Black Mulberry from Honghua Valley

Black Mulberry from Honghua Valley

Black mulberry from Honghua Valley is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Black mulberry from Honghua Valley is a specialty of Bieshan Town, Jixian County, Tianjin. The fruit is plump, large, tightly packed, glossy in color, and boasts a sweet, soft, fragrant taste that is juicy and melts in the mouth. It has over 500 years of cultivation history. Honghua Valley black mulberry has been granted geographical indication protection status.

　　Mulberries are the mature fruits of the Morus alba, a deciduous tree of the Moraceae family. Also known as mulberry fruit or mulberry berries, people enjoy eating the fresh ripe fruit, which can also be processed into mulberry wine, mulberry beverages, and mulberry canned goods.

　　Black mulberry from Honghua Valley gets its name from Honghua Valley in Bieshan Town, Jixian County, Tianjin. The fruit is produced in a mountain valley within Honghua Valley, located 10 kilometers southeast of Jixian County’s urban area on the southern shore of Yuqiao Reservoir. The terrain is relatively enclosed, surrounded by nine low mountains with elevations between 80–150 meters, locally referred to as Jiuling Honghua Valley. The mountains retain well-preserved secondary forests, with lush pines and cypresses at the summits, dense trees and shrubs mid-slope, and fragrant flowers and fruits at the foothills. The Honghua Valley black mulberry production area enjoys distinct seasons, with an annual average temperature and accumulated heat both higher than those of the northern mountainous and southern lowland areas of Jixian. The winters are mild and summers cool. Due to its proximity to Yuqiao Reservoir across a mountain, water supply is abundant. The terrain has gentle slopes, distributed in terraced fields, and the soil is medium loam formed from the weathering of sand shale and limestone. It has long tillability, good workability, strong permeability, excellent water and fertilizer retention, and high nutrient content.

　　The cultivation of black mulberry in Honghua Valley has a long history. Based on the natural seed propagation habits of mulberry trees, seeds brought by migratory birds grew into wild mulberry trees, which were later selectively grafted by local villagers over many years. This gradually stabilized into two distinct varieties—black mulberries and white mulberries. Black mulberries are dark purple to black in color and larger in size, while white mulberries are yellowish-white and sweeter. Currently, the planted area of black mulberry in Honghua Valley covers 100 hectares, with an annual yield of over 600 tons.

　　Black mulberries from Honghua Valley are plump, glossy, sweet, soft, fragrant, pleasantly sweet and sour, melt-in-the-mouth, and very juicy. Testing shows that the average single fruit weighs 2.32g, is 24.6mm in length, and 14.12mm in diameter, with 86.2% moisture content, 13.56% soluble solids, and 0.23% organic acid content.

　　Black mulberries from Honghua Valley are mainly consumed fresh. Sales methods include tourism picking, local sales, and distribution in the Tianjin, Beijing, and Tangshan markets. To extend the sales period, local enterprises have developed mulberry canned goods, mulberry wine, mulberry beverages, quick-frozen fresh mulberries, and dried mulberries.

　　In accordance with the "Regulations on the Protection of Geographical Indication Products," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine organized experts to review the application for geographical indication protection of Honghua Valley black mulberry. Upon passing the review, Honghua Valley black mulberry was approved as a protected geographical indication product, with protection taking effect immediately.

　　The production area of Honghua Valley black mulberry covers the current administrative region of Bieshan Town, Jixian County, Tianjin.