Blueberries, a species native to North America, grow in shades varying from light blue to dark purple. Round to oval, the berries have a smooth skin that is somewhat waxy and covered with a powdery silver film or “bloom.”
Blueberries were once called star berries because of the star-shaped calyx on the top of each fruit. Cultivated blueberries can be as large as 3/4 inch in diameter, although the “wild” varieties are only 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter.
At least 50 species of blueberries, both cultivated and wild, have been identified.
The two types of cultivated blueberries are highbrush and rabbiteye. Highbrush blueberries, V. corymbosum L., are grown throughout North America, whereas the rabbiteye varieties, V. ashei Reade, are better adapted to southern regions of the United States. Lowbush (wild) blueberries, V. angustifolium Ait., grow naturally in Maine, Nova Scotia, and Quebec.
These plants produce blueberries that are prized for their intense flavor. The lowbush (wild) blueberry varieties grow to about 3 feet in height, whereas the high bush and rabbi teye cultivars can grow to more than 10 feet if not pruned.
The desirable flavor, color and texture of today’s cultivars are the result of nearly 100 years of hybridization. Blueberries have been used as a source of food and folk medicine for thousands of years.
Early explorers of North America, such as Lewis and Clark, noted that American Indians smoked the berries to preserve them for winter and pounded the berries with beef to make a jerky called pemmican.
Blueberries were also appreciated by the early American settlers as both a food and a medicine. The blueberry plant is a compact, woody shrub that is related to the bilberry, cranberry, and huckleberry.
Blueberries grow in clusters, but because the berries ripen at different times, they must be handpicked to harvest the best of the early fruit. Later, a harvesting machine is used to gently shake each bush so that only the ripe berries fall off.
The blueberry season lasts only from mid-April to late September, beginning in the southern states and moving north as the season progresses. The berries are very perishable and easily damaged by improper handling and extreme temperatures.
Blueberries are one of the most popular berries in the United States, second only to strawberries. They can be eaten dried or fresh as a snack food; added to cereals, salads, yogurt, or ice cream; used as an ingredient in pancakes, muffins, pies, breads, or sauces or as cake topping; or puréed to make jam or jelly. Although the blueberry season is short, berries can be bought in the off-season in frozen, canned, or dried form. Blueberries are a good source of vitamin C.
Recent research has shown that blueberries may help prevent urinary tract infection by increasing the acidity of urine, which helps destroy bacteria, and by preventing bacteria from colonizing on the bladder walls.
Cranberry
Cranberries, which are native to North America, are small, smooth-skinned, round berries that are glossy deep red to red maroon. About one-third of an inch in diameter and half-inch to an inch long, the cranberry has seeds that are attached to the center of the fruit and are surrounded by a tart white pulp.
Also called bounceberries, because they bounce when ripe, cranberries belong to the same family as blueberries and huckleberries; but unlike these fruits, cranberries are too tart to eat raw.
Cranberries are divided into three types. The most common is the large Vaccinium macrocarpon, grown for commercial purposes. Vaccinium oxycoccus, commonly called the mossberry or small cranberry, is found wild in some areas.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea, or the lingonberry, grows well in very cold climates and is currently being developed as a crop in several eastern European countries.
Cranberries grow on a flat, woody, evergreen “vine” that thrives in acidic soil. Cranberry vines are planted in peat bogs prepared in a way that allows the plants to be covered with water to protect them from cold damage.
The pink or purple cranberry flowers can be self-pollinated, but crop yield is much greater when bees are used to facilitate pollination. The berries are borne on short uprights 6 to 8 inches in length that rise from a dense mass of stems on the soil surface.
Cranberries are extensively cultivated for commercial use in the northern states. Massachusetts is the largest producer, followed by Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. Cranberry cultivation is also common throughout Canada. Harvested between Labor Day and Halloween, cranberries enjoy their peak market season from October through December. The Pilgrims dined on cranberry dishes at the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
Once only a traditional holiday food, cranberries are now consumed throughout the year as juice drinks, dried snacks, sauces, and relishes. Because of their sour taste, they must be combined with sweet foods such as sugar or orange juice to make them palatable.
Only about 10 percent of the commercial crop is sold fresh; the rest is processed into juice or canned cranberry sauce. Cranberry juice cocktail is considered effective for preventing or treating urinary tract infections, in part because of its high acidity and its ability to inhibit bacteria from adhering to the lining of the urinary tract.
Fresh cranberries are a good source of vitamin C. In addition, they contain bioflavonoids, plant pigments with antioxidant properties.
