SUPERFRUITS : CRANBERRY Return to the Superfruits list - Next >

Is widespread throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. It has small 5-10 mm leaves. The flowers are dark pink, with a purple central spike, produced on finely hairy stems. The fruit is a small pale pink berry, with a refreshing sharp acidic flavour.

Since the early 21st century in the United States, other such industrialized countries, and the global functional food industry, there has been a rapidly growing recognition of cranberries for their consumer product popularity, nutrient content and antioxidant qualities, giving them commercial status as a novel "superfruit"

Cranberry juice, usually sweetened to reduce its natural severe tartness and make "cranberry juice cocktail" or blended with other fruit juices, is a major use of cranberries.

Cranberries are a source of polyphenol antioxydant, phytochimical under active research for possible benefits to the cardiovascular system, immune system and as anti-cancer agent.

There is potential benefit of cranberry juice consumption against bacterial infections in the urinary system. While much of the evidence is equivocal, hypotheses suggest that an effect occurs from a component of the juice competitively inhibiting bacterial attachment to the bladder and urethra allowing the bacteria to be flushed out more easily