Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), and the larger species as "highbush blueberries". The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and from 1–8 cm long and 0.5–3.5 cm broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish.
The fruit is a false berry 5–16 mm diameter with a flared "crown" at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally indigo on ripening. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit from May through October in the Northern Hemisphere; "blueberry season" peaks in July, which is National Blueberry Month in the United States and Canada. Beginning in 2005, blueberries have been discussed among a category of functional foods called superfruits having the favorable combination of nutrient richness, antioxidant strength, emerging research evidence for health benefits and versatility for manufacturing popular consumer products.
- Species
- Vaccinium angustifolium (Lowbush Blueberry)
- Vaccinium boreale (Northern Blueberry)
- Vaccinium caesariense (New Jersey Blueberry)
- Vaccinium corymbosum (Northern Highbush Blueberry)
- Vaccinium darrowii (Southern Highbush Blueberry)
- Vaccinium elliottii (Elliott Blueberry)
- Vaccinium formosum (southern blueberry)
- Vaccinium fuscatum (Black Highbush Blueberry; syn. V. atrococcum)
- Vaccinium hirsutum (Hairy-fruited Blueberry)
- Vaccinium myrtilloides (Canadian Blueberry)
- Vaccinium pallidum (Dryland Blueberry)
- Vaccinium simulatum (Upland Highbush Blueberry)
- Vaccinium tenellum (Southern Blueberry)
- Vaccinium virgatum (Rabbiteye Blueberry; syn. V. ashei)
- Some other blue-fruited-species of Vaccinium:
- Vaccinium koreanum
- Vaccinium myrsinites (Evergreen Blueberry)
The names of blue berries in languages other than English often translate as "blueberry", e.g. Scots Blaeberry and Norwegian Blåbær, although those berries may belong to another species. For example, Blåbær and French myrtilles usually refer to the European native bilberry, while bleuets refers to the North American blueberry.
Aside from location of origin, blueberries can be distinguished from bilberries by cutting them in half. Ripe blueberries have white or greenish flesh, while bilberries and huckleberries are colored purple throughout.
Blueberry flowers
So-called "wild" (lowbush) blueberries, smaller than cultivated highbush ones, are prized for their intense color. The lowbush blueberry, V. angustifolium, is found from the Atlantic provinces westward to Quebec and southward to Michigan and West Virginia. In some areas, it produces natural blueberry barrens, where it is practically the only species covering large areas. Several First Nations communities in Ontario are involved in harvesting wild blueberries. Lowbush species are fire-tolerant and blueberry production often increases following a forest fire as the plants regenerate rapidly and benefit from removal of competing vegetation. Wild has been adopted as a marketing term for harvests of managed native stands of low-bush blueberries. The bushes are not planted or genetically manipulated, but they are pruned or burned over every two years, and pests are "managed". There are numerous highbush cultivars of blueberries, each of which have a unique and diverse flavor. The most important blueberry breeding program has been the USDA-ARS breeding program based at Beltsville, Maryland, and Chatsworth, New Jersey. This program began when Frederick Coville of the USDA-ARS collaborated with Elizabeth Coleman White of New Jersey. In the early part of the 20th Century, White offered wild pickers cash for large-fruited blueberry plants. 'Rubel', one such wild blueberry cultivar, is the origin of many of the current hybrid cultivars.
Other important species in North America include V. pallidum, the Hillside or Dryland Blueberry. It is native to the eastern U.S., and common in the Appalachians and the Piedmont of the Southeast. Sparkleberry, V. arboreum, is a common wild species on sandy soils in the southeastern U.S. Its fruits are important to wildlife, and the flowers important to beekeepers.
Maine produces 25% of all lowbush blueberries in North America, making it the largest producer in the world. Maine's 24,291 hectares (FAO figures, 60,023 acres) of blueberry were propagated from native plants that occur naturally in the understorey of its coastal forests. The Maine crop requires about 50,000 beehives for pollination, with most of the hives being trucked in from other states for that purpose. Many towns in Maine lay claim to being the blueberry capital and several festivals are centered around the blueberry. The wild blueberry is the official fruit of Maine and is often as much a symbol of Maine as the lobster. While Maine is the leader of lowbush blueberry production in the United States, Michigan is the leader in highbush production. Significant acreages of highbush blueberries are cultivated in the southern states of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
Canadian exports of blueberries in 2007 were $323 million, the largest fruit crop produced nationally, occupying more than half of all Canadian fruit acreage. Among the most productive growing regions in the world, British Columbia is the largest Canadian producer of highbush blueberries, yielding 63 million pounds (29 million kg) in 2004[10][11] and over $100 million in 2008 revenues. Quebec produces the largest quantity of wild blueberries, especially in the regions of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (where a popular name for inhabitants of the regions is Bleuets, or "blueberries"), and Côte-Nord which together provide 40% of Quebec's total provincial production. Due in part to declining frequency and intensity of spring frosts, Quebec's wild blueberry production (27 million kg in 2008) now rivals that of Maine, creating cross-border tensions on pricing and regional markets. Nova Scotia, also a major producer of wild blueberries, recognizes the blueberry as its official provincial berry. The town of Oxford is known as the Wild Blueberry Capital of Canada. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are other Atlantic provinces with major wild blueberry farming. Atlantic Canada contributes approximately half of the total North American annual production of 68 million kg of wild blueberries, a three-fold increase just since the 1980s. Gains in yield derived from improved field management, including better weed control, fertility management and irrigation methods, increased use of bees for pollination, and application of mechanical harvesters.
Europe
Highbush blueberries were first introduced to Germany and the Netherlands in the 1930s and have since been spread to Poland, Italy, Hungary and other countries of Europe (Nauman, 1993).
"Many growers in France, Austria, and Italy realized too that it pays to cultivate highbush blueberries, and that good economic gain can be obtained," according to an industry researcher. "Even in Belgium and Norway, some very promising trials with special methods of blueberry cultivation resulted in a limited commercial production which is very successful. ... Except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain, a blueberry industry is developing in all regions where the production is possible due to the climatic and edaphic conditions ..." (Nauman, 1993). Blueberries grow wild in Scotland.
Southern Hemisphere
In the Southern hemisphere, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia now export blueberries.
Blueberries were first introduced to Australia in the 1950s, but the effort was unsuccessful. "In the early 1970s David Jones from the Victorian Department of Agriculture imported seed from the U.S. and a selection trial was started. This work was continued by Ridley Bell", who imported more American varieties. In the mid-1970s the Australian Blueberry Growers Association (ABGA) was formed. (Clayton-Greene)
By the early 1980s, the blueberry industry was started in New Zealand and is still growing. (BNZ, n.d)
South Africa exports blueberries to Europe.
The industry is even newer in Argentina: "Argentine blueberry production has increased over the last three years with planted area up to 400 percent," according to a 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But that increase comes from a tiny base of 400 hectares in 2001 (to 1,600 hectares in 2004). The industry is new in the country and farmers are still learning the business. "Argentine blueberry production has thrived in three different regions: the province of Entre Rios in Northeastern Argentina, the province of Buenos Aires, near the country’s capital city Buenos Aires, and the southern Patagonian valleys," according to the report. (Gain, 2005)
Chile is the biggest producer in South America and the largest exporter to the northern hemisphere, with an estimated surface of 6,800 hectares (as of 2007). Introduction of the first plants started in the early 1980s and production started in the late 80s in the southern part of the country. Today production ranges from Copiapó in the north to Puerto Montt in the south, which allows the country to offer blueberries from October through late March. The main production area today is the Bio Bio region. Production has evolved rapidly in the last decade, becoming the 4th most important fruit exported in value terms. Fresh market blueberries are exported mainly to North America (80%) followed by Europe (18%). Information from the Fruit Export Association,[17] Chile exported in 2007 more than 21 thousand MT of fresh blueberries and more than 1,000 MT of frozen product. Most of the production comes from the highbush type, but several rabbiteye blueberries are grown in the country as well. Information taken from the Chilean Fruit Producers Federation[18] and their Blueberry Committee, stands that there are over 800 blueberry producers with surfaces ranging from 50 to 200 hectares.
Growing Seasons
Blueberry production in North America typically starts in mid-May (in Florida) and ends in September, when some fruit is held over in controlled-atmosphere storage in Oregon, Washington, and Canada. (Gaskell, 2006).
Sources give different periods for the growing season in the southern hemisphere. According to the University of California Extension Service, Chile, New Zealand and Argentina begin harvesting in the winter and continue till mid-March, when Chilean blueberries are held over in controlled-atmosphere storage for about six weeks. "As a result, blueberries reach annual peak prices in mid-April."(Gaskell, 2006)
In Chile, San Jose Farms, which says (according to its Web site) that it is one of the oldest blueberry producers in the country (it started in the early 1990s), states that its harvest season starts in November and continues through March. (San Jose, n.d.)
In Argentina: "The marketing year (MY) for blueberries begins in September and ends in February," according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. (Gain, 2005) Blueberries grow in April & May.
Uses
Blueberries are sold fresh or processed as individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, juice, or dried or infused berries which in turn may be used in a variety of consumer goods such as jellies, jams, pies, muffins, snack foods, and cereals.
To freeze freshly picked blueberries, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet in the freezer. When frozen, put in freezer containers. It is best to rinse before using, but not before freezing.
Blueberry jam is made from blueberries, sugar, water, and fruit pectin. Premium blueberry jam, usually made from wild blueberries, is common in Maine, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
Nutrients and phytochemicals
Blueberries at market.
Blueberries, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 60 kcal 240 kJ
Carbohydrates 14.5 g
- Dietary fiber 2.4 g
Fat 0.3 g
Protein 0.7 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.04 mg 3%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.04 mg 3%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.42 mg 3%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.1 mg 2%
Vitamin B6 0.1 mg 8%
Vitamin C 10 mg 17%
Vitamin E 0.6 mg 4%
Calcium 6 mg 1%
Iron 0.3 mg 2%
Magnesium 6 mg 2%
Phosphorus 12 mg 2%
Potassium 77 mg 2%
Zinc 0.2 mg 2%
manganese 0.3 mg 20%
vitamin K 19 mcg 24%
Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database
Blueberries have a diverse range of micronutrients, with notably high levels (relative to respective Dietary Reference Intakes) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table). One serving provides a relatively low glycemic load score of 4 out of 100 per day.
Especially in wild species, blueberries contain anthocyanins, other antioxidant pigments and various phytochemicals possibly having a role in reducing risks of some diseases, including inflammation and different cancers.
Potential anti-disease effects
Researchers have shown that blueberry anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, flavonols, and tannins inhibit mechanisms of cancer cell development and inflammation in vitro. Similar to red grape, some blueberry species contain in their skins significant levels of resveratrol, a phytochemical.
Although most studies below were conducted using the highbush cultivar of blueberries (V. corymbosum), content of polyphenol antioxidants and anthocyanins in lowbush (wild) blueberries (V. angustifolium) exceeds values found in highbush species. At a 2007 symposium on berry health benefits were reports showing consumption of blueberries (and similar berry fruits including cranberries) may alleviate the cognitive decline occurring in Alzheimer's disease and other conditions of aging. Feeding blueberries to animals lowers brain damage in experimental stroke. Research at Rutgers has also shown that blueberries may help prevent urinary tract infections.
Other animal studies found that blueberry consumption lowered cholesterol and total blood lipid levels, possibly affecting symptoms of heart disease. Additional research showed that blueberry consumption in rats altered glycosaminoglycans which are vascular cell components affecting control of blood pressure.
Strawberries supply the super-nutrient ellagic acid and vitamin C. Both of these coat the lining of the lungs and fight free radicals.
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