I’m reaching out if anyone has knowledge, sources, or documents that has helped them in choosing low oxalate fruiting plants to grow. Appreciate any feedback!
Stacy,
I would expect in Wisconsin you could grow these very well!
What fruits are high in calcium and low oxalates?
Plums and apricots are very low in oxalate and a cup gives about 70 mg of calcium. Blueberries and pears are low in oxalate and give about 60 mg for a cup. Peaches give about 50 mg of calcium/cup.
Dennis
Kent, wa
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I’m not aware of any cultivars specifically bred for low oxalate. But most fruit seems to be low anyway.
Especially compared to potato’s and sweet potato’s and even tea. And almost all green or leafy vegetables.
Fruit does not seem to be a major source of oxalate.
However if your going to extremes to eliminate it from your diet. I think most berries contain lower amounts than apples for example. (redcurrant red raspberry, blackberry, blueberry)
And as a oversimplification berries tend to be “healthier” than some of the larger fruit. (more health promoting substances per weight)
blackberries, raspberries and currants also tend to be quite easy to grow. Although I’m not sure how they would do in your zone 4 climate.
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I am pushing it with blackberries in zone 5. In zone 4 I don’t see them growing. I thought currents were super hardy. The state restrictions on currents depending on state is the more limiting factor. I don’t grow currents though. Currents are supposed to be only good for cooking from my understanding
we use them in smoothies very often.
I have to agree with Oscar for the OP post. Most fruits are low in Anti nutrients compared to the vat majority of plant foods. Fermenting can be used to further reduce the contents if that is the goal like with kimchi and veggies.
Starfruit is pretty high in oxalates, the peel specifically…
Taro leaves are also something with a very oxalate acid taste hehe.
I would say fermenting or increasing calcium or even trying to lower other calcium imbalancing nutrients like phosphorus-calcium ratio is part of the conversation when talking about oxalate or anti nutrient contents of foods.
Nelson and babycakes blackberries are z4 hardy. Nelson survived 3 -40 days last winter unprotected. it had some damage to the northwest side of some of the canes but still survived and grew a crop which actually makes it marginally hardy to z3. i have dewberries that are z5 hardy but if placed on the ground in fall, they over winter under the snow just fine. i planted 5 Chester, 4 triple crown and 1 Colombian giant blackberry last summer and covered them with thick fleece blankets. if they survived under the snow, i should get some berries this summer. im planting some loganberries in front of my house on the east side. plan to make a frame about 7ft high to trellis them on so they look nice, primocanes i will leave on the ground to over winter like the others. im anxious to see how many zones i can push these plants under snow cover. cane fruit is cheap to grow. if i lose them 1 year its no biggie. they will come back anyway.
I wanted to add as a side note in case it has any relevance to anyone here trying to avoid oxalates on account of kidney stones:
In the US we think of the plant Bergenia as just a garden ornamental, but multiple Bergenia species are brewed into medicinal (and enjoyable) teas in multiple regions of the world. I’ve been digging into Google Scholar and found there is actually good documentation to back up a lot of the benefits, one of which is that the tea from a number of the species tested contain compounds which actually dissolve kidney stones. One of the most commonly grown species in the US (which some of you may already grow) is Bergenia crassifolia (usually sold by nurseries under the synonym B. cordifolia). In most of the species used it is the rhizome that is sliced and brewed in water, but for B. crassifolia the desiccated brown leaves from previous season’s growth are also used (and enjoyed if I can trust the multitude of videos I found of Russian speaking people brewing it).
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It surprises me that there are winter hardy blackberries to zone 4. A few years ago I saw someone mention not to plant floricane brambles in CO because the canes will not make it through the winter. In my experience that was true. I had floricane black raspberries and yellow raspberries and I never got fruit off them other than Anne 3 years later. I question what people label as zones as many can indeed go lower. I saw some claiming my Utah Giant cherry only hardy to zone 6 but it has lived for 3 years now just fine in zone 5. I am pretty sure I see bud swell on my Necta Zee Nectaplum and it is rated to zone 6 yet we had -15, -10 and then -8 3 days in a row with other days in the negative and it being in a pot.
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i took me 6 years to find z4 cold hardy blackberries there are 2 more cultivars sold in Canada that are z3-4 cold hardy but we cant get them there. about 5 years ago i found a wild one here that is called the smooth or Canadian blackberry. its very good but fruit is small like the wild raspberries. i have a small patch of it in the yard. its nearly thornless and grows well in full shade which is where i discovered it. there’s some out there but not many.
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