Name: Blackthorn, also called sloe (Prunus spinosa). “Blackthorn” properly refers to the thorny shrub itself, while “sloe” refers to its small dark fruit — the two names are used interchangeably for the fruit in everyday speech.
Description
Blackthorn is a dense, thorny shrub of the rose family native across Europe, western Asia, and parts of North Africa, long used as a hedging plant thanks to its tangled, spiny growth. It flowers early, with small white blossoms appearing before the leaves in spring, and by autumn produces sloes: small, bluish-black, plum-like drupes covered in a waxy bloom.
Sloes are intensely tart and astringent straight from the branch, so they have rarely been treated as a fresh-eating fruit. Instead they have been gathered from hedgerows for centuries across Britain and continental Europe and put to culinary use once softened by the first frosts of autumn, most famously steeped in gin and sugar to produce sloe gin, and also cooked into jams, jellies, and syrups.
Main nutrition value
No USDA entry exists for sloe itself, so the figures below are taken from the closest analysed relative on FoodData Central, black plum with skin, raw, as a stand-in for a wild dark-skinned Prunus fruit; actual sloe values will differ somewhat, particularly in being more tart and astringent. Per 100g:
| Name | Average Amount | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Proximates | ||
| Water | 84.9 | g |
| Energy (Atwater General Factors) | 59 | kcal |
| Energy (Atwater Specific Factors) | 53 | kcal |
| Nitrogen | 0.09 | g |
| Protein | 0.58 | g |
| Total lipid (fat) | 0.28 | g |
| Ash | 0.74 | g |
| Carbohydrate, by difference | 13.5 | g |
| Fiber, total dietary | 1.3 | g |
| Sugars, total | 7.96 | g |
| Sucrose | 4.46 | g |
| Fructose | 3.51 | g |
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium, Ca | 4 | mg |
| Iron, Fe | <0.25 | mg |
| Magnesium, Mg | 6.6 | mg |
| Phosphorus, P | 19 | mg |
| Potassium, K | 186 | mg |
| Sodium, Na | <2.5 | mg |
| Zinc, Zn | 0.05 | mg |
| Copper, Cu | 0.054 | mg |
| Manganese, Mn | 0.04 | mg |
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid | 1.8 | mg |
| Biotin | <0.5 | µg |
Like most wild dark-skinned Prunus fruits, sloes are a modest source of potassium and fiber, with small amounts of vitamin C and magnesium. In practice sloes are eaten in such small quantities — a handful steeped in a bottle of gin, or a spoonful of jelly — that their nutritional contribution to the diet is minor.
How best to be consumed
Sloes are almost never eaten raw off the branch, since their tannins make them harshly astringent until softened by the first autumn frosts (or an overnight spell in the freezer, which mimics the same effect). Traditionally they are pricked and steeped in gin with sugar for several months to make sloe gin, or simmered down into jellies, syrups, and sauces that tame their sharpness.
Overconsumption could cause…
Eating a large quantity of raw sloes can cause stomach upset from their high tannin and acid content. As with other Prunus fruits, the seed inside the stone contains cyanogenic compounds and should not be chewed or eaten. Because sloes are usually consumed only in small, flavouring quantities — and often as sloe gin — the more realistic overconsumption risk in practice comes from the alcohol itself rather than the fruit.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central — Plum, black, with skin, raw (FDC ID 2710837), used as the closest available substitute for sloe, 100g portion: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2710837/nutrients Encyclopaedia Britannica — Blackthorn: https://www.britannica.com/plant/blackthorn-Prunus-spinosa
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