Apparently some growers are producing a sweeter blackberry strain eliminating the need for sugar in recipes that include blackberries.
This dark fruit’s antioxidant health benefits are now joining the ranks with Blueberries for “super food” status.
Read more:
~LM
OK, so no one is interested in delicious and nutritious blackberries…
How about low sugar watermelon?
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/07/0723watermelons.html
I dunno if I’m down with the genetic fruit. It’s interesting for sure, but I’m not sold on it being a great idea yet.
As a side note, I pick my own wild blackberries back in VA to make jams and spreads. I also grow my own peaches and other fruit, that way I know exactly what I’m getting.
Thanks for the links Lisa.
This will be interesting. I love blackberries, but depending on where they are from and the conditions grown in the taste varies.
Some of them are so good and others taste like ass. So instead of taste testing them, I just buy them frozen and then stick them in a smoothie. Not too many blackberries though, usually mixed with rasberries, strawberries, and blueberries. If I add mango it masks the taste of the blackberries.
Frankenberries?
Sorry…someone had to say it.
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
Apparently some growers are producing a sweeter blackberry strain eliminating the need for sugar in recipes that include blackberries.
This dark fruit’s antioxidant health benefits are now joining the ranks with Blueberries for “super food” status.
Read more:
~LM[/quote]
I love berries of all kinds, but that follows because I love almost everything. Thanks for the tip. Whho would’ve ever thought you would be found perusing the “wine and Dining” section of the NYTimes =]
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
OK, so no one is interested in delicious and nutritious blackberries…[/quote]
I’m interested, and read the article. Thanks for posting it 
I gotta get me a big raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry patch!
[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
I dunno if I’m down with the genetic fruit. It’s interesting for sure, but I’m not sold on it being a great idea yet. [/quote]
Very interesting thoughts here…
Now how many think that breeding for specific traits changes the genetic makeup of the fruit/food?
Say for example if you breed out certain traits like bitter or sour and save only the breeds that are more sweet and propagate those, does that make the genetic makeup any different than the original fruit/food?
Wouldn’t the nutrients still be the same, and only the certain traits taken away?
It’s actually the color that creates the “anti-oxidant” value of blackberries, and that has stayed the same.
[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
As a side note, I pick my own wild blackberries back in VA to make jams and spreads. I also grow my own peaches and other fruit, that way I know exactly what I’m getting.[/quote]
I pick my own, too. I usually eat half the bucket walking home, and when I get there, my sons eat them by the fistfulls until they’re gone or they feel sick, whatever comes first. Gone in sixty seconds.
I hardly ever add sugar when baking things with fruit. When I do use sugar, I use turbinado or “raw” sugar. Try it, you’ll like ie.
As far as the gen-eng fruit, I’ll skip it for now. There are no long term studies on it’s effects.
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
Say for example if you breed out certain traits like bitter or sour and save only the breeds that are more sweet and propagate those, does that make the genetic makeup any different than the original fruit/food?
Wouldn’t the nutrients still be the same, and only the certain traits taken away?
[/quote]
I don’t think necessarily. What if whatever gives it the bitter taste is also providing nutrients? It’s not like all blackberries have the same nutritional value, we just average them out to get our facts. Just a thought.
Also, as far as GMO fruit: selective breeding definitely does change the genetics of the plant, but it seems “gentler” to me. You’re not introducing anything that isn’t in the berries anyway, you’re just encouraging plants that naturally are sweeter etc.
This vs just slotting in some genetic code to get what you think you want. I know, it’s a minor difference, and I’m not totally against GMO stuff, but selective breeding just seems safer.
I don’t think that it’s as simple as selective breeding anymore. I believe that they do introduce more of a genetic code into the plants to change their properties. Take for example the genetic engineered corn we tried to ship over to the starving nations of Africa.
The countries rejected it because if local farmers planted that type of corn it had the ability to kill off the natural corn crops. As a slight side note, I have no idea how thats possible but I remember reading it on CNN because I wanted to know why a starving country would turn down several tons of corn.
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
As a side note, I pick my own wild blackberries back in VA to make jams and spreads. I also grow my own peaches and other fruit, that way I know exactly what I’m getting.
I pick my own, too. I usually eat half the bucket walking home, and when I get there, my sons eat them by the fistfulls until they’re gone or they feel sick, whatever comes first. Gone in sixty seconds.
[/quote]
Haha I do the same too! I like the tart flavor of the berries, it’s a nice change of pace.
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
I pick my own, too. I usually eat half the bucket walking home, and when I get there, my sons eat them by the fistfulls until they’re gone or they feel sick, whatever comes first. Gone in sixty seconds.[/quote]
Yes I too partake in the fresh berry picking when the season is right around her. I just go to the local trail with my dog and bring a small bag with me too. Ahhhhh summer on the East coast…doesn’t get better than that…
Love the turbinado sugar but, I unfortunately try to stay away from the sugar am pre-diabetic from PCOS. Poor me…that’s why you don’t find many dessert recipes on my thread.
[quote]thesixteenth wrote:
I don’t think necessarily. What if whatever gives it the bitter taste is also providing nutrients? It’s not like all blackberries have the same nutritional value, we just average them out to get our facts. Just a thought.
[/quote]
ahaaaa…I see where you are coming from here.
[quote]
Also, as far as GMO fruit: selective breeding definitely does change the genetics of the plant, but it seems “gentler” to me. You’re not introducing anything that isn’t in the berries anyway, you’re just encouraging plants that naturally are sweeter etc.
selective breeding just seems safer…[/quote]
Yeah I guess that’s kind of where I was going too. Selective breeding. I do it in my own garden only propagate the plants that are big healthy and fruitful…no genetic mutation going on here!
[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Haha I do the same too! I like the tart flavor of the berries, it’s a nice change of pace.
[/quote]
ahhhh a man after my own heart.
Tart and Sour are my two favorite taste sensations.
And then there’s [b][i]Umami
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
And then there’s [b][i]Umami[/quote]
I just Googled it, Smarty pants!
Im still waiting for the “protato” - I heard about it being grown for the first time a few years back but I havent heard anything since… apparenty a potato with 33% more protein =]
To get back to the genetic modification of blackberries. Coffee and cocoa beans contain healthy antioxidants and other beneficial micronutrients…and are both bitter. Could be that by making berries less bitter we’re also bring down the amount of healthy micronutrients they contain.
As an aside, these posts have brought back childhood memories of Summers in Spain when I would go out with my gang of friends to pick blackberries in plastic bags. We’d eat so many! I remember my aunt would always know I’d been picking because of the purple stains on my hands. Ah…Good times…