Tropical Blueberries: the New Extreme Super Fruit

Tropical blueberries have been in the news lately, after a study published in ACS Publications' Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry found that several species of tropical blueberry growing wild in Mexico, South America, and Central America (also known as the neo-tropics) have many times the anti-oxidants of the Vaccinium corymbosum L. (your garden variety high bush bluet) you can buy in grocery stores.

What the study doesn't indicate is how the anti-oxidants in the "neotropical" super fruits compare to their wild North American cousins. Many of the commercial brands available in grocery stores are the big, tasteless, farmed high bush varieties. These commercially grown berries in no way compare to the taste (and the nutritional value) of their wild North American counterparts.

Tropical blueberries have been labelled as "extreme super fruits" and will probably become the latest health food craze, like acai berries. But, like acai, the tropical blueberry may be quite rare (and therefore difficult to find, and harvest), and difficult to grow commercially. The acai berry is a real super fruit, but its image has been corrupted by get-rich-quick acai products and scams. The real thing is expensive, and doesn't travel well.

Time will tell whether the tropical blueberry suffers the same fate. Hopefully, not. If they can be harvested, transported, and distributed you may eventually be able to add a tropical antioxidant boost to your grocery list.

Keep an eye out for your favourite blue fruit's tropical cousin in the exotic food aisle of your supermarket. Just make sure you're buying the real thing, and not some pricey imitation.