A quick guide to the nutritional benefits of gooseberries

Still not very popular in North America, gooseberries are prized for their acidic tartness in Europe, where they are made into pies, jams, jellies and sauces for poultry. Here's what you need to know about the health benefits of gooseberries so you can incorporate them into your diet.

• The origin of the name "gooseberries" has nothing to do with geese, even though their acidic flavour goes well with roast goose. Instead, the term comes from the Old English words for the berries — groser, grosier and grozer.
• Gooseberries have been cultivated in Europe, and especially in England, since the 15th century.
• There are some 50 different species and more than 700 varieties of gooseberries. Green gooseberries are the most familiar, but some varieties are red or different shades of blue.
• Although the gooseberry originated in Europe and western Asia, the United States and Canada now have the most species.
• Gooseberry bushes can attract a fungus that is devastating to white pine forests. For this reason, gooseberries are not cultivated near these forests and the berries are regularly inspected to prevent the spread of the fungus. Also, efforts are now under way to develop more disease-resistant strains of gooseberries.

Gooseberries have many nutritional benefits.

• They are high in fibre (about four grams in 250 millilitres/one cup of raw berries), vitamin C (50 milligrams per 250 millilitres/one cup fresh) and potassium (250 milligrams per 250 millilitres/one cup).
• They are also rich in bioflavonoids — plant pigments that help prevent cancer and other diseases.
• Folk healers in the past recommended gooseberry juice to treat liver and intestinal disorders. They also believed that a tea brewed from the plant's leaves was a remedy for urinary tract and menstrual disorders.
• Old herbal med­icine books refer to the fruit as feverberries and ­recommend it for inflammatory disorders. However, there is no scientific evidence that gooseberries or their leaves have any special medicinal qualities.
• Some of these nutrients are lost in processing; 250 millilitres (one cup) of canned gooseberries loses more than half of its vitamin C as well as some potassium. The canned berries are also high in calories, yielding 180 calories per 250 millilitres (one cup), compared to 65 for the fresh fruit.

Although gooseberries can be tart, new, sweeter-tasting varieties have been developed, which are more palatable for eating raw. Keep this guide in mind and try gooseberries today!