When summer is about to end, it is time to harvest, by hand, one of the most prized fruits thanks to its properties. These are the blackberries, which contain vitamin A and vitamin C, making them a preferred food for disease prevention and in baking thanks to their variety. There are different types of blackberries, some more consumable than others but ultimately all like and are found in some supermarkets.
Blackberries are also one of the fruits that provide the most antioxidants to the body. It comes from different plant species but with similar characteristics. It colours not only the fields but also the tables because it is part of the red fruits that everyone loves. In addition, its flavour is pleasant and sweet and sour. The blackberry is exquisite and unique; although there are different types of it, each has its particularity. It is so good that even several animal species have all types of blackberries in their diet.
These are the types of blackberries that exist
The term blackberry refers to edible fruits of different vegetables, specifically to two genera: morus and rubus. They are not the same fruit, the first comes from trees called mulberry and mulberry (white, brown and red), while the second comes from thorny and sarmentose plants known as brambles (blackberry, blackberry bush, Andean and swamp).
Blackberries Rubus
They are popularly known as wild blackberries. They are easy to see at harvest time because of their black colour when ripe, but they are difficult to pick due to a large number of thorns on the bush. The more daring ones always end up with scratches after harvesting. However, it is worth the effort because it is one of the few wild fruits that still grow in the fields.
It is a fruit that is used in some smoothies and desserts; the negative point is that it should be consumed within a maximum of three to five days because it is very fragile and tends to spoil. Among the most common rubus blackberries in Spain, we can mention:
- Blackberry or Andean Blackberry (Rubus Glaucus)
- Blackberry Bush (Rubus Caesius)
- Cloudberry (Rubus Chamaemorus)
- Blackberry Blackberry (Fructicosus)
Imported Rubus blackberries
In the genus of blackberries, rubus is the fruit outside Spain. Thanks to the variety they receive the name of Rubus Occidentalis or hybridizations with Rubus ideaus. They are available in both thorny and thornless cultivars, and within this category, they are commercially known as sweet and non-sweet. The most important are:
- Tay: large, scarlet in color and acidic in taste. It is the result of crossing blackberry and raspberry.
- Logan: it is purple, scarce of seed. It is also the product of a cross between blackberry and raspberry, although more acidic than blackberry and less flavoured than raspberry.
- Young: its flavor is sweet with little aroma. It has the appearance of an elongated blackberry. It results from the mixture between a stubble bramble and a raspberry.
- Boysen: its characteristic is similar to the raspberry, but large in size. It is the result of the young variety and raspberry.
Mora Morus
This type of blackberry species has the particularity of coming from plants without thorns. They are known as inert varieties and there are three varieties:
- Mulberry or White Mulberry (Morus Alba)
- Blackberry or Blackberry (Morus Nigra)
- Red Mulberry (Morus Rubra)
The Morus Alba blackberry may seem somewhat tasteless compared to the other two, which have a better flavour. They are softer to the touch than rubus blackberries and ripen in early summer. They are larger and have no seed inside.
How to identify types of blackberries
It should be noted that the blackberry is a polydrouped fruit, which means that it is made up of small drupes arranged in clusters. Some of them have a seed that can be annoying when eating. For example, morus are elongated and rubus are rounded.
The colouration varies according to the maturity of the fruit. Initially they are greenish-white turning to red to reach a final color of black or dark purple. There is an exception with morus alba that turns from green to white, as well as with rubus chamaemorus, once ripe it turns golden yellow.
