The blackcurrant is the ultimate "superfruit" which can help fight cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's, new findings show.

|PIC1|The berry, far more nutritious than exotic fruits such as goji berries and blueberries, has the benefit of being home-grown, according to scientists new claims.


Research by Dr Derek Stewart, of the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI), has found the blackcurrant contains greater levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than 20 other fruits tested.

This means that eating blackcurrants can help prevent cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, eye strain, MRSA and diabetes, among others.

The study looked at 20 fruits and measured the levels of antioxidants and the nutritional value. In the majority of cases the blackcurrant outperformed other fruits.

Dr Stewart, the head of the quality, health and nutrition programme at SCRI, said: "We wanted to find out which fruit came out on top. And blackcurrants can claim to be the number one superfruit."

As well as blackcurrants, researchers analysed apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, mangoes, melons, oranges, passion fruit, peaches, pears, pomegranate, raspberries and strawberries.

Dr Stewart added: "From a quick overview it is clear those with a deep purple or red colour perform particularly well, the darker the fruit the higher the antioxidant content. Blackcurrants are very dark purple in colour and in line with these indicators, comes out top in the majority of the categories."

For some time goji berries, shipped in from the Himalayas, and American blueberries, were thought to offer the best health benefits.

However, whilst gojis cost £2 for a 60g bag, farms in Britain are now offering blackcurrants for about £3.99 per kilo; that's 24p for 60g.