Saskatoons - Diversifying

[cakadu]

Jensco, I've dug up some saskatoon sites for you that I hope may be of some use.

Saskatoon Production in Manitoba - Manitoba Agriculture
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/fruit/bld01s01.html

Commercial Saskatoon Berry Production
http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/200/238_830-1.html

Saskatoons (scientific name)
http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/listing/amelanchieralnifolia.htm

Canadian Journal Plant Science
http://www.nrc.ca/aic-journals/jul00.html

[cakadu]

The following article came from the Functional Food net out of Guelph University.

SASKATOON BERRIES FIGHT DISEASES
April 11, 2002
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
A1 / Front
Joanne Paulson
According to this story, a recent study performed by Dr. David Kitts at the
University of British Columbia showed that Saskatoon berries contains
antioxidants, known to protect against certain diseases.
The story says that studies have already proved that the colour components
in many fruits and vegetables have antioxidants. Now, you can add saskatoons
-- specifically, the Smokey and Thiessen varieties -- to that list.
The three-year study by Kitts shows saskatoons are comparable in antioxidant
activity to blueberries, blackberries and g**** seed extract. Saskatchewan's
Agriculture Development Fund and Riverbend Plantation Inc. supported the
study.
Kelley Fitzpatrick, president of the Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network, was
cited as saying she sees the study as a potential springboard for further
developing a value-added saskatoon berry industry, adding, "I've always
believed, since the first day I walked into this network, we're not
capitalizing enough on the berry industry, and especially on saskatoons. We
figured that there would probably be something equivalent to blueberries or
raspberries or cranberries, but we didn't know the extent. Now we do. Now
the next step is how do we process these saskatoons to get them into
nutraceuticals, get them into other functional food ingredients. It's an
area of real interest to the industry."
Fitzpatrick was further cited as saying that to take these findings to the
next step, which is essentially processing, there must be funding from both
industry and government, adding, "The most feasible process, which would be
the easiest to implement at this time, is drying of the berry to be able to
incorporate it into energy bars. It's something different. You're adding
colour component, you can play upon the whole nutrition aspect, they're
flavourful, and the industry is looking for new ingredients."
Creating extracts from saskatoons to go into food supplements, would be a
second step, she said.

[jensco]

Thanks for all the great info everyone. We've been checking it all out when we get a chance around all the other farming chores.

Looks like we will be spending a good portion of this year prepping for a new crop.