These B.C.-grown berries may be the world’s healthiest. But the tastiest? Probably not

Salal berries. They grow all over coastal North America, including in B.C.

They’re a traditional food of coastal First Nations, and they may be the healthiest on the planet.

But their taste? That’s another story.

WATCH: Business in Vancouver — The Salal business

The berries are the subject of a study soon to be published by David Constabel, a plant biologist at the University of Victoria (UVic).

He decided to start looking into the berries after he tasted dessert wine that contained salal extract.

Constabel knew of the berries, but not how powerful they were.

“What we can measure, there are four to five times higher concentrations of tannins in salal compared to blueberry, and about three times more antioxidant capacity,” he said.

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The berries contain two key compounds: tannins, which are found in plant tissues such as leaves and bark, and anthocyanins, which produce red or blue colours in certain plants.

There’s a higher concentration of both these compounds in salal berries than in blueberries.

And both are correlated with a reduced risk of stroke and heart attack, as well as neurodegenerative and metabolic disease such as Type 2 diabetes.

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Demand for the berries has largely centered around the plants’ leaves, up to this point.

The leaves are commonly harvested and used by the floral industry.

If you ask Ken Peters of Lifestyle Markets, “I don’t think anybody’s looking at the berries, it may be actually of more value to cultivate them for the berries.”

But how do they taste?

“To be honest, they’re not quite as tasty as blueberries,” Constabel said.

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“They’re a little bit drier and leathery, perhaps a cross between a black currant and a blueberry.”

It will be summer before you can find out for yourself; that’s when they come into bloom.