Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry

Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry

Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry is a geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Blue honeysuckle berry, commonly known as mountain eggplant, is a rare wild berry plant rich in amino acids and trace elements, offering high nutritional value. However, it has very strict requirements for its growing environment and can only be found in two countries worldwide. In China, it grows only in the Hongxing Forest Farm of the Xidaquan area in Boli County and the Yichun Forestry Bureau in Heilongjiang Province.

　　Blue honeysuckle berry is a rare, pure, natural, green wild edible berry in the world, often hailed as the “king of fruits.” It contains 17 types of amino acids, accounting for 40% of the total essential amino acids required by the human body.

　　Also called mountain eggplant berry, blue honeysuckle is a perennial deciduous shrub. Its fruit is a berry with bright deep rose-colored juice. It is easy to cultivate, with abundant resources, mainly distributed in the Changbai Mountains of Jilin Province and the eastern mountainous areas of the Greater Khingan Range in Heilongjiang Province.

　　When ripe, the blue honeysuckle berries appear blue-purple, resembling agate stones, and have a sweet and sour taste. The berries are sweet and sour, containing seven types of amino acids and vitamin C. They can be eaten raw, used as a natural coloring agent, and also processed into wine, beverages, and jams. The flower buds, fruits, and tender branches can be used medicinally for clearing heat and detoxifying.

　　Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry

　　 Geographical Scope

　　Boli County is located in the eastern part of Heilongjiang Province and is under the jurisdiction of Qitaihe City. It borders Baoqing, Jidong, Linkou, Yilan, and Huanan County. The county has designated a protected geographical indication production area for blue honeysuckle berries covering 5,000 hectares. This includes eleven state-owned forest farms in Boli County: Tongtian No.1 Forest Farm, Tongtian No.2 Forest Farm, Hongqi Forest Farm, Hongwei Forest Farm, Hongxing Forest Farm, Luquan Forest Farm, Hekou Forest Farm, Jixinghe Forest Farm, Fuxing Forest Farm, Changxing Forest Farm, and Dongfanghong Forest Farm. The geographical coordinates lie between 130°06′ to 131°44′ east longitude and 45°16′ to 46°37′ north latitude. Currently, the area under artificially cultivated blue honeysuckle berries in Boli County is 1,333 hectares, with an annual yield of 1,700 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　This section primarily describes the unique quality characteristics of the registered product and the quality and safety standards adhered to, including: 1. Morphological Characteristics: Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry, also known as yang0, heixiongzi fruit, or mountain eggplant fruit, is a perennial deciduous shrub of the Lonicera genus in the Caprifoliaceae family. It grows up to 1.5 meters tall. Young branches are hairy, while older branches are reddish-brown and later shed their bark. Leaves are oblong, long-ovate, or obovate-lanceolate, entire with ciliate margins, and have stipules born in leaf axils. The peduncle is long, with yellowish-white tubular, funnel-shaped corollas, five lobes, five stamens, and a pistil extending beyond the corolla. There are strap-like bracts that fuse to form a cup-shaped structure. The fruit is a dark blue berry with a white bloom, elliptical or oblong in shape, about 1–3 cm in length, and weighing 0.4–1.5 g per berry. The fruit is soft, with bright deep rose-colored juice, and a sweet-sour taste. It serves as an ideal raw material for processing wines, beverages, foods, and extracting anthocyanins. The flowering period is from May to June, and the fruit ripens in July. 2. Internal Quality and Characteristics of Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry: The berry is rich in bioactive Vp substances such as anthocyanins, rutin, and catechin, giving it high medicinal value. It is also abundant in sugars, organic acids, vitamins, etc., with vitamin C content tested at over 65 mg/100g, fructose content over 1.5%, soluble solids over 12%, and titratable acidity below 1%. It can be eaten fresh or processed into beverages, jams, fruit cakes, and fruit wines. Stems, leaves, and fruits can be used to extract natural purplish-red pigments, making it an important source of natural food additives, and they can also be used medicinally. The plant can serve as an ornamental and landscaping tree species. Due to its rarity, preciousness, unique flavor, low pollution, and nourishing and medicinal properties, it is highly popular in both domestic and international markets and is known as a “third-generation fruit.” 3. Safety Requirements: The product quality of Boli Blue Honeysuckle Berry complies with the NY 5086-2005 standard for pollution-free fallen berry fruits.