Dr. T. Ombrello - UCC Biology Department

CRANBERRIES:

The Rubies of the Pines

Common Names: American Cranberry, Large Cranberry

Scientific Name: Vaccinium macrocarpon

Explanation of Scientific Name:

Vaccinium - ancient Latin name of the Blueberry

macrocarpon - large fruited

According to a recent national survey, nine out of ten Americans look forward to seeing cranberries on the traditional Thanksgiving table. However, few of us know what they are or where they come from. A close relative of blueberries, the cranberry is a native North American, found from Newfoundland south to North Carolina and west to Minnesota.

Cranberries have a very specific habitat requirement that limits where they will grow. A sandy soil rich in organic matter along the edge of a slow moving acidic stream or bog provides just what they need to thrive. The plant itself is a small evergreen shrub that trails along the ground with 6 to 8 inch long upright branches bearing small (3/4 inch) oblong leaves. In late spring, small clusters of 1/4-inch long pink flowers bloom, followed by berries that mature in the fall. Vaccinium macrocarpon gets its common name because of its flowers. Early colonists saw the flowers and flower buds resembling the neck, head, and long beak of the great sandhill crane that often nested in cranberry areas, and called the plant the craneberry. Since then it has been shortened to cranberry.

Native Americans were utilizing the cranberry long before the Europeans discovered North America. Know as “sasemineash” in what is now New Jersey, and as “ibimi” (bitter berry) in what is now Massachusetts, the Indians considered the cranberry a symbol of peace. Used as a food, the cranberry was eaten raw, cooked, or mashed together with dried meat to make a long-lasting pressed cake know as “pemmican”. Medicinal salves and dyes for clothing were also made from the berries. No one knows for sure if the Indians shared cranberries with the Massachusetts colonists at the first Thanksgiving in October 1621, but the Indians were undoubtedly harvesting them at the time.

Colonial sailors made immediate use of the cranberry to prevent the dreaded disease scurvy. We now know that scurvy is the result of a dietary deficiency of Vitamin C, and that cranberries are a rich source of this vitamin. The sailors, however, knew that the cranberries not only prevented the disease, but also could be easily stored for long ocean voyages. Packed in barrels with water, they will last for many months. American sailing ships carried water-packed cranberries much the way British ships carried limes for their sailors. The nickname “Limey” for British sailors owes its origin to this practice. Cranberries last for long periods of time because they produce their own preservative, benzoic acid. Fruits still good enough to eat may be found on cranberry vines in the spring, left over from the previous fall.

The Indians taught the pilgrims how to harvest the cranberries by hand. This was soon improved upon with the invention of a rake-toothed wooden tool known as a cranberry scoop. Since no one owned the vines, laws had to be enacted in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin imposing fines if cranberries were harvested before a specific date (when the berries turned red). A Provincetown, Massachusetts’s ordinance read as follows:

“Any person should be found getting cranberries before ye twentyeth of September exceeding one quart should be liable to pay one dollar and have the berrys taken away.”

In Wisconsin, cranberry “poachers” were fined $50 if caught harvesting before September 20^th. Cranberries were picked from the wild into the 19^th century, with most of the harvest exported to Europe.

The practice of growing cranberries in man-made bogs began in 1816 in Massachusetts, and they are grown in much the same way today. Large areas are leveled smooth with ditches along the sides and surrounded by earthen dikes. This permits the regulation of water levels to match what occurs in natural streams and bogs. Cranberry stem cuttings are then planted into the bog, and 3 to 4 years later they are producing fruit. The first man-made cranberry bog in New Jersey was constructed in 1835 by Benjamin Thomas of Burr’s Mills in Burlington County. After the Civil War, cranberry growing became a big business as a result of the widespread use of man-made bogs.

Man-made bogs are flooded for insect control, some types of harvesting, and in winter to allow a layer of ice to develop over the bog to form an insulating layer. Since it takes 300,000 gallons of water to flood an acre of bog, a water source (reservoir, lake, or stream) must be readily available. Many growers have areas two times the size of their bogs devoted to reserve water.

Today, Wisconsin is the largest cranberry producing state. Massachusetts is second in production, followed by New Jersey. Our state produces as much as 58 million pounds of cranberries a year worth over 30 million dollars on 3700 acres located in the Pine Barrens regions of Burlington, Ocean, and Atlantic counties. The nickname for cranberries in New Jersey, “Rubies of the Pines”, reflects their exclusive cultivation in the sandy soil and acidic waters of the Pine Barrens.

Cranberry production and yield is directly tied to the efficiency of pollination that occurs during the ten days the flowers are open. Wild bumblebees are the best pollinators, but their populations are unreliable. Honeybee hives are often brought to the bogs during flowering to insure good pollination and subsequent fruit set. Honeybees, however, prefer many wildflowers to cranberries, so the honeybee population must be high in order to have each cranberry flower visited by a bee.

There are currently two major methods of cranberry harvesting that yield 100 to 200 barrels per acre. A barrel is the traditional unit of cranberry measurement. It is equal to 100 pounds. The “wet” method is used extensively in New Jersey for cranberries destined for processing into juice and sauce. This technique involves flooding the bogs 12 to 18 inches above the vines, and then running mechanical water reels (that look like giant egg beaters) over the vines to shake the berries loose. The berries have air pockets called “bladders” and a waxy surface to prevent water absorption, so they float. The berries are pushed to one side of the bog, and then loaded by conveyor into trucks. The “dry” method, practiced extensively in Massachusetts for fresh market and some processing, involves the use of a machine with “teeth” that pulls the berries from the vine and then conveys them into pallet boxes. The berries are of higher quality for fresh market sales, but 30% of the crop is lost when berries fall to the ground under the vines. The harvested berries must be sorted to separate the good from the bad. The early settlers did this by “bouncing” the berries. Those that were dropped and bounced up were good. Those that did not bounce were discarded. Even today, cranberries are subjected to the bounce test using special wooden barriers before being accepted for packaging.

Since 1984, an annual Cranberry Harvest Festival has been held in Chatsworth, NJ (known as the “capital” of the New Jersey Pine Barrens) on an October weekend. Among the activities are demonstrations of the varied uses for cranberries. Cranberry ice cream, cakes, preserves, pies, and muffins, in addition to an extensive array of cranberry based juices are served. Cranberry based juices have become popular recently, with over 100 million gallons a year produced in the US and used by over 50% of our households.

The most traditional product made of cranberries is cranberry sauce. Elizabeth Lee, a cranberry grower from New Egypt in Ocean County, is credited with being the first person to make this delicious sauce in New Jersey. In 1917 she boiled some bruised, un-salable berries with sugar and spices to make the jelly-like product. When she first tried to market cranberry sauce, there was little interest in it. But within a few years it caught on, and she formed her own company. She eventually merged with a cranberry company in Massachusetts that had also been marketing cranberry sauce, and this became the basis for what is now the largest cranberry cooperative – Ocean Spray.

What is new with cranberries? White cranberry juice, made from immature (not yet red) cranberries, has recently been marketed. The Rutgers Blueberry and Cranberry Research Center, near Chatsworth, New Jersey is conducting a number of research projects aimed at improving the cranberry. Researchers there are developing a “parthenocarpic” strain that will not need pollination in order to form berries, strains resistant to root and fruit diseases, and strains with various fruit colors. Some day in the future it may be possible to buy “Rubies of the Pines” that are blue or black.

Finally, what our mothers always told us about cranberries is true. A recent Rutgers University study has confirmed what was long suspected – that cranberries are good for urinary tract health. A tannin found in the fruit, proanthocyanidin, inhibits the bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections.

A Cranberry plant, with fruit, growing in one of Union County College's greenhouses.