The new hybrid of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa),

the Zespri™, a true superfruit

high in micronutrients and phytochemicals

 

[follow the Wikipedia links]

 

The commercial sector of superfruits is growing, forecast to become a $20 billion world market by 2012.

To be prepared for this exciting sector, the Berry Doctor's Journal is expanding our content to include more than just berries, but also non-berry fruits with unusually high nutrient content and phytochemical interest -- the definition of a "true superfruit".

The Berry Doctor has also written a book on Superfruits for consumers, a science-oriented text that focuses on the nutritional value of whole foods, not juices which too often lose the natural nutritional qualities of the whole intact fruit during processing. The book will be published in the Fall 2009.

 

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a look

at some of the book's feature messages to emphasize

how superfruits can be defined and

how whole food superfruits can benefit

your diet and health.

 

Twitter for the Superfruits Book

We're also starting a new online update feature using Twitter, a free micro-blogging service where we can broadcast brief news updates on berries and superfruits.

Twitter is simply a "short message service" (SMS), just 140 characters for quickly broadcasting a message to our educational network of subscribers to the Berry Doctor's Journal. SMS is the same technology as cell phone texting, short messages being used by over 2 billion people. It's the fastest growing network service on the internet.

And you can reply using Twitter to stimulate a conversation or follow-up question.

To give Twitter a try and receive these news capsules -- even on your cell phone! -- go to Twitter.com and sign up with your own name or handle.

Then visit twitter.com/superfruitsbook where you need to click on "Follow" to be linked into Berry Doctor "tweets" on superfruit news.

 

Red guava (Psidium guyava), a multinutrient superfruit.

You might first detect its sweet fragrance even before seeing it!

 

Some Facts About Superfruits

1. emphasize the whole food value of the fruit, not its juice. If the fruit isn't available as a whole food and doesn't have appealing taste, fragrance and color, then it's not a superfruit

2. our focus on superfruits is all about naturally high content of many nutrients

3. a superfruit should already be popular as a whole food in many countries. Let's dismiss all these rare exotic fruits coming out of a jungle somewhere -- if science hasn't defined it well, a fruit cannot earn "super" status

4. a superfruit should have an interesting combination of phytochemicals, like carotenoids, polyphenols, or specific promising chemicals like resveratrol

5. scientists in many "first-world" research countries should be hot on the trail, publishing about the special characteristics of a given superfruit

6. a true superfruit or its specific extract should be well-advanced in research, even into human studies