How to cook blueberries

Family – Ericaceae
Scientific name – Vaccinium myrtillis

Common name – blueberry

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 highbush and rabbiteye 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.

How to cook blueberries

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 pureed 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.