Currants

Gooseberries

Nutrients in This Food: 

Fresh currants have moderate amounts of dietary fiber and are an excellent source of vitamin C. Black currants, the berries used to make crème de cassis, are more nutritious than red currants. NOTE: Dried “currants” are grapes, not currants. One-half cup fresh black currant has 1.3 g dietary fiber and 101 mg vitamin C (135 percent of the RDA for a woman, 112 percent of the RDA for a man).

One-half cup fresh red currants have 1.9 g dietary fiber and 23 mg vitamin C (31 percent of the RDA for a woman, 26 percent of the RDA for a man). One-half cup gooseberries has 1.4 g dietary fiber and 11 mg vitamin C (28 percent of the RDA for a woman, 23 percent of the RDA for a man).

Currant.jpg
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food: 

Fresh.

Buying This Food: 

Look for: Plump, firm, well-colored currants. Gooseberries, which are members of the same species as currants, should have a slight golden blush.

Avoid: Sticky packages of currants or berries, moldy fruit, or fruit with lots of stems and leaves

Storing This Food: 

Refrigerate ripe currants or gooseberries and use them within a day or so. Dried currants can be stored at room temperature in an air- and moisture-proof package.

Preparing This Food: 

Wash fresh currants or gooseberries under cold running water, pull off stems and leaves, and drain the berries.

What Happens When You Cook This Food: 

When fresh currants and gooseberries are heated, the water under the skin expands; if you cook them long enough, the berries will eventually burst.

How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food: 

Canning. The heat of canning destroys vitamin C; canned gooseberries have only about one-third the vitamin C of fresh gooseberries.

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