Your source for fruit and vegetable news
By Bobbie Whitehead
Updated Tuesday, June 16, 2009
As blueberry season begins, folks interested in the tasty dark berries may want to include them in their diet more often.
A study by Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed a berry compound reduced the “aging effect” in laboratory rats.
“In a new study, aged laboratory animals that ate a diet rich in the berry and grape compound pterostilbene performed better than those in a group that did not eat the enriched diet,” ARS scientists report.
Updated Tuesday, June 16, 2009
As blueberry season begins, folks interested in the tasty dark berries may want to include them in their diet more often.
A study by Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed a berry compound reduced the “aging effect” in laboratory rats.
“In a new study, aged laboratory animals that ate a diet rich in the berry and grape compound pterostilbene performed better than those in a group that did not eat the enriched diet,” ARS scientists report.
This compound, “pterostilbene” apparently “reversed measurable negative effects of aging on brain function and behavioral performance,” according to the ARS.
To determine this, ARS scientists fed rats diets with high or low levels of “pterostilbene.” What they found was those rats fed higher levels showed cognitive decline reversed and “improved working memory.” Scientists attributed the effects to the higher levels of the compound in the “hippocampus region of the brain,” the ARS reports.
“We’re real excited about the findings of this study,” said Dr. Jim Joseph, director of the Neuroscience Lab with the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston and one of the collaborators in the study.
Joseph said eating the whole berry can provide better benefits than any fraction of it. Scientists have also found improved memory in preliminary studies conducted with humans.
“I think preliminary data from a small human pilot study that we collaborated on with Dr. Robert Krikorian at the University of Cincinnati showed that the blueberry or Concord grape juice showed improved memory in those people that had early memory decline,” Joseph said.
Local Growers and Benefits
This research tidbit could be important to local blueberry growers as some expect a good year and have seen more consumer interest in buying blueberries.
“This is our second year with the blueberry field,” said Steve Berryman of College Run Farms in Surry. “The plants are still small, but hopefully, we’ll have more blueberries. I think it’s going to be a good year.”
With close to two acres of blueberries, Berryman opened his pick-your-own field last year, and he said folks are still picking strawberries but are ready for blueberries.
“Blueberry plants are tough to get going, and it’s been a challenge for me,” Berryman said. “It’s an all summer-long job to keep the field weeded, fertilized and pruned. That takes a lot.”
But Berryman said the work is worth it.
“Blueberries are supposed to be good for you, and customers ask for them,” he said.
Berryman grows and sells the Croatan and O’Neil blueberry varieties and opened his field the first week of June.
Lenore Drewry of Drewry Farms in Wakefield estimates opening their field the last week of June or by July 4. Drewry Farms, which has operated its blueberry field for years, remains open until the end of August and sells its blueberries through the honor system. Containers are available at the field as well as payment envelopes that customers drop into the appropriate box at the field shed.
“I’m hoping for a really good year,” Drewry said. “The weather has been cooperative.”
Because she has known about the significance of eating blueberries for years, Drewry said she and her husband supply flyers to customers, available on their field’s sign, that outline the benefits of blueberries.
In Zuni, J.M. Erwin of Erwin Orchards said he will have a good blueberry year this year and expects the berries to be coming in in about two weeks.
With 1,200 bushes of the Rabbit Eye varieties, Erwin will have his blueberry field open by appointment only.
“We have pages we’ve collected from the Department of Agriculture, and we’ll compile the information to provide the customers,” Erwin said. “We’ve kind of been in the past several years touting the health benefits of blueberries.”
Blueberry Interest Grows
Blueberry interest continues to grow, according to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. In its latest report, the council said “fresh market per capita consumption was 9.2 ounces per person in 2008 (est.).” With studies showing the health benefits gained from eating blueberries, the USHBC is providing funds for researchers to conduct additional studies, said Mark Villata, USHBC executive director.
“We follow a health halo that blueberries have,” Villata said. “It continues to gain momentum and consumer interest, and we continue to see more sales of fresh blueberries each year.”
Also, blueberry product demand continues to be strong. “Last year over 1300 blueberry-containing products were introduced,” the USHBC reports.
While some growers won’t argue that it’s the blueberry taste people love, consumer interest might be prompted, too, by the health benefits blueberries may provide. Along with the potential to improvement aging effects, a previous ARS study found that blueberry skins might help reduce high cholesterol levels.
But that’s not all, the same compound “pterostilbene” that may reverse aging effects has been found to suppress an enzyme that researchers say “activates cancer-causing processes.”
Highbush blueberries, a native plant along the East Coast, were revered by American Indians, particularly those in the Northeast, and American Indians used blueberries for food and medicine, according to the USHBC. For example, dried blueberries served to flavor meat and were used in a beef jerky called “sautauthig,” the council says.
To determine this, ARS scientists fed rats diets with high or low levels of “pterostilbene.” What they found was those rats fed higher levels showed cognitive decline reversed and “improved working memory.” Scientists attributed the effects to the higher levels of the compound in the “hippocampus region of the brain,” the ARS reports.
“We’re real excited about the findings of this study,” said Dr. Jim Joseph, director of the Neuroscience Lab with the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston and one of the collaborators in the study.
Joseph said eating the whole berry can provide better benefits than any fraction of it. Scientists have also found improved memory in preliminary studies conducted with humans.
“I think preliminary data from a small human pilot study that we collaborated on with Dr. Robert Krikorian at the University of Cincinnati showed that the blueberry or Concord grape juice showed improved memory in those people that had early memory decline,” Joseph said.
Local Growers and Benefits
This research tidbit could be important to local blueberry growers as some expect a good year and have seen more consumer interest in buying blueberries.
“This is our second year with the blueberry field,” said Steve Berryman of College Run Farms in Surry. “The plants are still small, but hopefully, we’ll have more blueberries. I think it’s going to be a good year.”
With close to two acres of blueberries, Berryman opened his pick-your-own field last year, and he said folks are still picking strawberries but are ready for blueberries.
“Blueberry plants are tough to get going, and it’s been a challenge for me,” Berryman said. “It’s an all summer-long job to keep the field weeded, fertilized and pruned. That takes a lot.”
But Berryman said the work is worth it.
“Blueberries are supposed to be good for you, and customers ask for them,” he said.
Berryman grows and sells the Croatan and O’Neil blueberry varieties and opened his field the first week of June.
Lenore Drewry of Drewry Farms in Wakefield estimates opening their field the last week of June or by July 4. Drewry Farms, which has operated its blueberry field for years, remains open until the end of August and sells its blueberries through the honor system. Containers are available at the field as well as payment envelopes that customers drop into the appropriate box at the field shed.
“I’m hoping for a really good year,” Drewry said. “The weather has been cooperative.”
Because she has known about the significance of eating blueberries for years, Drewry said she and her husband supply flyers to customers, available on their field’s sign, that outline the benefits of blueberries.
In Zuni, J.M. Erwin of Erwin Orchards said he will have a good blueberry year this year and expects the berries to be coming in in about two weeks.
With 1,200 bushes of the Rabbit Eye varieties, Erwin will have his blueberry field open by appointment only.
“We have pages we’ve collected from the Department of Agriculture, and we’ll compile the information to provide the customers,” Erwin said. “We’ve kind of been in the past several years touting the health benefits of blueberries.”
Blueberry Interest Grows
Blueberry interest continues to grow, according to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. In its latest report, the council said “fresh market per capita consumption was 9.2 ounces per person in 2008 (est.).” With studies showing the health benefits gained from eating blueberries, the USHBC is providing funds for researchers to conduct additional studies, said Mark Villata, USHBC executive director.
“We follow a health halo that blueberries have,” Villata said. “It continues to gain momentum and consumer interest, and we continue to see more sales of fresh blueberries each year.”
Also, blueberry product demand continues to be strong. “Last year over 1300 blueberry-containing products were introduced,” the USHBC reports.
While some growers won’t argue that it’s the blueberry taste people love, consumer interest might be prompted, too, by the health benefits blueberries may provide. Along with the potential to improvement aging effects, a previous ARS study found that blueberry skins might help reduce high cholesterol levels.
But that’s not all, the same compound “pterostilbene” that may reverse aging effects has been found to suppress an enzyme that researchers say “activates cancer-causing processes.”
Highbush blueberries, a native plant along the East Coast, were revered by American Indians, particularly those in the Northeast, and American Indians used blueberries for food and medicine, according to the USHBC. For example, dried blueberries served to flavor meat and were used in a beef jerky called “sautauthig,” the council says.
Compound found in berries is said to offset effects of aging
Blueberries are among berries that contain a compound found to offset aging effects in laboratory rats, researchers say.
Click here for a listing of area blueberry fields and their addresses.
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