Blueberries

Vaccinium myrtillus L. Blueberries grows in our rare coniferous forests. Blue fruits ripen in July-August. Blueberry belongs to the most useful berries. Fruits contain tannins, organic acids( citric and malic), sugar, pectin, anthocyanins, carotene, glycazine, vatsionin, vitamins of group B, vitamin C( about 10-15 mg%), minerals, mainly calcium, lots of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, then iron and sodium. Blueberries have a low energy value.

Perennial shrub plant 30-40 cm high. The root is almost horizontal, branching. The stem is round, branched, brown, with greenish branches. Leaves alternate, round-ovoid, simple, short-petiolate, dentate. Flowers small, bisexual, pink, drooping, on short pedicels, sessile in the axils of leaves, solitary. The fruit is a black( with a bluish bloom) globular berry with several seeds. Blooms in May-June. Fruits ripen in July-August.

Blueberries grow on spruce and pine( less often) forests, swamps in the forest zone.

Medicinal raw materials are fruits collected during the full maturation period, and the leaves - during the flowering period. Drying of fruits is carried out in furnaces or dryers at a temperature of 50-70 ° C after pre-waxing in air.

Blueberries contain from 5 to 20% cane sugar, about 7% of the tartaric substances of the catechol, pectic substances, citric, malic, lactic, oxalic, quinic and succinic acids, red-violet pigment anthocides, vitamin C.

Leaves contain glycosidesneomurtillin, myrtil-lin;minor amounts of erycoline( arbutin);18-20% of tannins, cerium alcohol, essential oil, organic acids, vitamin C.

Bilberry is distributed mainly in northern and temperate regions of Russia. In the north, the boundary of the distribution of blueberries reaches the island of Kolguev, the southern boundary coincides with the southern boundary of the distribution of pine. Bilberry is widely distributed in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East. It grows in pine, fir-spruce forests, rarely found in deciduous forests.

Leaves and fruits are used as a medicinal raw material.

Bilberry fruits contain up to 12% tannins, 10-75 mg% of vitamin C, about 2 mg% of vitamin P. Organic acids, sugar, pectic substances, and also neo-musillin - the so-called "plant insulin" and carotenoid compounds, exacerbating night vision.

In folk medicine, berries and blueberry leaves have long been considered as a mild astringent used for acute and chronic disorders of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract in adults( enteritis, enterocolitis) and in children .

Bilberry fruits improve eyesight. In folk medicine, blueberries and their preparations are used with a decrease in visual acuity, to regulate the work of the gastrointestinal tract, as an astringent for diarrhea, as a hemostatic and anti-anemia agent.

The smell of dried fruit is weak, the taste is sourish-sweet, slightly astringent.

Useful and curative properties of blueberries

Indications: leaves and bilberry fruits are used as an astringent for acute and chronic digestive disorders, accompanied by diarrhea, colitis and enterocolitis. Used in dental practice with stomatitis, gingivitis. The fruits of blueberries are widely known as an antidote for diarrhea of ​​non-infectious origin, especially in children.

Procurement and storage of : medicinal raw materials are fruits and leaves. The berries are picked green, sorted, moss selected. Dry in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60 ° C.Fruits and leaves are stored in a dry cool place in a wooden container for 2 years.

Dosage forms : the infusions are prepared in a cold and hot way. Cold method: 2-3 tbsp.l.chopped leaves are poured 2 cups of boiling water, bring to a boil( but do not boil), insist in a warm place for 2-3 hours, filter, apply 0.25 cup 3-4 times a day. Hot method: 1 tbsp.l. Blueberries are filled with 2 glasses of water and boiled until 1 glass of water remains. Filter and drink in warm form for 0.25 cups 4 times a day before meals.

Medicinal fruits that exhibit a disinfecting effect in diarrhea( especially useful are dried berries), with inflammation of the mouth and throat. The coloring matter of the fruit acts on the restoration of eye purpura.

Leaves possess a medicinal property. Leaves are collected from the branches carefully so as not to damage the plant. They are quickly dried in the shade. The leaves can be collected from May to September. They contain tannins, glycocytes, which lower the level of sugar in the blood. They are used in the preparation of rinsing solutions, tea is used to maintain the action of the drug in diabetes( composition: 1 tablespoon of leaves per cup of cold water is infused for several hours, then the infusion is brought to a boil and drunk half an hour before eating).The leaves are part of the "Diabetan", "Hormonan" teas. In the gardens, large-berry varieties of bilberries, imported from the United States, are cultivated.

Cultural blueberry is taller, loves an acidic environment and easy soil. Before planting the soil is filled with peat, in some cases adding the remains of weeds, hay, straw and sand. Under planting, powdered sulfur and acidic fertilizers are introduced. Blueberry is demanding to moisture. Here we are talking about a different botanical form of blueberries, which most likely originates from Vaccinium corym-bosum. In cultivars green berries are green, not colored flesh, fruits form bunches and ripen non-simultaneously. Berries are large - up to 2 cm in diameter. Leaves of large-bilberry blueberries for medical purposes are not used. From blueberries make compotes, jam, it is frozen and dried. With blueberries bake delicious pies, cheesecakes, pancakes and other flour products. It also prepares the sauce.