Blueberry is a high value crop which can thrive on acidic, imperfectly drained sandy soils, once considered worthless for agricultural crop production.
Blueberries are eaten as fresh fruit and in processed forms. About 50% of the highbush crop is marketed fresh and the remainder is processed.
Blueberry contains a diverse range of phytochemicals that have been implicated in having beneficial health effects.
These include vitamin A, C and E, folic acid, beta-carotene, alpha-sitosterol and stigmasterol, triterpene esters and phenolic molecules.
Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants of all fresh fruits and vegetables.
Plant derived antioxidants have been shown to function as singlet and triplet oxygen quenches as, free radical scavengers, peroxide decomposers, enzyme inhibitors and synergists.
Fruit of blueberry
