Anthocyanins and Flavonoids of Vaccinium L.

Abstract

Vaccinium L., comprising approximately 450 species primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, is a genus of shrubs or lianas in the family Ericaceae. The berries of many species are harvested for household consumption and commercial sale. The genus produces a wide range of compounds such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, chromones, coumarins, lignans, benzoic acids, iridoids, sterols, and triterpenoids, but is best known for the production of anthocyanins and flavonoids. Extracts and isolates of anthocyanins and flavonoids from Vaccinium fruits or leaves showed antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antiviral, vasoprotective, and antifungal activities. To data, more than 116 anthocyanins and flavonoids compounds have been isolated and identified primarily from the fruits or leaves of Vaccinium. This article reviews phytochemistry and pharmaceutical properties of these compounds.

Phenolics and mineral content in bilberry and bog bilberry from Macedonia

“…Anthocyanins represent the most important group in bilberries, contributing to their attractive purple-blue colour hues but also defining quality traits. [13,14] The level of anthocyanins varies with cultivar type, season, degree of ripeness, and growing conditions; [15] therefore, reported literature data are quite diverse. Other groups of phenolics identified in bilberries are flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and hydroxycinnamic acids.…”

“…Other groups of phenolics identified in bilberries are flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and hydroxycinnamic acids. [8,9,13,16] A proper consumption of minerals is another very important part of the human diet. [17] Some of them present as trace elements (microelements) and are essential for the physiological equilibrium of the organism.…”

Total Phenol Content and Antimicrobial Activity of Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) from Several Areas in the Eastern Carpathians

“…Phenolic compounds, which are secondary metabolites present in all higher plants, act as defence compounds against plant pathogens (Burdulis et al, 2009) and their production is often induced as a response to various stress conditions. The chemical substituents of Vaccinium vitis idaea L. show antioxidative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antiviral, vasoprotective and antifungal activities (Negi, 2012;Su, 2012). Flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans and complex phenolic polymers (polymeric tannins) are the typical substituents, which are rich sources of flavonoids, such as flavonols.…”

A vörös áfonya (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) össz-antocianin tartalma néhány állományánál a Keleti-Kárpátokban

“…Ugyanakkor a külföldi szakirodalmi adatok alapján tudjuk, hogy a vörös áfonyában található polifenolok (katechinek, fl avonoidok, antociánok) (Su 2012), szerves savak (aszkorbinsav, benzoesav, urzolsav, szalicilsav stb.) (Häkkinen et al 1999), fémkomplexek és egyéb összetevők számos emberi egészségre gyakorolt hatással rendelkeznek.…”

“…(Häkkinen et al 1999), fémkomplexek és egyéb összetevők számos emberi egészségre gyakorolt hatással rendelkeznek. Ezek közül a legfontosabbak: protektív hatás kardiovaszkuláris megbetegedések esetén (Bishayee et al 2015, Isaak et al 2015, gyulladáscsökkentő hatás, daganatos betegségek elleni védelem (Stoner et al 2008), antibakteriális, antivirális és gombaellenes hatás (Su 2012), vércukorszint-csökkentő hatás (Yang és Kortesniemi 2015), a retina sejtjeit védő (Wang et al 2015), és gyomorfekély esetén kuratív hatás (Burger et al 2002). Ismert továbbá a növény asztmaellenes és májvédő hatása, valamint szabadgyökök elleni védelemben való hatékonysága (Zheng és Wang 2003, Mane et al 2011.…”