Cranberry Trivia
Popular Name Cranberry
Scientific Name
Vaccinium macrocarpum Ait. V. oxycoccus L (small bush cranberry), V
erythrocarpum Michx (Southern Mt. Cranberry), V. Vitis (Lowbush Cranberry)
Family: Ericaceae.
Common Names
Cranberry, Bounceberry, "Trailing Swamp Cranberry"
Description
Cranberries are a low-growing vine native to the bogs and sandy plains of New
England, and are a close relative of the blueberry. Massachusetts is second in
the nation in cranberry production (Wisconsin is first), producing some 2
million barrels of fruit each year. They were not cultivated as an agricultural
crop until 1816. They are packed with Vitamin C and numerous phytochemicals. 20%
of all cranberries produced and sold during one year are sauced and eaten at
Thanksgiving.
Folklore
Eastern Europeans believed cranberries could reduce fever and cure cancers.
Effect
Cranberries are believed to prevent adherence of E. Coli bacteria to urinary
tract walls.
Yearly production in U.S
About 70,000 tons
Culinary Use
Fresh, canned, frozen, juiced, jellied.
Potential Health Uses
In the 1800's, German physicians noted an increase in hippuric acid, a known
anti-bacterial, in the urine of those who recently consumed cranberries.
Researchers are now considering cranberry's effectiveness in the prevention and
treatment of urinary tract infection.
Active Constituents
Anthocyanin dyes, catechin, triterpinoids, citric, malic, quinic, benzoic, and
glucuornic acids, leptosine glycoside, some alkaloids, and ascorbic acid.
It certainly wasn't present at the first Thanksgiving and the cranberry wasn't
even made into a "sauce" until early American colonists started experimenting
with native ingredients.
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