Any type of fruit or vegetable with a bright color has antioxidant properties. Antioxidants soak up free radicals in the body, which are responsible for chronic diseases. Purple-, red- and blue-colored fruits and vegetables get their pigments from specific antioxidants called anthocyanins. Blackberries and blueberries contain anthocyanins because of their purple and blue colors. These compounds, which are also known as flavonoids, reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Beyond the antioxidant profile, both types of berries contain multiple nutrients and make good additions to your diet. So which one is better? Let’s take a look at their nutrition and benefits.
Blackberries are primarily abundant in the Pacific Coast and eastern North America. They are also found in the British Isles and Western Europe. The Blackberry plants grow like vines. When they grow, they go over other plants just to stay off the ground. Blackberry bushes are often thorny but some varieties are not. The great thing about blackberries is that anybody can grow their own as they are tolerant of site and soil conditions.
Blueberry plants, on the other hand, are freestanding and they grow best in acidic soil. These plants mainly grow on the hillsides of Northern Europe and Northern Britain. Blueberries are also native to Asia. Europeans call the plant as the bilberry bush which is often found growing wild in the woods. The blueberry fruit is spherical in shape with a medium to dark blue color when it is ripe.
Nutrition
Calories, Fat and Cholesterol
A 100 g serving of blackberries contains 43 calories, while the same amount of blueberries contains 57 calories. The blackberries contain 0.49 g of total fat and 0.014 g of saturated fat, which is 1 percent of the daily value of total fat and less than 1 percent of the daily value of saturated fat, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. With 0.33 g of total fat and 0.028 g of saturated fat, the blueberries contain slightly less total fat and slightly more saturated fat than the blackberries. Since this difference in fat is so slight, the total daily value amount for the fat in blueberries is the same as that of blackberries, with 1 percent the daily value of total fat and less than 1 percent the daily value of saturated fat. Neither blackberries nor blueberries contain cholesterol.
Protein and Carbohydrates
A 100 g serving of blackberries provides 1.4 g of protein, or about 2 percent of your daily value of protein. The same amount of blueberries contain 0.7 g of protein, which is about 1 percent of the daily value. The total amount of carbohydrates is 9.6 g for a 100 g serving of blackberries and 14.5 g for the same sized serving of blueberries, which is about 3 percent and 5 percent of the daily value, respectively. The blackberries have 5.3 g of dietary fiber, which is about 21 percent of the daily value. With only 2.4 g of fiber, the blueberries provide less than half of the daily value of fiber of the blackberries. The blackberries contain 4.9 g of sugar, while the blueberries contain 10 g of sugar.
Vitamins
Blackberries provide greater amounts of vitamins than blueberries, with a few exceptions. Blackberries contain 35 percent of the daily value of vitamin C, 25 percent of the daily value of vitamin K, 6 percent of the daily value of folate and vitamin E, 4 percent of the daily value of vitamin A, 3 percent of the daily value of niacin and pantothenic acid, 2 percent of the daily value of vitamin B-6 and 1 percent of the daily value of thiamine. A 100 g serving of blueberries contains 16 percent of vitamin C, 24 percent of vitamin K, 3 percent of vitamin E and vitamin B-6, 1 percent of pantothenic acid and vitamin A and 2 percent of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folate. Blackberries and blueberries do not contain any vitamin B-12.
Minerals
Blackberries contain larger amounts of minerals than blueberries. A 100 g serving of blackberries provides 32 percent the daily value of manganese, 8 percent the daily value of copper, 5 percent the daily value of magnesium and potassium, 4 percent the daily value of zinc, 3 percent the daily value of calcium and iron and 1 percent of the daily value of selenium. The same sized serving of blueberries only offers 17 percent of the daily value of manganese; 3 percent of the daily value of copper; 2 percent of the daily value of iron, magnesium and potassium; 1 percent of calcium, phosphorus and zinc; and less than 1 percent of the daily value of selenium.
The blackberry and the blueberry are tremendously nutritious as they are excellent sources of vitamins and iron. Yet, the most remarkable property of these fruits is their richness in antioxidant content. Based on the nutrition facts, I’d personally go with blackberries. Which one will you choose?
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| Nataliya Olifer |
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