Which Blueberries Have More Antioxidants?

Antioxidants, groups of vitamins, minerals and enzymes with wide-ranging health benefits, are found in various types of food, from fruits and vegetables to eggs and legumes. Simply put, antioxidants keep loose electrons that result from biochemical reactions in your body, known as "free radicals," from oxidizing and forming compounds that can adversely affect your health, breaking up protein chains and even increasing the probability of certain cancers. Thus, a diet rich in antioxidants can have dramatic health benefits. A natural source of antioxidants stands out as having elevated and high-quality levels of the beneficial compounds -- the blueberry. As far as antioxidants go, however, not all blueberries are created equal and you should know what to look for if you are interested in adding more antioxidants to your diet.

Wild vs. Cultivated

• Although all blueberries have relatively high levels of antioxidants and are a good choice if you are looking to add more fruit to your diet, research by the USDA and Cornell University indicates that wild (lowbush) blueberries have higher antioxidant capacity than cultivated (highbush) varieties. Different cultivation methods can affect the antioxidant content of the berries, but, as a general rule, look for wild blueberries to get the most anti-oxidizing capacity from your blueberries.

Size

• The size of a blueberry is largely a result of the amount of water held in the berry. While large blueberries may look tempting, anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants contained in blueberries, are water-soluble and berries that have absorbed and circulated more water may have also lost some of their anti-oxidizing capacity. Recent research published in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" finds a strong correlation between berry size and antioxidant capacity. Keep in mind that lowbush blueberries also tend to be smaller than highbush varieties.

Type

• If you are lucky enough to live in an area with an abundant blueberry crop, or a particularly large fruit market, you probably know just how diverse the blueberry can be. Even within the general categories of lowbush and highbush berries, blueberries are further divided into a wide range of varieties and sub varieties. Research in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" finds particularly high antioxidant capacity in Rabbiteye and Elliot blueberries, but all blueberries have relatively high antioxidant levels, so do not worry if you cannot find these particular varieties in your area.

Color

• Anthocyanins, the powerful antioxidants mentioned above, are also a dark pigment found in many plants. In fact, anthocyanins give blueberries their characteristic blue color. If you are trying to quickly decide between blueberries for maximum antioxidant content, just go for the bluest blueberries you can find.