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Blueberry explosion
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Blueberries are bursting with fibre, Vitamins A and C, potassium and folate ... as well as flavour!
Helen Perkins once counted blueberry pie as a guilty pleasure.
No more. Now that the health benefits of the berry show the highest total antioxidant capacity per serving compared with more than 20 other fruits, her favourite summer dessert is something of a wise choice.
"If the pastry is light, there's not much to be worried about," says the Moncton woman with a smile. "The good of the blueberries outweigh the bad of the sugar in my books."
Filled with an intense, tangy-sweet flavour and supercharged health benefits, the bountiful blue berries are continuing to earn high marks. Wild blueberries tallied a score of more than 13,000 for total antioxidant capacity per berry, with cultivated blueberries coming in second with about 9,000 (for comparison's sake, gala apples scored around 3,900).
No true recommendation exists for daily antioxidant consumption, but they are coveted for fighting off free radicals in the body and from the environment. Free radicals cause damage to cells, disrupting the DNA and possibly setting up the body for disease. It is known that cell damage may be at the root of a host of health issues -- running the gamut from aging to macular degeneration to cancer to Alzheimer's disease ?-- but antioxidants
scavenge those free radicals in the body, neutralizing their effects.
According to a variety of sources, considerable research suggests that antioxidants are a key part of a healthy lifestyle, fighting inflammation that is known as one of the main causes of diseases like arthritis and cancer.
"Blueberries are full of nutrients and very low in calories," says Fanny Leblanc, a registered holistic nutritionist in Dieppe. "They have been rated on top of lists for their capacity to destroy free radicals."
We have long been enthralled with the tiny blue berry shimmering in fields. A member of the heath family that includes the cranberry as well as the azalea and rhododendron, the fruit has been cherished as a staple ingredient in foods and medicines for centuries. Like their modern counterparts, the earliest settlers ate them fresh off the bush and added them to soups, stews
and many other foods.
Throughout history, blueberry tea has helped women relax during childbirth, leaves have created blood purifiers for the kidneys and juices have relieved nasty coughs. They have also been used as a preventive measure and cure for flux and other abdominal problems. During the Second World War, British Royal Air Force pilots were known for voracious consumption of the berries
to improve their night vision.
There is no arguing with the numbers. One cup of berries contains 16 per cent of the daily value of fibre and is a source of Vitamins A and C, potassium and folate. They are also low in fat and sodium, all of which help them secure a first-place finish ahead of 40 other top antioxidant-rich
fruits and vegetables.
"Of all the berries, it is first in Vitamin A and second in food energy," says Fanny. "It also contains Vitamin C and iron and is a good source of calcium, phosphorous and potassium."
Additionally, recent headlines indicate a compound in the berries that appears to be as effective at lowering cholesterol as a commercial drug, with fewer side effects. Pterostilbene has the potential to be developed into a natural medicine for lowering cholesterol. Other researchers have found pterostilbene in grapes, but the new findings are the first to discover the compound in blueberries. More studies will be done.
Whether due to the health benefits or the natural delicious taste, the use of the fruit is being expanded. Blueberry wines, beverage concentrates and smoothies are becoming more popular, along with the fruit's more traditional uses in baked goods like cobblers, crumbles and pies. As a multi-use ingredient, blueberries may be served in a bowl or over cereal for breakfast, sprinkled in a salad for lunch or in a sauce for meat at dinner.
One challenge with cooking the berries lies in preserving the colour, which tends to change during the cooking process due to acids like lemon juice and vinegar turning the blue to a reddish shade. In an alkaline environment (such as a muffin batter that includes baking soda), the berries may go so far as to turn an unappealing shade of greenish-blue. To prevent this, many
cooks will stir blueberries carefully into a cake or muffin batter at the end of the recipe. Or, if making an item like pancakes, wait to drop the berries on top of the batter on the griddle or waffle iron.
"You want the blueberries to show up here and there, but not to be in a blueish-grey pancake," says Stefan Mueller, executive chef at the Delta
Beausjour in Moncton.
In an admittedly short season, many local fans will freeze the berries for use later in the fall and winter.
Resist the urge to wash the berries; the powdery blue coating is a natural wax called bloom that will enable the berries to freeze individually. Berries that don't make it to the freezer will stay in excellent condition for about 10 days post harvest, or possibly as long as 15 days.
As well, it is possible to freeze the berries with syrup, dry sugar or unsweetened. A syrup pack may be made with two and a half cups of sugar in four cups of water; use one cup of syrup to each quart of prepared fruit.
For a dry sugar pack, add half a cup of granulated sugar to each quart of prepared fruit and gently mix until sugar is dissolved.
"It is nice to have them in the winter," says Stefan. "They are best fresh, but if you freeze them properly, they will have that fresh taste."
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