BLUEBERRIES

BLUEBERRIES

Canadian Blueberries

Part One of a two part series.

Canadian  blueberries are of two types- The  “lowbush blueberries,” also known as wild blueberries and The Highbush blueberries”.

WILD BLUEBERRIES

A True Taste of Nature

The sunny days of late summer and early autumn are harvest time for Canada's blueberry crop. 

PART ONE -  LOWBUSH BLUEBERRIES

Canada is the world's largest producer of “lowbush blueberries,”  and is the world's second-largest producer and exporter of these delectable berries, after the United States.

In British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, workers hand-pick the sweetest fruits for the table market, while mechanical pickers scoop up the berries destined for freezing and processing.

These small blue globes have always been prized, and for centuries were a special favourite among Canada's First Nations  (natives). 

They had learned how to smoke the wild fruit for winter use, mix it with honey and cornmeal to make blueberry pudding, and make a blueberry syrup to cure coughs. 

Nowadays, Canada's making them unique—no other Canadian fruit shares this distinction.

Most are grown commercially in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. They are native to Eastern North America and grow best on treeless land or on land that has been burned over

Wild blueberries are unusual because growers do not plant them, but instead manage wild stands that spread naturally by means of underground runners

FIELD OF WILD BLUEBERRIES

Since managed wild blueberry fields can have several distinct runner systems, the berries are often not uniform in appearance—but the delectable taste is always the same. They ares mostly destined for processing and freezing.

EXCELLENT HEALTH BENEFITS

Diets supplemented with wild blueberry juice may affect memory  and learning in older adults, while reducing blood sugar and symptoms of depression.

Wild blueberries has a higher anthocyanin content.  Anthocyanin is the red, blue or purple color in a fruit/ veggie, depending on the pH. It is water soluble.

Anthocyanins have been shown to act as a "sunscreen", protecting cells from high-light damage by absorbing blue-green and UV light, thereby protecting the tissues from   (photoinhibition), or high-light stress.

This may be seen on  the color of autumn leaves and  of plant shoots , like the reddish hue of rose shoots.

Anthocyanins also act as powerful antioxidants.

Links- wiki-anthocyanin, also government websites- here  and here

BEAR EATING  WILD BLUEBERRIES

WILD BLUEBERRY SCONES AND JAM