The cherries are a good source of potassium. They also contain useful amounts of vitamin C. They are valued in natural medicine for their cleansing properties-the fruit is believed to remove toxins and the fluids and cleanse kidneys.

This fleshy fruit may soon become an important weapon in the ongoing quest to fight cancer. A review of research on the fruit's health benefits has found that fresh sweet cherries are loaded with a compound called cyanidin, part of a family of antioxidants called anthocyanins.

Together, these compounds help combat the cell-damaging effects of "free radicals", which may lead to the development of cancer and a host of age-related illnesses.

The research review was completed by researchers Cynthia Thomson at the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Chieri Kubota at the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona. Their review of the published literature from around the world provides the most thorough look yet at cherries' healthful characteristics and potential role in disease prevention.

There are more than 1000 varieties of Cherries. The edible varieties can be divided in to sour cherries, such as Morello and sweet cherries, such as Napoleon and Bing.

A comparison of anthocyanin content provided in the report showed that one cup of cherries contains approximately 80.2 milligrams of anthocyanin. Bing cherries, the most popular variety of fresh cherries, are especially high in anthocyanin.

Even more significant is that cyanidin accounts for 93 per cent of sweet cherries' level of anthocyanin, or 75.2 mg per cup. Other fruits possess far less cyanidin: 6.6 mg for tart cherries, 17 mg blueberries, 35.8 mg raspberries and 1.5 mg red grapes.