Secrets of the Superfruit

Are health food's hottest items really that healthy?

Somewhere in a warehouse near downtown Philadelphia, Eric Helms is hoarding pitayas. "It is low in sugar," he explains of the Nicaragua-grown fruit, "and it's very of the moment." Or so he hopes: now that he's bought exclusive U.S. importing rights to the pitaya, he's blending it into upwards-of-$8 concoctions at his Juice Generation bars in New York City. In a few months, he says, it just might become America's next great superfruit.

He's not alone. After the success Pom Wonderful has had juicing high-antioxidant pomegranates, a new generation of entrepreneurs is aiming to parlay the health benefits of other fringe...

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