OPG Grđan

Description

Nestled at the northern foothills of the central part of Ivanščica Mountain lies the picturesque town of Ivanec (Varaždin County), where in the spring of 2013 we cultivated neglected land and established a perennial plantation of 800 aronia seedlings, adapted for manual harvesting of aronia berries.

The reason for cultivating this particular berry fruit lies in the richness of nutritional values contained in the small, black, miraculous berry we also call 'superfruit,' given the numerous health benefits it provides through the consumption of fresh berries and various products made from processed aronia berries. Another important reason that was crucial for the decision to establish the aronia plantation is the cultivation of healthy fruit in an ecological environment without the use of pesticides and other chemical agents, which fortunately this plantation does not require, but instead demands a lot of physical manual labor for maintaining the plantation and harvesting the aronia berries.

We harvest the aronia berries at the end of August, manually, which results in high-quality products obtained from processing the aronia berries.

VISION: TO TRANSFORM THE WEALTH CONTAINED IN ARONIA BERRIES INTO A RANGE OF DIVERSE AND HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTS THAT WILL BE ENJOYED BY BOTH LOVERS OF THIS FRUIT AND THOSE TRYING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Nutritional properties

Aronia is an extremely beneficial and medicinal plant that abounds with highly valuable nutritional properties.

Aronia berries contain a large amount of polyphenolic compounds, among which proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, and flavonols are the most represented. Aronia berries are also an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Among vitamins, B-group vitamins are most represented, especially niacin and pantothenic acid, followed by vitamins C, A, and E. In terms of minerals, aronia is rich in iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, manganese, and iodine. Compared to other berry fruits, it contains a higher concentration of beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin.

Aronia is one of the strongest antioxidants. According to the ORAC unit of measurement for antioxidant capacity, 100 g of aronia berries contains 16,100 ORAC units, while the recommended daily dose is 3,000–5,000 ORAC units, which is several times stronger antioxidant activity than most fruits and nuts (blueberry 6,552 ORAC, blackcurrant 7,957 ORAC, cranberry 9,090 ORAC).

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