LINGONBERRY

(Vaccinium vitis-idea)

Lingonberry bushes in forest

Other names: Cowberry, foxberry, lowbush cranbaerry, mountain cranberry,

                         partridgeberry, redberry.

Family: Ericaceae

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Lingonberry is one of those fruits which are still not under commercial cultivation in spite of the fact their wide use.  The fruits are collected from the wild growing bushes and traded for use.  Lingonberry is a fruit of significant commercial importance.

            It is considered to be a native of North America and is a common fruit species found in the Northern forests. 

            Lingonberry is widely used not only in North America but in Northern Europe too.

Description:

A short (less than 7 inches, or 18 cm, tall) and have single blooms. The leaves are ovate, 0.4 to 1 inch (1 to 2.5 cm) long, alternate, leathery, and evergreen. They have a dark green upper surface and a light green under-surface.

            Flowers are borne singly or in clusters in terminal racemes.  Flowers have four locules per ovary, four sepals, a bell-shaped corolla and eight stamens with nonspurred anthers. Pollen is borne in tetrads shed through a terminal pore in the anther. The ovary is inferior.

            Fruit a globose berry, carmine in color when ripe, up to 1 cm in diameter, 170 to 450 mg in weight, strong flavoured and tart.

Uses:

Lingonberries can be eaten fresh but are more commonly processed into sweet food products such as jams, jellies, syrups, purées, sauces, fruit juices, and beverage concentrates. Lingonberries are used to make liqueurs, wine, fruit leather, and dried fruit. They often are added to mixes with raisins, pickled, or added to chocolates, muffins, pies, pancakes, rolls, tarts, cookies, ice cream, and yogurt. Lingonberries are mixed with other berries, especially cranberries.

            Lingonberries have a relatively high anthocyanin content. Anthocyanin is a source of the purple, blue, and red colors in many horticultural crops. With the reduced availability of artificial food colors, there is interest in using water-soluble plant pigments such as anthocyanin for food colors.

Cultivation:

Lingonberry is still collected from the wild all over the world and no where it is cultivated as an orchard crop.  Efforts are, however, going on every country for the standardization of cultivation techniques for this fruit.  Many researchers/fruit growers rate it as a potential new crop.