Add colour to meals and snacks with BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes – a vibrant new addition to the fruit bowl which combine the moreish taste and texture of the very best table grapes with the rich red pulp you find in a berry or cherry. You have to bite into BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes to see, and believe, how good they are.
The visible goodness of this new super tasty red berry grape comes from their unique skin-to-centre colour, which is naturally borne out of the antioxidant – anthocyanins — the powerhouse polyphenols that account for superfood status. In fact, studies show that the new red berry grapes have six times more anthocyanins than a traditional black-skinned table grape.
Red berry grapes are set to be an incredibly versatile new super tasty fruit. Just like table grapes, they are perfect as a scrumptious, healthy snack. The antioxidant content means that they will also be great for pre, or post workout or just the perfect way to start your morning.
The beautiful red pulp on the inside of BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes means they also make an eye-catching addition to salads, or a great showpiece to serve as a premium after dinner treat at your next gathering.
Red berry grapes – BOOMBITES™ – were created using natural breeding to combine the flavour and texture of some of the world’s best white-fleshed seedless table grapes, with old grape varieties that have red flesh fruit and were traditionally used only for wine production. It took thousands of different combinations of small, soft and often astringent red-fleshed wine grapes with large, sweet, and crunchy seedless table grapes to come up with the new red berry grapes. The end result? A new category that brings together a delicious mouthwatering taste, the premium feel of a high-end food and beverage category, plus the wellbeing credentials of a superfruit.
FUN FACT: In terms of botany, grapes are actually a berry — because berries are defined as a fleshy fruit produced from a single flower containing just one ovary. Other unexpected berries include avocado, bananas and pumpkin.
Super tasty fruit benefits
The rich red flesh of red berry grapes literally signposts their enhanced concentrations of anthocyanins, a family of naturally occurring plant polyphenols which are attracting a lot of interest in the world of dietetics and plant science. Ongoing research is being undertaken to study a possible association between anthocyanins and other polyphenols with a range of health-potential mechanisms including improvements in cholesterol levels, vascular function and the gut microbiome. More research is needed.
Anthocyanins – exploring the latest research science
A recent study by researchers from the Queens University Belfast, University of East Anglia and Tufts Medical Centre in the US, reported that high intakes of anthocyanins are associated with a:
- 26% lower risk of cardiovascular disease
- 18% lower risk of heart attack or coronary heart disease
- 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
- 9% lower risk of cardiovascular-related death
- 8% lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
In addition, researchers from the Queens University Belfast, University of East Anglia and Tufts Medical Centre in the US, have found that in population studies a diet rich in polyphenols is linked to a 46% reduction in the risk cardiovascular disease and this appears to be driven by multiple mechanisms including reduced oxidative stress and inflammation and improvements in blood cholesterol, clotting and endothelial function, the term used to describe the integrity and elasticity of blood vessels.
Public Health Nutritionist Dr Emma Derbyshire, says: “Dark fruits have soared in popularity over recent years as people become familiar with their high antioxidant content and potential health and wellness benefits. There is also increasing awareness of the value of eating a rainbow of foods, and red berry grapes are a simple and delicious way to add colour to snacks and meals.”
DID YOU KNOW? BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes are also being studied for their resveratrol content, another naturally occurring polyphenol, which is found in various plants, most notably in the skin of grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and peanuts. It’s a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol that plants produce as a defense against pathogens or injury. BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes also have useful amounts of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamine, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc.
Polyphenols and fibre
Emerging research from the technology centre AINIA in Valencia, Spain, suggests that despite having similar amounts of fructose, the new red berry grape varieties may produce lower glucose uptakes than standard grape varieties. One possible mechanism being studied is the unique food matrix of red berry grape, which are rich in polyphenols, as well as fibre. Their distinctive combination of polyphenols, fibre and other nutrients could potentially slow glucose absorption although more research is needed. Further research is being undertaken to understand this underlying mechanism.
Last word
Dietitian, Nichola Ludlam-Raine and an advocate of BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes notes: “The red berry grape breaks the rules. Not only do they taste great but they are naturally abundant with anthocyanins. It is the anthocyanins which gives BOOMBITES™ red berry grapes their rich colour from the inside-out including the skin, so these pigments are present throughout the whole grape. Beyond their striking color, red berry grapes are truly distinct. Their real magic lies in the taste: an incredibly juicy, hydrating burst that leaves your taste buds craving another bite. You’ll have to bite it to believe it!”
