See blueberry.
[bil-, probably of Scandinavian origin + BERRY.]
bilberry
Dictionary:
bil·ber·ry (bĭl'bĕr'ē)  |
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The berry of wild shrubs of the genus Vaccinium, not generally cultivated. Variously known as whortleberry, blaeberry, whinberry, huckleberry. A 110-g portion is a rich source of vitamin C; a source of copper; provides 7.7 g of dietary fibre; supplies 60 kcal (250 kJ).
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Also called whortleberry, this indigo-blue berry grows wild in Great Britain and other parts of Europe from July to September, depending on the area. Bilberries are smaller and tarter than their cousin the American blueberry, and make delicious jams, syrups and tarts.
| Alternative Medicine Encyclopedia: Bilberry |
Description
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is a European berry shrub that is related to the blueberry, huckleberry, and bearberry plants that grow in the United States. Bilberry is a small, wild, perennial shrub that grows throughout Europe and is now cultivated from the Far East to the United States. The shrub yields large amounts of small, darkish blue berries. Besides their medicinal use, they are often eaten fresh or made into jams and preserves. The leaves of the plant are used medicinally as well, but to a lesser extent than the berries. The qualities of the herb are sour, astringent, cold, and drying.
Bilberry has been used by European herbalists for centuries. In Elizabethan times, bilberries were mixed with honey and made into a syrup called rob that was prescribed for diarrhea and stomach problems. The berries were also used for infections, scurvy, and kidney stones. The leaves of the plant were used as a folk remedy for diabetes. Bilberry is most famous, though, for its long use as a medicine for eye and vision problems. Legend has it that during World War II, British and American pilots discovered that eating bilberry jam before night missions greatly improved their night vision. Bilberries then became a staple for Air Force pilots. Since then, extensive research in Europe has shown that bilberries contain specific compounds that have beneficial effects on the eyes and circulatory system. In France, bilberries have been prescribed since 1945 for diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of blindness in diabetics.
Bilberries are high in substances called flavonoids, which are found in many fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, peas, and are particularly abundant in citrus fruits and berries. Flavonoids are chemicals technically known as polyphenols. Flavonoids have antioxidant and disease-fighting properties. Antioxidants are substances that help cells in the body resist and repair damage. The flavonoids found in bilberry provide the blue color of the berry. The bilberry flavonoids are called anthocyanosides, which were found to be the main active ingredients.
Bilberry flavonoids can increase certain enzymes and substances in the eyes that are crucial to good vision and eye function. Furthermore, anthocyanosides can increase circulation in the blood vessels in the eyes, and help these blood vessels repair and protect themselves. Specifically, research has shown that anthocyanosides help stabilize and protect a protein called collagen, which is a basic building block of veins, arteries, capillaries, and connective tissue. Particularly, anthocyanosides seem to work favorably in the tissues found in the retina, the back of the eye where major functions of vision take place. The retina is composed of millions of tiny nerve cells and blood vessels, which anthocyanosides can help support. Bilberry is a common treatment for many varieties of retinopathy, a disorder in which the intricate blood and nerve vessels in the retina are damaged. Retinopathy particularly affects people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and sickle cell anemia.
Many studies have documented bilberry's usefulness as a medicinal herb. One study demonstrated that bilberry extract used with Vitamin E prevented the progression of cataracts in 48 of 50 patients with cataract formations. In animal studies, bilberry reduced and stabilized blood sugar levels. In an Italian study, bilberry's flavonoids lowered cholesterol levels in the blood and improved circulation.
General Use
Bilberry is most commonly used as a component of treatment for various vision and eye disorders, including glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. However, people with glaucoma should be monitored by an eye doctor regularly, and those with acute glaucoma should not depend on bilberry alone to protect their vision. They can use bilberry along with other emergency medical treatments. Bilberry is included in the treatments for many types of retinopathy and is also used for eye fatigue, poor night vision, and nearsightedness. It can be used as a preventative measure for glaucoma and cataracts, and to help those who require precise night vision like cab drivers and pilots. Bilberry's circulation improving and cholesterol lowering qualities make it useful in the treatment of varicose veins and atherosclerosis. It is also occasionally prescribed for arthritis.
Preparations
Fresh bilberries can be eaten like blueberries, although they are difficult to find outside of Europe. Two to four ounce servings of the fresh fruit can be eaten three times a day. One to two cups each day is a good dose. Dried bilberries are sometimes available in herb or organic health food stores, and two or three small handfuls can be eaten per day. However, dried berries are likely to contain only a small amount of the flavonoids.
Bilberry supplements are widely available in health food stores. They can be purchased as capsules and liquid extracts. A high-quality supplement may contain a standardized formula of up to 25% anthocyanocides. The dosage recommended with this percentage of active ingredients is 80-160 mg taken three times daily. Bilberry supplements may be taken with food or on an empty stomach. Bilberry jam and syrup may also be used.
For eye and circulatory problems, bilberry can be taken with ginkgo to increase its beneficial effects. Vitamins A, C and E may also enhance bilberry's healing effects in the eye. Some suggestions have been made that other flavonoid-containing supplements, such as pine bark extract and grape seed extract, can possibly enhance bilberry's healing properties.
Precautions
Bilberry may be used as prevention and herbal support for eye conditions, but should not replace medical care. Consumers with vision problems should be thoroughly and immediately examined by an ophthalmologist (eye specialist) before any treatment or remedy is used.
Side Effects
Bilberries can be taken in large doses without any side effects. However, bilberry leaves shouldn't be taken in large doses or over long periods of time because they are toxic.
Resources
Books
Keville, Kathi. Herbs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Friedman/Fairfax, 1994.
Mayell, Mark. Off-the-Shelf Natural Health. New York: Bantam, 1995.
Periodicals
HerbalGram (a quarterly journal of the American Botanical Council and Herb Research Foundation) P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345, (800) 373-7105.
Organizations
Herb Research Foundation. 1007 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302.
Other
Dietary Supplement Quality Initiative.
[Article by: Douglas Dupler]
| Wikipedia: Bilberry |
For other uses, see Bilberry (disambiguation).
Bilberry is any of several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium (family Ericaceae), bearing edible fruits. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species.
Contents |
Vernacular names
Bilberries (especially Vaccinium myrtillus) are known by a very wide range of local names. As well as "bilberry", these include blaeberry, whortleberry (pronounced /ˈhɜrtəlˌbɛrɨ/) or hurts, whinberry, winberry or wimberry, myrtle blueberry and fraughan. They were called black-hearts in 19th century south-western England, according to Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel, The Return of the Native.[1]
Species
Bilberries include several closely related species of the Vaccinium genus, including:
- Vaccinium myrtillus L. (bilberry)
- Vaccinium uliginosum L. (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, bog whortleberry, bog huckleberry, northern bilberry)
- Vaccinium caespitosum Michx. (dwarf bilberry)
- Vaccinium deliciosum Piper (cascade bilberry)
- Vaccinium membranaceum (mountain bilberry, black mountain huckleberry, black huckleberry, twin-leaved huckleberry)
- Vaccinium ovalifolium (oval-leafed blueberry, oval-leaved bilberry, mountain blueberry, high-bush blueberry).
Wild and cultivated harvesting
Bilberries are found in very acidic, nutrient-poor soils throughout the temperate and subarctic regions of the world. They are closely related to North American wild and cultivated blueberries and huckleberries in the genus Vaccinium. One characteristic of bilberries is that they produce single or paired berries on the bush instead of clusters, as the blueberry does.
The fruit is smaller than that of the blueberry and similar in taste. Bilberries are darker in colour, and usually appear near black with a slight shade of blue. While the blueberry's fruit pulp is light green, the bilberry's is red or purple, heavily staining the fingers and lips of consumers eating the raw fruit. The red juice is used by European dentists to show children how to brush their teeth correctly, as any improperly brushed areas will be heavily stained.
Bilberries are extremely difficult to grow and are thus seldom cultivated. Fruits are mostly collected from wild plants growing on publicly accessible lands, notably Finland , Sweden , Norway, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, parts of England, Alpine countries, Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, Poland and northern parts of Turkey and Russia. Note that in Fennoscandia Austria, Sweden,Finland Norway and Switzerland, it is an everyman's right to collect bilberries, irrespective of land ownership, with the exception of private gardens. Bilberries can be picked by a berry-picking rake like lingonberries, but are more susceptible to damage. Bilberries are softer and juicier than blueberries, making them difficult to transport. Because of these factors, the bilberry is only available fresh in gourmet stores, where they can cost up to 25 Euro per pound. Frozen bilberries however are available all year round in most of Europe.
In Ireland, the fruit is known as fraughan, from the Irish fraochán, and is traditionally gathered on the last Sunday in July, known as Fraughan Sunday.
Bilberries were also collected at Lughnassadh in August, the first traditional harvest festival of the year, as celebrated by Gaelic people. The crop of bilberries was said to indicate how well the rest of the crops would fare in their harvests later in the year.
The fruits can be eaten fresh or made into jams, fools, juices or pies. In France and in Italy, they are used as a base for liqueurs and are a popular flavoring for sorbets and other desserts. In Brittany, they are often used as a flavoring for crêpes, and in the Vosges and the Massif Central bilberry tart (tarte aux myrtilles) is a traditional dessert.
Bilberry is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Vaccinium.
Possible medicinal uses
Often associated with improvement of night vision, bilberries are mentioned in a popular story of World War II RAF pilots consuming bilberry jam to sharpen vision for night missions. However, a recent study[2] by the U.S. Navy found no such effect and origins of the RAF story cannot be found.[3]
Although the effect of bilberry on night vision is controversial, laboratory studies have provided preliminary evidence that bilberry consumption may inhibit or reverse eye disorders such as macular degeneration.[4] A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on 50 patients suffering from senile cataract showed that a combination of bilberry extract and vitamin E administered for 4 months was able to stop lens opacity progress in 97% of the cataracts.[5]
As a deep blue fruit, bilberries contain high levels of anthocyanin pigments, which have been linked experimentally to lowered risk for several diseases, such as those of the heart and cardiovascular system, eyes and cancer.[6][7][8]
In folk medicine, bilberry leaves were used to treat gastrointestinal ailments, applied topically, or made into infusions. Bilberries are also used as a tonic to prevent some infections and skin diseases.
Standardization of its food products
- ISO 6664
References
- ^ Hardy, Thomas, The Return of the Native (pg. 311, Oxford World's Classics edition)
- ^ Muth ER, Laurent JM, Jasper P (April 2000). "The effect of bilberry nutritional supplementation on night visual acuity and contrast sensitivity". Alternative Medicine Review 5 (2): 164–73. PMID 10767671. http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/5/2/164.pdf.
- ^ [1] Bilberry Bombs, WebMD, October 2000
- ^ Fursova AZh, Gesarevich OG, Gonchar AM, Trofimova NA, Kolosova NG (2005). "[Dietary supplementation with bilberry extract prevents macular degeneration and cataracts in senesce-accelerated OXYS rats]" (in Russian). Advances in Gerontology 16: 76–9. PMID 16075680.
- ^ Zafra-Stone S, Yasmin T, Bagchi M, Chatterjee A, Vinson JA, Bagchi D (June 2007). "Berry anthocyanins as novel antioxidants in human health and disease prevention". Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 51 (6): 675–83. doi:. PMID 17533652.
- ^ Bell DR, Gochenaur K (April 2006). "Direct vasoactive and vasoprotective properties of anthocyanin-rich extracts". Journal of Applied Physiology 100 (4): 1164–70. doi:. PMID 16339348.
- ^ Chung HK, Choi SM, Ahn BO, Kwak HH, Kim JH, Kim WB (2005). "Efficacy of troxerutin on streptozotocin-induced rat model in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy". Arzneimittel-Forschung 55 (10): 573–80. PMID 16294503.
- ^ Roy S, Khanna S, Alessio HM, et al. (September 2002). "Anti-angiogenic property of edible berries". Free Radical Research 36 (9): 1023–31. PMID 12448828.
See also
- Blåbärssoppa, a drink made from bilberries
- Blueberry
- List of fruits
- List of vegetables
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bilberry |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Bilberry |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - blåbær, blåbærplante
Nederlands (Dutch)
blauwe bosbes
Français (French)
n. - myrtille, airelle
Deutsch (German)
n. - Blaubeere, Heidelbeere
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) μύρτιλλο, φίγγι
Português (Portuguese)
n. - baga (f) de mirtilo (Bot.), mirtilo (m) (Bot.)
Español (Spanish)
n. - arándano
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
越橘, 覆盆子
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 越橘, 覆盆子
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) نوع من التوت
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - אוכמנית, שיח עם גרגרי-מאכל כחולים כהים
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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