Wild Blueberry ≠ Blueberry
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Wild Blueberry ≠ Blueberry
Small, sweet and nutritious – these are just some of the common descriptions one thinks of when blueberries are mentioned. Packed with powerful antioxidants, they are touted as one of nature’s powerful superfoods. Blueberries have been shown to protect against heart disease and cancer, and can also help maintain bone strength, mental health, and healthful blood pressure, according to Medical News Today.
And because in this part of the world, almost all the blueberries you see in the fresh produce section of our supermarkets are cultivated, these fresh tiny power berries can be found year-round for you to get your fix of anthocyanin – a plant compound that gives blueberries their blue color and many of their health benefits.
If you are eating blueberries for their health benefits, are you aware then that they also exist in the wild? And when it comes to wild blueberries, they have a higher concentration of the antioxidant anthocyanin compared to their cultivated counterpart, and therefore have a greater antioxidant capacity per serving. These antioxidants, as part of the diet, possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
So, how different are Blueberries vs Wild Blueberries? We decided to do a quick search around and give you a quick comparison below.
| Blueberries | Wild Blueberries |
|---|---|
| Tall shrubs with height of over 2 meters (highbush) | Short shrubs up to about 60cm (lowbush) |
| Cultivated & needs to be tended to with full sun and lots of water | Grows in the wild usually on rocky outcrop and does not need any tending to, and subject to extreme weather conditions. |
| Grown mostly in America and Canada, plus a few other countries like Poland, Germany, Mexico, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, etc. | Grows in cold northern climates of the U.S., particularly Maine, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. Tropical climates also have their own species of wild blueberries in areas such as Mexico, Central, and South America. Most of the Wild Blueberry we see here comes from the U.S. |
| Typically harvested before ripening to be packed for export or sale. | Harvested in the summer and usually quick frozen or freeze dried, which locks in their nutrients at their optimal stage |
Generally, Wild Blueberries are smaller in size, and have less water content, so they tend to have a more intense flavor and are usually sweeter than their cultivated cousins. Having said that, there are many reasons why the benefits of eating wild blueberries outweigh the benefits of eating regular blueberries:
- Wild blueberries have twice the antioxidant capacity per serving in comparison to regular blueberries. Perhaps to survive the harsh, cold growing conditions, Wild Blueberries shrubs have developed a protection system in the form of phytochemicals, specifically polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. There are many different types of polyphenols in wild blueberries, including anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, chlorogenic acids, and flavonols. Antioxidants offer a wide range of health benefits, including reducing age-associated oxidative stress and inflammation.
- Wild blueberries contain twice the amount of fiber compared to regular blueberries—about 6.2 grams of fiber per cup, which is 25% of the daily recommended value for fiber (Click here to learn about the important health benefits of eating fiber).
- Wild blueberries contain 30% less sugar than regular blueberries and are considered to be a low glycemic food.
- Contain 8x more manganese. Wild blueberries contain 8x more manganese compared to regular blueberries. One serving of wild blueberries (1 cup) provides 4 mg or 200% of the daily recommended value for manganese. Research has shown that manganese may improve bone health, reduce inflammation, help regulate blood sugar, and plays a role in nutrient metabolism.
- More nutrition for less calories. One cup of wild blueberries is low in calories (80 calories per cup), yet packed with nutrition. Not only are wild blueberries low in fat, they contain several micronutrients, including, iron, vitamin C, folic acid, and manganese. They also have a higher anthocyanin content (antioxidant) than regular blueberries.
So, while your regular blueberries do pack a punch and can be a wonderful fruit to add to your diet, we suggest adding Wild Blueberries if you are looking at greater health benefits or if you are on a healing protocol. Today, you can find them relatively easily in Singapore in powder form as well as in a frozen form.
Personally, we prefer the powder form over the frozen for both logistics reasons (easier to store and use), as well as in taste (they are usually sweeter) and quality control (less likelihood of contamination as they are dry and in individual bags or cannisters, not mixed with everything else in the freezer compartment). You can find them here.
If you will like to try the frozen berries, you may be able to find them at some specialty supermarkets like SuperNature as well as baking supplies stores like RedMan.
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