Blueberry facts
- Blueberries topped a table of 40 health-giving fruit and vegetables produced by the U. S . Department of Agriculture because of their high antioxidant content.
- Around 200million lbs of the fruit is grown in the U.S. and Canada each year - enough to cover three motorway lanes all the way from Land's End to John O'Groats.
- Blueberries are related to the bilberry and the Scottish blaeberry. The plants live for up to 60 years.
- In Japan it is said that blueberries provide a cure for tired eyes.
- Britain consumes nearly 10million lbs a year, imported mainly from France, Poland, the U.S., South America and South Africa.
- Though a relatively new fruit to Britain, the blueberry is now grown commercially in this country.
- The fruit's juice is mixed with milk and used to paint houses blue by the religious group the Shakers in the U.S.
- The first published recipe for America's now ubiquitous blueberry muffin appeared i n Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cook Book of 1905.
