Eating blueberries helps to keep you in the pink Thursday, August 17, 2000 Only 45 acres of blueberries are being grown in Ireland. But the chances are that there will be a dramatic increase in acreage, especially in the midlands where they grow quite well. Recent research has indicated that eating them could help prevent cancer, because they have been found to have very high levels of anthocyanins, which contain massive amounts of antioxidants. US researchers found in 1998 that these antioxidants tie down the free radicals which help initiate cancer sites in the body. Not only that, but the fruit can slow down the effects of ageing. According to the man who grows the largest single crop of blueberries in these islands, John Seager, of Portarlington, the fruit is very much sought after now in health stores. He became involved in growing blueberries in Ireland as a researcher working with Dr Keith Lamb of the Department of Agriculture. "Dr Lamb, who is now retired, brought the fruit here from the US in 1949 as an alternative crop for people living on boglands," he said. "The blueberries, which are related to heather, like wet conditions and acid-type soils. Apart from being hit by the frost here they crop quite well." Mr Seager now has 20 acres of blueberries on his farm, and this, he reckons, is the largest single stand of blueberries either here or in Britain. "There are now about 45 acres of blueberries in Ireland, and there are 10 growers, but I think that number will grow as people look for alternative crops," he said. The medicinal properties of the blueberry had been known for centuries by the American Indians and the peoples of northern and eastern Europe, he explained. North Americans relied heavily for decades on cultivated blueberries to control urinary tract infections. Recent research by the Blueberry and Cranberry Research Centre in New Jersey found the fruits contained condensed tannins, which prevent bacteria attaching to the bladder wall. The Scandinavians, he said, found that eating blueberries improved night vision, and they were also known in Japan as "vision fruits" because they reduce eye strain. He said the latest research by the US Department of Agriculture reported that blueberries and cranberries contain 50 per cent more antioxidants than strawberries, 100 per cent more than oranges, 400 per cent more than broccoli and spinach and 500 per cent more than maize. "There is a growing demand for the fruit here, and I believe it will increase as more research becomes available on its value as a health food," he said. "While it takes some years before berries appear I believe there is a future for it, especially for smallholders who may also be involved in agri-tourism," he added.