Why Frozen Blueberries Have A More Vibrant Color Than Fresh

Frozen blueberries are an easy ingredient to keep on hand for smoothies, dessert, or breakfast. One interesting aspect about the frozen version of the fruit is their extra rich color, because they can be pretty vibrant. The color in blueberries, as you know, comes from its skin, thanks to a group of antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins. When a blueberry is frozen, those ice crystals change the structure of the berry's tissue, making more anthocyanins readily available, and therefore displaying a deeper, richer, color.

So that means if you're using frozen blueberries for things like muffins or pancakes, you'll likely get a more dramatic pop in color when you expose the interior of the breading, which is kind of a cool thing to know, especially considering part of the appeal of eating anything is the way something looks. Plus, as a bonus, anthocyanins are thought to do some great things for your health, including reducing the risk of heart disease, lowering your blood pressure, and slowing the growth of cancer cells. Having them more readily available for your body to absorb is a good thing, and yet another good reason to continue eating your fruits and veggies, everyone.

Here's another fun fact. The anthocyanin in a blueberry's skin is actually a deep purple-red color, not necessarily totally blue. That is why your fingers get stained more of a purple color when you're done dealing with crushed blueberries and their juice. The reason why a blueberry appears blue is because of nanostructures in the waxy layer in its skin, which scatter blue light, making that more visible to your eye.

Somehow the name "purpleberry" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, so I'm secretly glad we've got blueberries. Plus, there aren't a ton of things that occur in nature that are naturally blue anyway, which make blueberries sort of a fascinating subject. But that color is a small reason why blueberries are such an interesting ingredient, and if that's something you're looking to celebrate, a frozen package of blueberries will definitely get you some more mileage in terms of an eye-popping sauce for a dessert, jam, or even a blueberry switchel. You can keep these little facts in your back pocket — for when color really matters.