Never quite being as popular as their red cousins and rival berries strawberries and raspberries, blueberries still manage to carve a niche out for themselves in the cooking and culinary world.
However, when compared to these other classic berries, you start to wonder why they are so different. After all, you can easily see the seeds on a raspberry or a strawberry, if you look hard enough.
But where are they on a blueberry? Do they even have any seeds in the first place? How many do they have, if they do?
Luckily for you, your questions, and plenty more, will be answered in this guide that we have compiled for your berry-viewing pleasure.
We’ll not only tell you that Blueberries do have seeds, but how many they can have, how you can extract them for planting, and why they are often so different from other berries too!
Do Blueberries Have Seeds?
So, let’s not beat around the blueberry bush any longer, and get to the main question we have: Do blueberries have seeds in them or are they located somewhere else on the plant?
Well, in some cases the answer is yes!
Blueberries do contain seeds within their pulp, being around the same size as a typical poppy seed.
However, blueberry seeds are so small, that it is incredibly difficult to spot them with the naked eye unless you are actively looking for them.
You might not even be able to feel them in your mouth as you eat the blueberry!
How Many Seeds Do Blueberries Have?
So, if these berries do have seeds, where are they exactly? And, if you’re trying to extract them, how many can you expect in an average blueberry?
Well, you might be surprised at just how many little seeds just one of these berries can fit inside them!
The average number of berries that you can extract usually sits around 15 to 20, with the potential for higher or lower yields always a possibility.
How To Extract Blueberry Seeds
So, you now know just how many seeds you can expect to find in a blueberry.
If you’re a gardener or botanist, you might be interested in trying to grow these seeds into full plants themselves.
That’s a great idea! If you can get to the seeds, of course. And their small size certainly doesn’t make that task any easier!
If you’re struggling to get these seeds out of a blueberry for planting or care, then make sure to pay attention to this short guide!
Check The Berry’s Origins
Before you start trying to get the berries out yourself, you’ll first want to get an idea of what kind of soil or climate the original blueberry was grown in.
After all, a blueberry bush that grows best in semi-arid conditions around the equator might be best grown in a humid, cold climate, or vice versa!
Fortunately, this issue is easy to solve if you purchase a blueberry from a local farmer’s market or grocer.
Many farmers that sell their own products will be able to tell you in what conditions the berries were grown, and what variety they were.
You can obviously try and grow supermarket-bought blueberries, but you won’t get that same information as easily, and they may have come from a completely different place.
Of course, the right soil conditions and a greenhouse will allow you to grow pretty much any type of blueberry, but your task will certainly be easier with a little nectar information.
Mush The Berry
So, now that you know what soil to grow your blueberry in, you can start to get the berries out!
The best way to get a hold of those berries is also the simplest: Simply mush the berry up, and get them out with your bare hands!
To separate the pulp and seeds from the rest of the fruit, you’ll want to press the berries with a fork or spoon, until the pulp and berries start coming out.
worry about squishing them: They’re so small, that gently pressing them won’t damage them!
Alternatively, you can also use a blender to separate the seeds from the berry. However, you don’t want to have them in the blender for too long, as this actually can damage the seed.
Make sure your blender is on a low-power setting, and don’t blend for more than 30 seconds at most.
Separate Pulp From Seed
So, you should now have at least a few seeds out of the blueberry. However, there is still a lot of pulp on them, so it’s time to separate them even further!
Add the seeds and pulp to a jar, and fill the jar with room temperature water.
You’ll need to leave them inside the jar long enough for the two to separate. Blueberry seeds naturally sink, whereas the pulp will rise to the surface.
Pour & Drain
Once you notice that the pulp has separated, you can slowly pour the pulp out, making sure not to lose your seeds in the process.
Repeat this process until you have only seeds remaining, and you’ll be ready to start planting or preserving them!
Why Are Blueberries So Different?
You may have noticed that blueberries don’t have much in common with the strawberries and raspberries we mentioned before, looking more like cranberries than anything else.
That’s because, technically speaking, strawberries and raspberries are completely different types of fruit!
You’ll notice that raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are made of smaller individual segments (it’s harder to notice on strawberries, where the tiny seeds are the ‘real’ fruit).
This actually disqualifies them as true berries, and are instead considered a type of pseudocarp, a plant that looks and functions like a fruit but isn’t one.
Interestingly enough, blueberries and cranberries, because of their single-item bodies, are considered true berries. This puts them in the same family of plants as bananas, cucumbers, and grapes (are grapes a citrus fruit? Read more here)!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Blueberry Seeds Damage Your Mouth?
You may have a concern that blueberry seeds, as can be easily missed, even while eating.
However, their small size also means that blueberries pose no threat to your oral health.
Unless you already had a pre-existing condition or issue, such as an open wound or cavity, blueberry seeds can’t do any damage to your mouth.
How Long Do Blueberry Plants Take To Produce Berries?
A blueberry plant will start growing blueberries from around 2–3 years old. However, blueberry plants don’t tend to start growing their maximum amount until they are much older, around 7 to 8 years old.
So, if you’re growing blueberry plants from seeds, you’ll need to be patient!
Final Notes
So, there you have it! It turns out blueberries do have seeds in them!
Blueberries are pretty interesting little fruits, once you take a closer look at them.
We hope that you’ve found this guide interesting and that our guide to finding and extracting blueberry seeds was helpful for your garden!
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
