Cherries
Cherries have moderate amounts of fiber, insoluble cellulose and lignin in the skin and soluble pectins in the flesh, plus vitamin C.
One cup fresh red sweet cherries (two ounces, without pits) has 3.2 g dietary fiber, 64 IU vitamin A (.2 percent of the RDA) and 10.8 mg vitamin C (14 percent of the RDA for a woman, 12 percent of the RDA for a man). One-half cup canned water-packed sour/tart cherries has 0.5 g dietary fiber and 1.5 mg vitamin C, and 377 IU vitamin A (16 percent of the RDA for a woman, 13 percent of the RDA for a man).
Like apple seeds and apricot, peach, or plum pits, cherry pits contain amygdalin, a naturally occurring cyanide/sugar compound that breaks down into hydrogen cyanide in the stomach. While accidentally swallowing a cherry pit once in a while is not a serious hazard, cases of human poisoning after eating apple seeds have been reported (see apples). NOTE: Some wild cherries are poisonous.
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Sweet cherries can be eaten raw to protect their vitamin C; sour (“cooking”) cherries are more palatable when cooked.
Low-sodium diet (maraschino cherries)
Look for: Plump, firm, brightly colored cherries with glossy skin whose color may range
from pale golden yellow to deep red to almost black, depending on the variety. The stems
should be green and fresh, bending easily and snapping back when released.
Avoid: Sticky cherries (they’ve been damaged and are leaking), red cherries with very pale skin
(they’re not fully ripe), and bruised cherries whose flesh will be discolored under the bruise.
Store cherries in the refrigerator to keep them cold and humid, conserving their nutrient and flavor. Cherries are highly perishable; use them as quickly as possible.
Handle cherries with care. When you bruise, peel, or slice a cherry you tear its cell walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase—an enzyme that converts phenols in the cherry into brown compounds that darken the fruit.
You can slow this reaction (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced or peeled cherries into an acid solution (lemon juice and water or vinegar and water) or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in the cold, but storing sliced or peeled cherries in the refrigerator is much less effective than bathing them in an acid solution.
Depending on the variety, cherries get their color from either red anthocyanin pigments or yellow to orange to red carotenoids. The anthocyanins dissolve in water, turn redder in acids and bluish in bases (alkalis). The carotenoids are not affected by heat and do not dissolve in water, which is why cherries do not lose vitamin A when you cook them. Vitamin C, however, is vulnerable to heat.
Canning and freezing. Canned and frozen cherries contain less vitamin C and vitamin A than fresh cherries. Sweetened canned or frozen cherries contain more sugar than fresh cherries.
Candying. Candied cherries are much higher in calories and sugar than fresh cherries. Maraschino cherries contain about twice as many calories per serving as fresh cherries and are high in sodium.
Anti-inflammatory effects. In a series of laboratory studies conducted from 1998 through 2001, researchers at the Bioactive Natural Products Laboratory in the Department of Horticulture and National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University discovered that the anthocyanins (red pigments) in tart cherries effectively block the activity of two enzymes, COX-1 and COX-2, essential for the production of prostaglandins, which are natural chemicals involved in the inflammatory response (which includes redness, heat, swelling, and pain). In other words, the anthocyanins appeared to behave like aspirin and other traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. In 2004, scientists at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, released data from a study showing that women who ate 45 bing (sweet) cherries at breakfast each morning had markedly lower blood levels of uric acid, a by-product of protein metabolism linked to pain and inflammation, during an acute episode of gout (a form of arthritis). T
he women in the study also had lower blood levels of C-reactive protein and nitric acid, two other chemicals linked to inflammation. These effects are yet to be proven in larger studies with a more diverse group of subjects.
