A simple cranberry sauce recipe and its nutrients
An easy way to ensure you don’t waste all of those fresh, but tart, cranberries is to make a sauce. Here is a simple and quick recipe I used with some other left-over ingredients I had in my kitchen.
Fresh cranberries, water, honey and lemon juice are all you need for a quick and easy cranberry sauce.
Ingredients
- 300g of fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup of water
- ~ 4 tablespoons of honey (one can put more or less honey - sweeten to your liking)
- lemon juice from roughly 1/3 of a lemon
Method
- Wash and drain the cranberries.
- Combine the cranberries, water and honey into a pot and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and simmer the cranberries while stiring.
- Add the lemon juice and continue to stir.
- When the sauce becomes as thick as you want, turn down the heat and let it cool. It will continue to thicken as it cools. The whole process only takes around 10 minutes.
Cranberries, water, honey and lemon juice begin to thicken while cooking in a pot.
Cranberry sauce accompanied our roast dinner.
There were enough cranberries in this recipe to fill a jar plus some more.
Nutrients
Cranberries are considered a rich source of nutrients and phytochemicals,1-3 many being antioxidants,1-5 anti-inflammatory,1-5 anti-bacterial,1-3 cardio-protective,1-5 anti-carcinogenic,1-3anti-viral,1-3 and able to improve gut microbiota.1,5
The large cranberry, or American cranberry, also known as Vaccinium macrocarpon, is native to North America,5,6 where the majority of the world’s cranberries are produced. In Europe, the small cranberry, or Vaccinium oxycoccus, is harvested from the wild but the large cranberry is also grown commercially.1
Essential nutrients that exist in 100g of raw cranberries in considerable quantities include (percentages are of RDI for a)7-13: 43.8% vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 15.6% vitamin C, 8.7% vitamin E, 6.7% copper, 5.9% vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), 4.2% vitamin K, 2.9% iron, 2.4% water, 1.7% potassium, 1.5% phosphorous, 1.5% vitamin B2 (riboflavin), 1.4% magnesium, 1% choline, 1% vitamin B1 (thiamin), 0.8% calcium, 0.8% zinc, 0.6% vitamin B3 (niacin), 0.3% vitamin A, 0.2% selenium and 0.1% sodium.7-14 See the cranberry’s full nutrient profile at .
Essential nutrients that exist in 100g of honey in considerable quantities include: 443% chromium, 43.9% manganese, 46.1% copper, 20.8% vitamin K, 17% iron, 14% potassium, 12.7% vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 10.9% selenium, 5.6% zinc, 2.6% vitamin C, 1.7% magnesium, 1.4% calcium, 1.4% sodium, 1.3% vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), 1.2% phosphorous, 1.2% vitamin B2 (riboflavin), 0.9% vitamin B3 (niacin), 0.5% water, 0.4% vitamin B1 (thiamin) and 0.2% choline.7-17 See honey’s full nutrient profile at .
Essential nutrients that exist in 100g of lemon juice in considerable quantities include: 43% vitamin C, 5% folate, 3.5% vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 2.6% vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), 2.5% water, 2.2% potassium, 2% thiamin, 1.8% copper, 1.4% magnesium, 1.2% vitamin B2 (riboflavin), 1.1% phosphorous, 1% vitamin E, 1% iron, 0.9% choline, 0.6% calcium, 0.6% vitamin B3 (niacin), 0.5% zinc, 0.5% manganese, 0.2% selenium and 0.07% sodium.7-14 See the full nutrient profile of lemon juice at .
The various forms of processing, boiling included, affect the stability of essential nutrients, as well as other phytochemicals, and therefore the amount one can get from the foods.3,18,19 Fat soluble vitamins are lost to varying degrees during thermal processing with the exception of vitamin K, with water and air contents effecting their stabilities.19 Many food processes do not have a significant impact on the fat soluble vitamin content unless large volumes of air are introduced into the food.19 Minerals will not be lost as the water that they may have leached out into is being used (they will not boil away).19 Some vitamins are stable to the effects of thermal processing including vitamin B3 (niacin), biotin, vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and vitamin K. Others lost during heating including vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin B1thiamin at pHs > 7.0, folate and cobalamin.19 However, another review,20 that compares the effects of cooking methods on the retention of nutrients in foods, shows boiling did not significantly effect folate levels in peas. According to a study,18 around 35% of the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in various edible plants were lost through boiling. 3,19.
Bio-availabilities and anti-nutrients have not been considered, but these also effect how many nutrients a person’s body is actually able to make use of.
References
1
Nemzer, B. V., Al-Taher, F., Yashin, A., Revelsky, I., & Yashin, Y. (2022). Cranberry: Chemical composition, antioxidant activity and impact on human health: Overview. Molecules, 27(5), 1503.
2
Côté, J., Caillet, S., Doyon, G., Sylvain, J.-F., & Lacroix, M. (2010). Bioactive Compounds in Cranberries and their Biological Properties. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 50(7), 666–679. doi:10.1080/10408390903044107
3
Pappas, E., & Schaich, K. M. (2009). Phytochemicals of Cranberries and Cranberry Products: Characterization, Potential Health Effects, and Processing Stability. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 49(9), 741–781. doi:10.1080/10408390802145377
4
Thimóteo, N. S. B., Iryioda, T. M. V., Alfieri, D. F., Rego, B. E. F., Scavuzzi, B. M., Fatel, E., … Dichi, I. (2018). Cranberry Juice Decreases Disease Activity in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Nutrition. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2018.10.010
5
Thimóteo, N. S. B., Scavuzzi, B. M., Simão, A. N. C., & Dichi, I. (2017). The impact of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) and cranberry products on each component of the metabolic syndrome: a review. Nutrire, 42(1). doi:10.1186/s41110-017-0048-8
6
Stang, E. J. (1993). THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANBERRY INDUSTRY. Acta Horticulturae, (346), 284–298. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1993.346.38
7
Institute of Medicine. (1997). Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. Dietary Reference Intakes for calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, vitamin d, and Fluoride. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109825/ doi: 10.17226/5776
8
Institute of Medicine. (2005). Dietary Reference Intakes for water, potassium, sodium, chloride, and sulfate. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10925.
9
Institute of Medicine. (2001). Panel on Micronutrients. Dietary Reference Intakes for vitamin a, vitamin k, arsenic, boron, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, vanadium, and zinc. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK222310/ doi: 10.17226/10026
10
Institute of Medicine (2000). Panel on Dietary Antioxidants and Related Compounds. Dietary Reference Intakes for vitamin c, vitamin e, selenium, and Carotenoids. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225483/ doi: 10.17226/9810
11
Institute of Medicine. (1998). Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes and its Panel on Folate, Other B Vitamins, and choline. Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, vitamin b6, Folate, vitamin b12, Pantothenic Acid, biotin, and choline. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK114310/ doi: 10.17226/6015
12
Institute of Medicine. (2011). Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13050.
13
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25353.
14
USDA National Nutrient data base
15
Bogdanov, S., Jurendic, T., Sieber, R., & Gallmann, P. (2008). Honey for Nutrition and Health: A Review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 27(6), 677–689. doi:10.1080/07315724.2008.10719745
16
Escuredo, O., Míguez, M., Fernández-González, M., & Carmen Seijo, M. (2013). Nutritional value and antioxidant activity of honeys produced in a European Atlantic area. Food Chemistry, 138(2-3), 851–856. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.11.015
17
Khan, F. R., Abadin, Z. U., & Rauf, N. (2007). Honey: nutritional and medicinal value. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 61(10), 1705–1707. doi:10.1111/j.1742-1241.2007.01417.x
18
Arias-Rico, J., Macías-León, F. J., Alanís-García, E., Cruz-Cansino, N. del S., Jaramillo-Morales, O. A., Barrera-Gálvez, R., & Ramírez-Moreno, E. (2020). Study of Edible Plants: Effects of Boiling on Nutritional, Antioxidant, and Physicochemical Properties. Foods, 9(5), 599. doi:10.3390/foods9050599
19
Reddy, M. B., & Love, M. (1999). The impact of food processing on the nutritional quality of vitamins and minerals. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 459, 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4853-9_7
20
Fabbri, A. D. T., & Crosby, G. A. (2016). A review of the impact of preparation and cooking on the nutritional quality of vegetables and legumes. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 3, 2–11. doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2015.11.001
