Blueberries big on flavour and health benefits, low on calories

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Blueberries pureed into a sauce is great served over pancakes, waffles or ice cream. (Tom Wallace/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT) (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

Here are some facts about blueberries:

• The blueberry is one of the only foods that is truly naturally blue in colour.
• People have been eating blueberries for more than 13,000 years.
• Blueberries (genus Vaccinium), Concord grapes and cranberries are the only three commercially available fruits native to North America.
• Blueberries were called "star fruits" by North American indigenous peoples because of the five-pointed star shape formed at the blossom end of the berry.
• A single highbush blueberry plant can produce as many as 6,000 blueberries per year.
• Fresh blueberries should be stored covered in the refrigerator and will keep fresh up to 10 days. Blueberries freeze well and will keep at least a year. Do not wash blueberries before storing (whether in the refrigerator or freezer). The silvery sheen (or "bloom") on the skin of blueberries is a naturally occurring compound that helps protect the fruit. Wash just before using.

 

Source: British Columbia Blueberry Council

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LONDON, Ont. -- When it comes to nutrition, "good to eat" and "good for you" are not always the same thing. But the two definitely coincide in blueberries.

In the late 1990s, researchers started publishing papers about the health benefits of blueberries, rating them No. 1 in antioxidants out of 40 fresh fruits and vegetables, partly because of anthocyanin, the pigment that gives the fruit its distinctive colour. Besides helping to neutralize elements that can cause cancer and other age-related and degenerative illnesses, the fruit has been credited with anti-inflammatory properties, improved urinary tract function and reduced eyestrain.

The berries contain vitamins C, A and E, potassium, calcium and magnesium. A 250-millilitre (one-cup) serving has 3.6 grams of dietary fibre, no fat and just about 80 calories.

The blueberry industry jumped all over these findings and its promotion of blueberries as health food made sales balloon.

Diane and Bill Parks have been growing blueberries on their farm, Parks Blueberries near Bothwell in southwestern Ontario, for more than 30 years and Diane Parks says they definitely noticed a change in the business when people started becoming more aware of the health benefits.

"Before that, we'd be trying to tell people how to use blueberries, how amazing they are as a fruit and what you could do with them. Then they started telling us."

The Parks have 16 hectares (40 acres) of highbush blueberries, including early, mid-season and, for the first time this year, late-blooming blueberries that they hope will extend the season to at least the middle of September. Picking started in earnest more than a week ago.

All of the blueberries produced on the farm are sold there, either as pick-your-own, or in the on-site store, which includes a cafe and bake shop "where we try to use blueberries in every way possible," Parks says.

While almost all the fresh blueberries sold in Canada are highbush, Canada is also the world's largest producer of lowbush or wild blueberries, mainly in Quebec and the four Atlantic provinces, says Agriculture Canada.

One difference between the two types is obvious from their names. The highbush plants were developed from the native lowbush species so the fruit would not be sitting on or low to the ground and would be easier to pick. Highbush plants grow to more than two metres tall.

Another difference is that highbush blueberries are a planted, cultivated crop. Wild blueberry growers do not plant them but instead manage wild stands that spread naturally by means of rhizomes or underground runners that produce shoots and stems.

Highbush blueberries are "larger and less perishable, which makes them highly suitable for shipping to retail markets," says Agriculture Canada. Wild blueberries are smaller and because stands of lowbush blueberries can have several distinct runner systems, the berries often are not uniform in colour or size. They generally don't mature until August.

The Wild Blueberry Association of North America says wild blueberries are higher in antioxidants and because of their thicker skin, hold their shape, texture and colour through a variety of baking and manufacturing processes. Only a very small percentage of wild blueberries are sold as fresh berries. Most of the crop is used for processing and freezing.

But what about the big question: Which one tastes better? It depends who you ask.

"Wild blueberries have a more intense, sweet and tangy taste than cultivated blueberries," says the Wild Blueberry Association.

Debbie Etsell, executive director of the British Columbia Blueberry Council is less definitive. "There seems to be a mindset that one is sweeter than the other, but anytime we give highbush blueberries to consumers in the east, they're surprised that they're so sweet."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 25, 2012 C1