This is an interesting article on the value of crowberries in the diet. Lots of people harvest this fruit although many people consider it tasteless, nothing more than a thirst quencher if you are out hiking in the woods. They are tiny, and you have your work cut out for you to harvest enough to do anything with, but they are good.
Black Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum L.) Flavonoids and Their Health Promoting ActivityTunde Jurikova 1, *, Jiri Mlcek 2 , Sona Skrovankova 2 , Stefan Balla 1 , Jiri Sochor 3 , Mojmir Baron 3 and Daniela Sumczynski 2 1 Institute for Teacher Training, Faculty of Central European Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Drazovska 4, SK-949 74 Nitra, Slovakia; sballa@ukf.sk 2 Department of Food Analysis and Chemistry, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, nam. T. G. Masaryka 5555, CZ-760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic; mlcek@ft.utb.cz (J.M.); skrovankova@ft.utb.cz (S.S.); sumczynski@ft.utb.cz (D.S.) 3 Department of Viticulture and Enology, Faculty of Horticulture, Mendel University in Brno, Valticka 337, CZ-691 44 Lednice, Czech Republic; sochor.jirik@seznam.cz (J.S.); MojmirBaron@seznam.cz (M.B.) Published: 7 December 2016
Abstract: Nowadays, much research attention is focused on underutilized berry crops due to the high antioxidant activity of fruits. Black crowberry (Empetrum nigrum L.) represents an important source of flavonols (quercetin, rutin, myricetin, naringenin, naringin, morin, and kaempferol) and anthocyanins. The fruit components could be utilised as natural colourants or as a part of functional foods and, because of the high antioxidant activity, the berries of black crowberry can be used in the treatment of diseases accompanied with inflammation, or as an effective antibacterial and antifungal remedy. Moreover, the reduction of lipid accumulation and total cholesterol as well as an improvement of postprandial hyperglycaemia have been proven. This review summarizes for the first time the main antioxidants (flavonoids) of black crowberry fruits, with a focus on their health promoting activity.
HortAlaska Berries 