Avoid: Baskets of berries with juice stains or liquid leaking out of the berries. The stains
and leaks are signs that there are crushed—and possibly moldy—berries inside.
Storing This Food
Cover berries and refrigerate them. Then use them in a day or two.
Do not wash berries before storing. The moisture collects in spaces on the surface of
the berries that may mold in the refrigerator. Also, handling the berries may damage their
cells, releasing enzymes that can destroy vitamins.
Preparing This Food
Rinse the berries under cool running water, then drain them and pick them over carefully to
remove all stems and leaves.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Cooking destroys some of the vitamin C in fresh blackberries and lets water-soluble B
vitamins leach out. Cooked berries are likely to be mushy because the heat and water dis-
solve their pectin and the skin of the berry collapses. Cooking may also change the color of
blackberries, which contain soluble red anthocyanin pigments that stain cooking water and
turn blue in basic (alkaline) solutions. Adding lemon juice to a blackberry pie stabilizes these
pigments; it is a practical way to keep the berries a deep, dark reddish blue.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Canning. The intense heat used in canning fruits reduces the vitamin C content of black-
berries. Berries packed in juice have more nutrients, ounce for ounce, than berries packed in
either water or syrup.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Anticancer activity. Blackberries are rich in anthocyanins, bright-red plant pigments that act
as antioxidants—natural chemicals that prevent free radicals (molecular fragments) from
joining to form carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds. Some varieties of blackberries also
contain ellagic acid, another anticarcinogen with antiviral and antibacterial properties.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Allergic reaction. Hives and angioedema (swelling of the face, lips, and eyes) are common
allergic responses to berries, virtually all of which have been known to trigger allergic
Blackberries