Blue foods capture the imagination because they are so rare in nature. Who doesn’t know a kid who sticks their tongue out in glee after chewing blueberries? Let’s get to know some real blue foods and find out why they’re so few and far between!

What makes food Blue?

Naturally blue foods get their colour from a relatively rare group of chemical pigments called blue anthocyanins, which are derived from anthocyanidins. Most anthocyanidins are red and produce red coloured food, but some are blue and make purple, black, and blue hues instead. Anthocyanidins are being researched for their potentially anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity properties. Unlike carotenoids and red anthocyanidins, blue anthocyanidins are comparatively rare.

Blue Foods in Nature

Most processed blue foods are the result of adding artificial blue colour to the recipe. However, edible blue organisms do occur in nature. This is an illustrated list of naturally blue foods:

Blueberries, the most famous of Blue Foods

Okay, let’s get the obvious one out of the way! Blueberries are renowned for their blueness and inherent goodness.

Huckleberries

Huckleberries are known by many different names, but you can think of them as smaller, wilder, less sweet blueberries.

Blue Java Bananas

Blue Java Bananas supposedly taste like ice-cream!

Indigo Milk Cap

Indigo Milk Cap is a blue mushroom which oozes blue “milk” and tastes like a typical woodland mushroom.

Blue Corn

Blue Corn is just like regular corn, but blue.

Blue Carrot

Up until a few hundred years ago, most of the carrots grown by farmers were not orange/yellow. Many of them were blueish-black. Many of them still are blueish-black.