THE HEALING POWER OF APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

ACV is mineral-rich and contains calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, selenium and sodium. Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E are also present.

ACV is high in polyphenols (nutrients found in plant pigments that act as antioxidants), beneficial bacteria (probiotics) and active enzymes. Vinegars can act as a solvent, drawing additional minerals, vitamins and essential oils out of plant matter – which is why it’s the perfect medium in medicinal formulas.

Making ACV is easy, but your finished product takes time to create. The creation of vinegar – acetic acid – happens in two steps. In the first step, the sugar from apples is converted to ethanol by fermenting yeasts that are naturally present on the apple skin or in non-pasteurised apple juice. In the second step, the ethanol is converted by bacteria (Acetobacter sp.) and oxygen to acetic acid.

In practice, you prepare the solution (see the simple recipes) and leave it on a pantry shelf or kitchen bench for around six to eight weeks; and just watch the alchemy happen. Once you have made your ACV, you have several options for using your vinegar as it is, or taking it to the next level:

• Use ACV in cooking and preserving• Make flavoured ACV• Create a medicinal oxymel• Formulate your own shrub