Vaccinium arctostaphylos

Vaccinium arctostaphylos or Caucasian whortleberry is a species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color. It is native to Western Asia (Iran and Turkey), the Caucasus (Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia; Russia), and Southeastern Europe (Bulgaria).[1]

Vaccinium arctostaphylos plant

Vaccinium arctostaphylos
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Ericales
Family:
Ericaceae
Genus:
Vaccinium
Section:
V. sect. Hemimyrtillus
Species:
V. arctostaphylos
Binomial name
Vaccinium arctostaphylos

Medicinal effects

In a study on 50 hyperlipidaemic adult patients, an extract of the fruit of Vaccinium arctostaphylos was found to have beneficial effects on serum lipid profile and oxidative stress.[2] Each medicinal capsule contained 45 ± 2 mg of anthocyanins. The authors suggest that the effects may be due to the anthocyanin content of the fruit.

References
  1. "sp". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  2. Soltani, Rasool; Hakimi, Mustafa; Asgary, Sedigheh; Ghanadian, Syed Mustafa; Keshvari, Mahtab; Sarrafzadegan, Nizal (2014). "Evaluation of the Effects of Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. Fruit Extract on Serum Lipids and hs-CRP Levels and Oxidative Stress in Adult Patients with Hyperlipidemia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2014: 217451. doi:10.1155/2014/217451. PMC 3920853. PMID 24587807.


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