WHAT ARE KIWIBERRIES?
Kiwiberries are a small variety of the well-known Kiwifruit. Their internal appearance resembles that of the common green Kiwifruit. In contrast to their big brown hairy cousin, Kiwiberries have smooth hairless edible skin similar to grapes so it can be eaten like other berries and without a spoon.
Kiwiberries have an appealing sweet flavour with a fine and delicate tangy finish. Their taste has been described to be similar to that of kiwifruit with overtones of strawberry, passion fruit, pineapple, feijoa or melon. The skin and flesh colour of Kiwiberries can range from green, red or purple and is dependent on fruit variety and maturity. Kiwiberries are similar size to a large grape or strawberry and their shape varies from round to elongated. The size of Kiwiberries makes them a perfect snack food, particularly for children’s lunch boxes. Kiwiberries are proven to be a great delight to parents as a small serving of Kiwiberries provides their families more than the daily recommended intake of numerous vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre.
Kiwiberries are quickly being recognized as one of the most nutritious fruits found in nature due to its relative high content of vitamins (C, E, A, K, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B8), carotenoids, minerals and antioxidants. The scientists are also discovering that consumption of these fruits may offer many potential disease preventing and general health promoting benefits.
Research into the health benefits of Kiwiberries is gaining momentum and is being highly backed by the health industry as well as the food processing industry in terms of development of dietary supplements and medications. Kiwiberries are deem to become one of the leading Superfruits in the world.
HISTORY OF USE
For thousands of years Kiwiberries have grown wild in cold climate countries such as Siberia, North-East China, Korea and Japan. In fact, the Kiwiberry is thought to be the forerunner of its cousin, the Kiwifruit.
In northern China, Korea and Japan, Kiwiberries have been an important source of fruit in the human diet and seen to feature in traditional medicine records dating back more than 500 years ago.
In China the Kiwiberries are known as Yang-tao. In Russia, Kiwiberries have been harvested from the wild as well as from plantations established before the 1930s, with reports of the fruit being eaten fresh and in cooked form such as jams, pie fillings, fruit gels, and compotes. They have also been dried much like seedless grapes, currants or raisins and made into wines.
In 1877, Kiwiberries were introduced into the United States of America but only became widely cultivated in the 1930s. Whilst there have been many attempts over the past 100 years to grow Kiwiberries commercially, most attempts have been unsuccessful due to the fruits short storage life. However, with the advances in fruit storage technology and the development of new varieties with complementary maturity dates, Kiwiberry Australia is able to bring this delicious fruit onto the market for all to enjoy.
Kiwiberries are currently cultivated in the United States, Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Chile, China and Korea. The demand for this novel Superfruit is steadily growing as more consumers become aware of its delicious, easy to eat, flavoursome and nutritious properties.
RIPENING & STORAGE
Vine matured fruit will generally lead to best tasting fruit, however this adversely impacts the shelf life. Researchers and growers have found that harvested firm fruit will continue to ripen in the cool room and achieve same taste as the vine ripened fruit provided it has reached a sugar level permitting the fruit to continue ripening in cool storage.
For best storage life the fruit should be refrigerated. Notably, as this fruit is sensitive to the natural ripening gas Ethylene (produced by banana, apple, kiwifruit etc.), it should preferably be stored away from any sources of ethylene. Few days before using, the fruit should be removed from the refrigerator and allowed to ripen in order to develop the sweetness and flavour Kiwiberries are known for. To hasten ripening, the fruit can be stored in a bag with ripe bananas or apples which will increase the ethylene produced and hence the rate of ripening. When ripened to your delight, the fruit can be refrigerated for a storage life of up to 2 weeks.
Generally, Kiwiberries are ready to eat when the skin will begin to turn darker green or red and berries are ‘bouncey’ to the touch or slightly wrinkled. This is when they are sweetest. Everyone has different tastes – experiment to your own delight
CONSUMPTION
Kiwiberries are used primarily for fresh consumption. Having smooth skin, Kiwiberries can be popped into your mouth and eaten like grapes whilst enjoying their rich unique flavour. They are ideal for kids, snack junkies as well as fruit lovers and health conscious people. Kiwiberries require minimal preparation, are all natural with no applied chemical sprays and offer the convenience of tasty healthy addition to kids and adult lunch boxes, fruit platters and picnic baskets.
They can also be used in the same way as one might use a green or gold kiwifruit. This may include salads, hors d’oeuvre, pies, savoury dishes, chutney, salsa, purees, fruit salads, ice cream, sorbet, yogurt, smoothies and drinks. It also goes very well as accompaniment to seafood (fish, prawn scallops etc.) as well as venison, chicken, pork and beef. Because of high level of natural pectin present in the fruit it is an excellent candidate for jam as well as jellies. As it holds its flavour well through cooking it can also be used in pastries and tarts as well as a topping in such desserts as cheesecake and Pavlova. Furthermore, Kiwiberries are excellent tenderiser so they can be used as marinades.
Because of the short season, the fruit can be also dried and used at a later date. Properly dried fruit holds well for more than 12 months without the use of any chemical additives. The taste of the dried kiwiberries is superior to that of other commonly consumed dried berries (raisins, cranberries or goji berries). Some examples of possible Kiwiberry recipes found on the web are listed in the links below. Kiwiberries are only limited by one’s imagination, so be creative, have a go and enjoy it.
KIWIBERRY RECIPES
Here’s a few yummy Kiwiberry recipes we’ve found from around the web:
AVAILABILITY
Kiwiberries have a rather short season of availability. Harvesting commences late February and is widely available in major supermarkets and greengrocers early March until mid April.