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Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) - perennial shrub, which is known to any inhabitant of the middle lane and the taiga zone since childhood. Most people associate it with delicious berries that have to be picked at the most "mosquito" time.
Currently, blueberries belong to the Lingonberry family (Vacciniaceae), but in many publications she is still referred to as a representative of the Heather family.
The Latin name for common blueberries is Vaccínium myrtíllus. The name of the genus, which also includes blueberries with lingonberries, comes from Latin vacca, which means "cow". This is probably due to the fact that some members of the genus are eaten by domestic animals. The specific name translates as "myrtle", "little myrtle", which is a bit like a blueberry bush. Well, in Russia the vast majority of names are associated with the black color of the berries.
Blueberry medicinal raw material
Ripe fruits harvested without stalks or leaves harvested before flowering are used as medicinal raw materials.
When drying fruits, remember that you cannot dry them immediately at a high temperature. First, it is necessary to dry up for several hours at + 30 + 35оС, and only then can the temperature rise to + 50 + 60оС. If you do not follow this rule, then the collected berries will flow, and there will simply be nothing to dry.
Using blueberries
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Fruits contain tannins (it is by their content that raw materials are standardized according to the European Pharmacopoeia), organic acids (malic, succinic, citric, ascorbic), carotene, B vitamins (B3: - 420 mg, B5 - 120 mg, B6 - 52 mg, B2 - 41 mg, B1 - 37 mg), vitamin K - 19.3 mg, sugar (up to 10 g per 100 g of dry raw materials), potassium - 77 mg, iron - 280 mg, anthocyanins (0.5-1.5 % in dry fruits), pectin and mucous substances, glycoside myrtillin. Among all berries, it ranks first in terms of manganese content.
The leaves contain tannins (18-20%), flavonoids, triterpene compounds (oleanolic and ursolic acids), up to 250 mg% of ascorbic acid, carotene, quinic acid, arbutin (0.4-0.5%, which is much less, than in lingonberry and bearberry), hydroquinone, neomyrtillin glycoside. The seeds contain a fatty oil similar in composition to flaxseed (up to 31%).
The fruits are astringent due to the high content of tannins. Mirtillin, and especially neomirtillin, can help lower blood sugar. The fruits are used in the form of infusion, extract, jelly for acute and chronic enterocolitis, for putrid fermentation in the intestines, including diarrhea in children. There are indications about the effectiveness of decoction of fruits (especially dried ones) for follicular and catarrhal tonsillitis, as well as aphthous stomatitis.
In Bulgaria, dry fruits are used not only for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, but also for cystitis, although, given the content of arbutin in the leaves, they will be more effective in this case. For gastritis and colitis, Bulgarian doctors recommend 50-100 g of fresh fruits a day. In the absence of such, 10 g of dry fruits are insisted in 200 ml of water for 8 hours. This is the daily dose, which is drunk during the day in several doses.
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In France, blueberries have been considered a good hemostatic for centuries, and modern research has confirmed this property. This is partly due to the presence of tannins, but also the presence of compounds with P-vitamin (capillary-strengthening) activity.
Blueberries have been used as food and textile dyes for a long time. However, as a textile dye, it is very unstable to light and washing. But as a food coloring for drinks and various dishes, blueberry juice is simply irreplaceable. You can make wonderful drinks from the fruits: syrups, liqueurs, tinctures.
In recent years, the ability of blueberries to improve vision has been actively exploited by all pharmaceutical companies. The opinion that blueberries improve twilight vision has existed for a very long time. Even during the Second World War, English pilots who took part in night flights were specially fed with blueberry jam. But numerous studies give ambiguous conclusions - some show the high effectiveness of blueberry preparations, others lead to very skeptical conclusions.
But it has been reliably established that due to the high antioxidant properties of blueberry anthocyanins, as well as the rich microelement composition, it prevents the development of many other diseases, such as cardiovascular and oncological. Modern research has found that anthocyanins reduce the deposition of cholesterol in the vessels. One of the modern indications for the use of blueberry preparations is retinal detachment. But blueberries are not a panacea, its main direction of action is to improve blood circulation in the tissues of the eye, which slows down and prevents degenerative changes. Therefore, it is also recommended to prevent the development of cataracts. In ophthalmology, the extract is mainly used, which is prescribed in the form of biologically active food supplements.
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Scientists at Boston University found that blueberry juice restored memory in aged rats. But unfortunately there were no such observations in public, which is a pity - after all, the remedy is both tasty and harmless. Although many ancient herbalists recommend that older people eat blueberries to improve their well-being.
A separate type of raw material, as already mentioned, is blueberry leaves. They are included in antidiabetic fees, in particular Arfazetin. If you brew the leaves yourself, then you need to take 1 tablespoon of raw materials, pour 2 cups of boiling water, insist in a water bath for 10-15 minutes, insist until cooling, strain and take ½ cup 3-4 times a day. The course is about 2 months. At home, you can combine a blueberry leaf with wheatgrass rhizomes, blackberry roots, and beans in the collection.
There is strong evidence that oxidative stress is involved in the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. In animals that were first immersed in stress and then given blueberry extract, the protective effect of anthocyanins when exposed to oxidative stress on the cerebral cortex was studied. Anthocyanins suppressed the harmful effects of oxidative stress by affecting the transmission of neurotransmitters. The protective effect of blueberry extract against free radicals and mitochondrial liver dysfunction was revealed when exposed to unfavorable factors. Therefore, the extract as a therapeutic agent is promising in the prevention of age-related changes and the destructive effects of poor ecology.
Restrictions on use
As such, there are no restrictions on the use of blueberries, but due to the high content of tannins, it can aggravate constipation with sluggish peristalsis. In addition, the abuse of blueberries is undesirable for pancreatitis, duodenitis, biliary dyskinesia and oxalate stones.
In European countries, in particular in France, it has been established that echinococcosis, which is carried by foxes, can be transmitted through unwashed blueberries, eaten with dirty hands. It is a parasitic disease caused by helminths. Echinococcus multilocularis, which live in the intestines of foxes and other wild animals. But fortunately, it is quite rare in certain regions of Western Europe and, mainly, in the southern and eastern regions of our country.
