try to use it raw if possible and not heat it. I love also using it as a center for chocolates!
This is a perfect way to use rosehips daily with the benefits of keeping it preserved much longer. Honey is the perfect preservative plus it adds its own healthy nutrients!
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