人人都爱吃蓝莓

蓝莓是北美仅有的几种土生土长的水果之一。它们在生物学方面与杜鹃、小红莓极为相似——小红莓是另一个北美本土出产的水果。这种小小的蓝色的冠形底部的浆果是北美作为“新大陆”第一批出口返回欧洲的产品，而如今它们已然成了年价值6亿美元的巨大产业。蓝莓植物有两种类型：高灌木型、低灌木型以及野生蓝莓，其中高灌木型的可以在国内种植。

Blueberries are one of North America’s only native fruits. They are closely related to azaleas, rhododendrons and cranberries - another North American native. The tiny indigo berries with a crown-shaped bottom were one of the New World’s first exports back to Europe, and they are a $600-million-a-year industry today.There are two types of blueberry plants: high bush, which can be domestically cultivated, and low bush or wild blueberries.

野生蓝莓的优点

缅因大学的园艺教授大卫·亚伯勒同时也是一名蓝莓专家，他说土生土产的野生蓝莓有很多优势——“其实，土地里生长的蓝莓有几百个品种。这些基因不同的品种具有不同的口味和果实数量，”他说，“我们在地里不只种一两种蓝莓，而是一大批混合口味的蓝莓，这样种植的结果是我们得到了一个非常独特的产品。”

缅因州是全美唯一出产蓝莓的州，整个北美30%的野生蓝莓都生长在这里。这也使得缅因州成为世界最大的单一生产基地。其余的野生蓝莓分散生长在加拿大各省。

去年，缅因州生产了三千六百万公斤野生蓝莓，总价值约为7200万美元。亚伯勒解释说，这是一个竞争激烈的市场。“从某种意义上说，我们正在与其他那些来自加拿大的蓝莓竞争。我们的竞争对手还包括智利的蓝莓，甚至连中国等国家也已开始扩大蓝莓种植，并引进了很多蓝莓品种。”

The advantage of being wild

David Yarborough, a professor of horticulture at the University of Maine and a blueberry specialist, explains that there are some advantages to harvesting native stands of wild blueberries.”There are actually hundreds of different types of plants in a field. These genetically different plants have different flavors and productivity,” he says. “Instead of having one or two varieties or one or two flavors in a field, what we have is a vast mixture of flavors in a field. It gives us a very unique product.”

Maine is the only state that produces that product. It grows 30 percent of all North American wild blueberries, making it the largest single producer in the world. The rest are grown in various provinces of Canada.

Last year, Maine produced 36 million kilograms of wild blueberries, grossing $72 million. Yarborough says it’s a competitive market.”In a sense, we’re competing against other blueberries from Canada, cultivated blueberries, and cultivated blueberries from Chili, and even places like China are beginning to expand and put a lot of blueberries in.”

传统与科技相结合的蓝莓种植技术

几个世纪以来，美国人用野生蓝莓做饭、入药并且当作染料。他们逐渐发现，定期焚烧田地将会使第二年的收成变好——这种做法在缅因州的两点五万公顷蓝莓田地沿用至今。

“蓝莓植株本身有一半作为根茎系长在地下，”亚伯勒解释说：“ 当你焚烧这些植物后，从地下的根茎上便更容易长出更多嫩芽。这一年你看似没有获得任何收获，但第二年之后，你就会获得比原来多得多的蓝莓。”

与那些通常被趁着新鲜而卖掉的栽培水果不同，这些小小的野生蓝莓果主要被用来加工果酱、松饼和馅饼。杰夫·布恩是缅因大学校办的蓝莓山农场的业务经理，他说，要想得到美味的蓝莓浆果，人们需要用特殊的采摘运输手法。

“我们把蓝莓果实小心的从植株上摘下来，然后再把它们放上输送系统，这整个过程不会引起太多的擦伤。”

他解释说，用这种方法每公斤能生产比B等和C等数目更多的A等蓝莓，更不用说那些只能用于制作果冻或果汁的蓝莓了。

Blueberry growers combine tradition and technology

For centuries, Native Americans used wild blueberries in cooking, as medicine and for dyes. They learned that periodically burning the fields would yield larger harvests the following year. That practice is still used today in Maine’s 25,000 hectares of blueberry fields.

“Half the blueberry plant is underground [as a] rhizome system,” Yarborough explains, “[when you] burn [the bush] off, you get these new sprouts [from the rhizomes]. You don’t get any production that year, but the second year after that you get a lot more production.”

Unlike the cultivated fruit, which is usually sold fresh, the smaller wild blueberries are primarily processed for jams, muffins and pies. Jeff Brann, operations manager for the University of Maine’s Blueberry Hill Farm, says the delicate berries require special handling at harvest.

“They sweep them off the bushes, nice and gentle. Then they go onto a conveyer system, and it doesn’t bruise the fruit as much.”

He explains that method produces more “Grade A” blueberries, which bring in more per kilo than Grades B or C berries or ones that can only be used for jelly or juice.

蓝莓的保健益生功用

无论蓝莓是A级还是B、C级，也无论是野生的还是栽培的，蓝莓都具有极高的健康益生功效。多年以来人们就认识到了一个常识——蓝莓浆果富含维生素C和E。但是自从前几年研究人员发现蓝莓还富含极高的抗氧化剂后，市场对蓝莓的需求激增。这些天然的消炎抗氧化剂有助于延缓衰老，并且有可能预防癌症。而野生蓝莓恰恰是所有水果当中抗氧化剂含量最高的。

蓝莓山农场是一个农业研究机构，其主要目的是探索最有效和最有利可图的蓝莓种植方式。但是，蓝莓山农场也正在尽自己的努力研究蓝莓的健康功效。

科学家们正在缅因大学开展关于蓝莓的几项研究：一项研究侧重于蓝莓对人心血管系统的影响以及蓝莓改善血液循环及降低动脉炎症的功效。另一项研究是关于如何让人们只食用少量的蓝莓便可以感觉已经吃饱。

大卫·亚伯勒说，正在进行的第三项研究是关于蓝莓如何让我们的眼睛迅速适应黑暗，要知道在黑夜道路上面对与迎面而来的汽车时，蓝莓的这个功能是可以拯救生命的。

“当你面对刺眼的光线，就比如你迎着前方驶来汽车的大灯，你需要过多久才能恢复正常视力？蓝莓已被证明具有明显缩短视力恢复时间的功效，这得益于它对整个血液循环的效果。人的眼睛里有许多非常小的毛细血管，蓝莓可以改善这些毛细血管中的血液循环，所以就能够改善视力的恢复效率。”亚伯勒说，我们还有一些科学家在研究蓝莓对阿尔茨海默氏症和糖尿病的功效。“蓝莓并不能够让你避免患病”，他指出， “但是它们可以帮助减缓这些疾病的进展从而提升你的健康水平。”他补充说，蓝莓种植者们已经成功的将蓝莓的健康益生功用广泛宣传，因为人们对蓝莓的需求正逐年上升。

Blueberries for health

Whatever their grade for the processor, blueberries - wild and cultivated - get high marks for their health benefits. It’s been common knowledge for years that the little indigo berries are high in vitamins C and E. But demand for the fruit skyrocketed a couple of years ago when researchers discovered that they were also high in antioxidants. These natural anti-inflammatory chemicals help combat the aging process and may help prevent cancer. Wild blueberries have the highest levels of antioxidants of any fruit.

Because Blueberry Hill Farm is an agricultural research facility, its main purpose is to discover how to grow blueberries in the most efficient and profitable way possible. But the farm is doing its part in health research as well.

Scientists at the University of Maine are conducting several blueberry studies. One focuses on the cardiovascular system and the effect blueberries have on improving circulation and reducing inflammation of the arteries. Another is looking at how the fruit might help people feel full on less food.

David Yarborough says a third study is examining how blueberries improve our eyes’ ability to adapt quickly to darkness… which can be life-saving on a dark road with oncoming cars.

“If you get a bright flash of light, like with oncoming headlights, how long will it take you to be able to regenerate and see? Blueberries have been shown to improve that response. It’s because, again, the whole circulatory effect. Your eyes have very small capillaries in them. So if you can improve the circulation in them, you improve the functionality and the ability to recover.”Yarborough says other researchers have been studying blueberries in relation to Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.”[The berries] don’t prevent it,” he points out, “but they help slow the progression of these diseases and improve health and functionality.”He adds that farmers have been successful in publicizing that information, because the demand for blueberries has gone up.

全球化的蓝莓

虽然野生蓝莓非常不容易成活，但是世界上很多国家——从德国到意大利，从乌拉圭到南非——都在越来越多的种植和出口高灌木蓝莓。在中国出现了新一批蓝莓加工工厂，一群科学家和园艺家在印度的Dapoli大学已经成功制定了蓝莓酿酒的标准过程。

但是蓝莓酒和它的健康功效并不是杰夫·布恩如此喜欢蓝莓的原因——对于杰夫来说，他最喜欢的是在7月下旬和8月蓝莓的收获时节，你可以在空气中闻到蓝莓甜甜的果香。

“这是你工作的最好回报！” ，他笑着说。“你就站在无边的蓝莓田地的中央，被无数的蓝莓包围，于是你就可以……”——说到这里，他突然比划出一个从蓝莓灌丛上摘下新鲜蓝莓然后放到嘴里的动作。

A global berry

While wild blueberries aren’t easily cultivated, countries around the world - from Germany to Italy, Uruguay to South Africa - are now growing and exporting the cultivated high bush blueberries. Several processing plants have been set up in China, and a team of agricultural scientists and horticulturists at India’s Dapoli University has standardized a blueberry wine-making process.

But it’s not wine or wellness that Jeff Brann likes best about blueberries. It’s harvesting them, in late July and August, when you can smell a fruity sweetness in the air.

“That’s when your job has benefits!,” he says with a laugh. “You’re right in the middle of a blueberry field with delicious blueberries all around you, so…”He mimes popping one into his mouth, fresh from the bush.
Translated by Fengxian
Origin: Voice of America (http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2009-03-25-voa72.cfm.)