The Tiny Kiwiberry Packs a Nutritional Punch

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The kiwiberry, a small grape-sized fruit that can be eaten whole, has been around for 25 million years but is only now gaining attention for its impressive nutritional profile. Researchers have found that the kiwiberry's skin contains up to 13 times more beneficial compounds like antioxidants, flavonoids, and vitamin C compared to the fruit's flesh. As a result, scientists are exploring the kiwiberry's potential health benefits, from anti-inflammatory properties to possible anti-aging and anti-cancer applications.

Why it matters

The kiwiberry's unique nutritional qualities, especially in the skin, make it a potentially powerful superfood. However, the fruit has long been overlooked, grown primarily as an ornamental plant rather than for its edible benefits. As awareness of the kiwiberry's health profile grows, it could become a more mainstream and sought-after fruit, providing consumers with a new nutritional option.

The details

Unlike its larger kiwi cousin, the kiwiberry can be eaten whole, skin and all. Studies have found that the skin contains significantly higher levels of beneficial compounds compared to the flesh, including 10 times more phenolics, 13 times more flavonoids, and 10 times more vitamin C. Researchers are exploring the kiwiberry's potential anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity properties, as well as possible neuroprotective and anti-cancer effects. However, the kiwiberry's rapid growth and hardiness also make it an invasive species in parts of the northeastern U.S., where it can smother native vegetation.

• Fossil evidence places the kiwiberry plant or its direct ancestors in Far East Russia, China, Korea, Japan, and Malaysia for at least 25 million years.
• Western botanists first described the kiwiberry in 1843.
• Commercial kiwiberry crops first appeared in the late 1990s in Oregon.
• The fruit was rebranded from 'hardy kiwi' to 'kiwiberry' in the 2010s.