Blackberries are delicate and spoil quickly. Keep them unwashed in the refrigerator in a shallow container with some ventilation. Wash them only before eating. Remove any damaged or mouldy berries promptly, as mould can spread quickly through the rest.

Blackberries provide vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese and dietary fibre, along with naturally occurring anthocyanins and other plant compounds. Their dark colour comes partly from these pigments. Adding blackberries to the diet can contribute to overall fibre and fruit intake. As with other fruits, they are best viewed as part of a varied diet rather than as a food with a single special health effect.

Blackberries have a long history in Europe and parts of Asia, where wild plants grew naturally along woodland edges, hedgerows and open countryside. People gathered the ripe berries seasonally long before commercial cultivation. Over time, growers selected plants for larger fruit, better flavour and fewer thorns, leading to the cultivated varieties widely available today.

A blackberry isn't actually one single fruit. What looks like one berry is a collection of many tiny individual fruits called drupelets, each developing from a separate flower ovary. And despite its name, the blackberry isn't botanically a true berry.

Choose blackberries that are plump, deeply coloured and dry, without leaking juice or showing mould. Unlike some fruits, blackberries don't continue to ripen much after picking, so look for berries that already have the colour and softness you want.