fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins, and ellagic acid. Culinary use The ripe fruit is commonly used in desserts, jams, jelly, wine and liqueurs. It may be mixed with other berries and fruits for pies and crumbles. Blackberries are also used to produce candy. Phytochemical research Blackberries contain numerous phytochemicals including polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, salicylic acid, ellagic acid, and fiber. Anthocyanins in blackberries are responsible for their rich dark color. One report placed blackberries at the top of more than 1,000 polyphenol-rich foods consumed in the United States, but this concept of a health benefit from consuming dark-colored foods like blackberries remains scientifically unverified and not accepted for health claims on food labels. Cultivation Worldwide, Mexico is the leading producer of blackberries, with nearly the entire crop being produced for export into the off-season fresh markets in North America and Europe. Until 2018, the Mexican market was almost entirely based on the cultivar 'Tupy' (often spelled 'Tupi', but the EMBRAPA program in Brazil from which it was released prefers the 'Tupy' spelling), but Tupy fell out of favor in some Mexican growing regions. In the US, Oregon is the leading commercial blackberry producer, producing on in 2017. Numerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation in Europe and the United States. Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are numerous cultivars with more than one species in their ancestry. Hybrids 'Marion' (marketed as "marionberry") is an important cultivar that was selected from seedlings from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called "Olallieberry") berries. 'Olallie' in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. 'Marion', 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' are just three of many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry breeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The most recent cultivars released from this program are the prickle-free cultivars 'Black Diamond', 'Black Pearl', and 'Nightfall' as well as the very early-ripening 'Obsidian' and 'Metolius'. 'Black Diamond' is now the leading cultivar being planted in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the other cultivars from this program are 'Newberry', 'Waldo', 'Siskiyou', 'Black Butte', 'Kotata', 'Pacific', and 'Cascade'. Trailing Trailing blackberries are vigorous and crown-forming, require a trellis for support, and are less cold-hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the Pacific Northwest, these types do well in similar climates, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, and