Tips for the Berry Season

Summertime means berry time: the aromatic berry varieties entice with a diverse range, tasting just as good pure as in juice or compote. In addition, the equally healthy and delicious berries provide numerous valuable ingredients. Most people associate it with summer – the bright colors and sweet-sour, refreshing taste of soft fruit. But berry fruit not only tastes good, but also offers a high content of vitamins and minerals, as well as plenty of fiber, which promotes intestinal transit. At the same time, berries have a variety of phytochemicals such as flavonoids and anthocyanins, which have antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and blood pressure regulating effects.

Berries: Closure fruits and aggregate fruits

Although many fruits have the term “berry” in their name, they do not always meet the botanical definition for berry(fruit). Botanists classify them as closing fruits and aggregate fruits:

• The most common berries are closing fruits: they remain closed even when fully ripe, and their seeds are thus enveloped by the pulp. These include not only classic berries such as currants, blueberries or grapes, but also, for example, bananas, kiwis, dates, cucumbers or pumpkins. Since such berries as the last two have a hard outer layer, they are also called armored berries.
• If the flower has several ovaries, each with a berry-like fruit, the botanist speaks of collective berry – a relatively rare form, which includes, for example, kermes berries.
• Strawberries, raspberries or blackberries, on the other hand, are botanically not berries, but aggregate fruits – more precisely, aggregate nut and aggregate fruit, respectively. Their seeds in the form of tiny nuts or stones is not protected inside the berry, but outside on the fruit body.
• Elderberries or juniper berries also do not live up to their name – the former belong to the drupes, the latter are cones of an evergreen cypress species.

In the trade, various types of fruit are grouped under the term “soft fruit” – botanically not quite correct, but traditional and understandable to consumers. Their commonality is their characteristics: small and roundish, as well as relatively soft and – of course – edible. Thus, “vegetable berries” such as the tomato do not fall under it, and fruit species such as the strawberry are included.

Three important rules for buying and storing berries.

Since berries are very delicate, it is important to process them gently and quickly. Observe the following rules:

1. When buying, look for plump fruit and dry, shiny bowls, because the berries are very sensitive to pressure and mold quickly after injury.
2. To clean, dip the fruit only briefly in standing water and immediately put on a paper towel to drain, so they do not get soaked with the water and become mushy.
3. In the refrigerator, the fresh berries keep one to two days.

Freeze berries properly

In addition to their many uses, for example, for juice, compote, fruit ice cream or as a cake topping, the berries can also be frozen well. At the same time, valuable vitamins are preserved. However, due to their high water content, they often become mushy and stick together after thawing. This can be avoided if they are frozen in individual layers (spread out side by side on a board or foil) on the outside and only then placed together in a bag and properly frozen. And even if the berries are not as crisp after thawing as they were after harvesting: For certain types of preparation such as fruit puree, grits or milkshake, the delicious little fruits are always suitable.

Ingredients and effect of berries