honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, November 16, 2009

Next 'super food': maqui


By Sam McManis
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Every change of season seemingly brings a hot new "super fruit." Pomegranate? That's so 2008. Acai? That went passe last spring.

Here's a quiz about maqui — the newest berry touted by its U.S. distributor as the "highest antioxidant fruit in the world."

1. From which region does the maqui berry hail?

a) The Philippines' forests

b) The Patagonia region of Chile

c) The Amazon rain forest in Guyana

d) The Finger Lakes of upstate New York

2. Lore has it that the Mapuche Indians have harvested the berry for centuries, mostly as an herbal treatment for which ailment?

a) Fever

b) Ulcers

c) Diarrhea

d) All of the above

3. According to the USDA's "oxygen radical absorbance capacity" scale of antioxidants, how much higher did maqui berries score than acai berries (measured by "micromole of trolox equivalents per ounce")?

a) 64

b) 164

c) 645

d) 6,045

4. In predicting the next "super fruit," oddsmakers are closely looking at the goji berry, a Chinese fruit that sometimes goes by what name in the United States?

a) Wolfberry

b) Mooseberry

c) Ratberry

d) Wolverineberry

Sources: www.ars.usda.gov; www.my-antioxidants-guide.com; www.maquisuperberry.org

ANSWERS: 1) b, 2) d, 3) c, 4) a