Research scientist Samir Debnath says he became interested in researching the lingonberry shrub because of its high antioxidant content. (Submitted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
The little tart red berries that many people in Newfoundland love to slather as jam on toast or bake into cakes, pies and squares might well be a superfruit.
Research is underway to boost local production and pack in even more health benefits, says one scientist.
Known as the patridgeberry in Newfoundland and Labrador, the fruit-producing shrubs are more widely known around the world as the lingonberry.
Research is ongoing to get the shrubs to produce more berries that are packed with even more antioxidants.
“We developed hybrids between European and Canadian lingonberry plants with high antioxidant activity, high production and adaptable to cultivate in northern regions of Canada,” Samir Debnath, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist, told CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning.
Partridgeberries grow abundantly in many places in Newfoundland and Labrador. (Submitted by Mark Gray)
Debnath has developed a method to speed up the shrub’s growth cycle so more high antioxidant berries can be harvested. The trial is underway in a laboratory in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as at labs across Canada, but he said it will be years before they see results that could have an economic benefit.
“We are expecting to get good results within a few years and to develop lingonberry plants with a good economic potential for sustainable northern agriculture production,” said Debnath.
A small but mighty berry
The berry goes by many names, including red berry, foxberry, mountain cranberry and cowberry.
“It has as many as 25 names, but the English common name is lingonberry,” said Debnath.
Samir Debnath says the research team grows a small part of plant tissue in a glass container. (Submitted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
Debnath said he was drawn to researching the lingonberry because of its “new potential superfruit” status.
“It is known as a superfruit for their high antioxidant activities. Antioxidant activities means it fights against cancer and recent research has found that lingonberry is very helpful in reducing risk of kidney, liver and heart diseases,” he said.
It is also well-suited to growing in Canada’s cool northern climates, he said.
Debnath’s team collected wild lingonberry plants from Atlantic Canada, Quebec, the U.S. and Europe. From this research he said there are two different types of lingonberries, the European variation and North American.
The North American lingonberry is smaller in size than its European counterpart, which produces more berries, he said.
“But the antioxidant activity is way more in North American lingonberries. Lingonberries grow in the wild and so we developed cultivars crossing between these two cultivars — these two types of plants, European and Canadian — to get high antioxidants containing lingonberries,” said Debnath.
Grows well in cool weather
Created through selective breeding, he said this new strain is suitable for growing in the cooler Canadian climates while also retaining the desirable high berry-producing element found in European variants.
The North American-European berry variation is being grown using a method called micro-propagation, he said.
Samir Debnath says he’s combined the best qualities of the European and North American variation of partridgeberry. (Submitted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
A small part of plant tissue is grown in a glass container where it can grow thousands of plants in a small container, he said. While the process preserves the plant’s genetic qualities, it also speed up the research process because they have more plants to cross with each other to get new varieties in a shorter amount of time.
“You can get 800 to 1,000 plants in nearby reactor systems. It’s a very rapid propagation system,” he said.
“Within six to eight months you are getting thousands of plants in a small container.”
He added that in a lab setting they can also control all the growing conditions to ensure that the berries development is free from the interference of disease or insects.
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