Tag Archives: bearberry

The phenolic compound content in plants of the family Ericaceae under cryolithozone conditions

Niklaida N Ivanova* , Nadezhda K. Chirikova Online http://www.ecosysttrans.com 2023.

It is well known that northern berries are very high in antioxidants. This article from Yakutsk verifies the high levels in lingonberries, Vaccinium vitas-idaea, bog blueberries, V. uliginosum, and bearberries, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. They propose that the bog blueberry is the most valuable of the three.

“The fruits of Vaccinium vitis-idaea contain a high level of water-soluble extractives… The fruits of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Vaccinium uliginosum, on the contrary, are rich in lipophilic biologically active substances (fat-soluble vitamins, waxes, phospholipids). The fruits of Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Vaccinium uliginosum have the highest content of phenolic compounds…The highest content of flavonoids was recorded in the berries of Vaccinium uliginosum. Thus, the study demonstrates that the fruits of plants from the family Ericaceae growing in Yakutia have a significant amount of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. The arbutin content increases in the order Arctostaphylos uva-ursi – Vaccinium vitis-idaea – Vaccinium uliginosum. Thus, the study demonstrates that the fruits of plants from the family Ericaceae growing in Yakutia have a significant amount of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. Presumably this can be explained by the activation of oxidative stress under the influence of low temperatures.Presumably this can be explained by the activation of oxidative stress under the influence of low temperatures”. (Ivanova 2023).

Berries, Phytodrugs, and Bacteria

Phytochemicals: A Promising Weapon in the Arsenal against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria by Bahman Khameneh , N. A. Michael Eskin, Milad Iranshahy,* and Bibi Sedigheh Fazly Bazzaz. 2021. Antibiotics 10, 1044

This review by scientists at the Univ of Manitoba, Winnipeg and Mashad Univervsity of Medicine, Iran summarizes research on plant-based medicines or phytodrugs that have value as bactericides in humans. The purpose is to expand the tools in our medicine chest to minimize antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have been surfacing recently with the overuse of traditional antibiotics such as Penicillin. The authors explore the use of traditional herbal and berry medicines that might be useful in combination with, or instead of, these antibiotics. The list is quite long and includes two groups of berries familiar to all of us living in the North. The most widespread, of course, are bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, sold commercially as Uva Ursi and several species of Vaccinium that have been known for centuries in the treatment of bacterial urinary tract infections. A lot of the paper is best digested by chemists or pharmacologists, but it shows an ever-increasing interest in natural products by the medical community.