Salmonberries belong to the same genus as raspberries. They have traditionally been used for treating wounds, and the leaves and stems of blackberries are used to treat diarrhoea.
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TO MAKE AGUTUK - known as 'Eskimo ice cream' - wild berries are whipped together with the fat of caribou, whale or seal. Some animal meat might be thrown in for good measure, but the fat is the key: it helps preserve the berries, giving the short-lived fruit a year-round presence in the diet of northern Alaska's native communities.
Blending their two major subsistence foods, agutuk is more than a treat - it's a custom. While this berry-rich food strengthens the Inupiat's connection to their culture, it also protects them from diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
For the past four years, scientists from North Carolina have trekked this far-northern wilderness, collecting and analysing the tiny wild berries that blanket northern Alaska in summer. For the native communities, it's an opportunity for their traditional knowledge to be confirmed by modern science, and for a straying younger generation to be reinvigorated about their roots - both plant and human.
Wild berries have long been known for their health benefits, mostly due to phytochemicals. Although non-essential for plant growth, phytochemicals become activated whenever the plant is under stress. Flavonoids such as anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, which produce colour and protect plants from UV rays, are particularly powerful antioxidants. Anthocyanins are also anti-inflammatory, help strengthen cell membranes, and inhibit enzymes involved in carcinogenesis.
In recent years, scientific research has highlighted the benefits of many edible wild berries. Shirley Zafra-Stone and colleagues, from California's InterHealth Research Centre, note in a 2007 article in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research that blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries and other species may help prevent cardiovascular disorders and several degenerative diseases. Anthocyanins in berries can improve brain and eye function, and reduce inflammation. This potent chemical may also help prevent or reduce DNA mutations that can lead to a host of serious diseases, including cancer.
More recently, a 2009 report in the Journal of Nutrition found blueberries helped protect against obesity-related complications in mice fed a high-fat diet, while in 2011, a study in the Journal of Medicinal Food showed that blueberry intake reduced signs of metabolic disorder in obesity-prone rats. Studies by researchers at the University of Michigan have shown similar results in tart cherries, which are also rich in anthocyanins.
This growing body of research has placed berries chief among the 'super foods' - foods consumed as much for their health benefit as for their taste. Like pomegranates, goji berries and açai, blueberries and their ilk line the aisles of health food stores, their sales rising as scientific findings seep into consumer culture. As with many foods, however, the plump little spheres stocked in supermarkets are far inferior to their undomesticated counterparts.
For indigenous Arctic tribes, the health news is far from revelatory. The Inupiat, whose ancestors arrived in the region thousands of years ago, have been using berries in traditional healing for centuries. Salmonberries, close relatives of the raspberry, have traditionally been used for treating wounds, and the leaves and stems of blackberries - known locally as crowberries or mossberries - are used to treat diarrhoea. Other folk remedies integrate berries in the treatment of bacterial infections, kidney problems and the promotion of good health in general.
These berries are more than a resource for food and health; they are a prime source of connection to the Inupiat's surroundings and to each other. The Alaskan tundra is a sparse wilderness, and annual berry harvesting is a highlight of tribal life that brings families together for excursions and is closely tied to native customs such as sharing and giving thanks.
In 2006, Mary Ann Lila, director of the Plants for Human Health Institute at North Carolina State University, was eager to explore the Arctic wilderness to see if these berries offered benefits as yet untapped by modern research. Lila's interest in berries had seen her help uncover the cancer-preventing potential of the black chokeberry and the high antioxidant levels of blackberries. The years of research had also shown Lila the crucial role that environmental stress plays in forming the secondary phytochemicals in wild berries.
