BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a common disease. Preliminary data indicate that Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. (Caucasian whortleberry) has a potential effect in glycemic control. Thus, the efficacy and safety of a standardized whortleberry fruit hydroalcoholic extract in the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients were studied. METHODS This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clini...

Understanding the emic concept of wild edible plants in specific cultural settings is important to map local perceptions on nature. As there is no specific word to describe the concept of a wild edible plant in Estonian, we asked to list plants belonging to a category described by two partly overlapping phrases: looduslik taim (natural plant) and metsikult kasvav taim (plant that grows wild). A...

Turkey is one of the most significant countries in the world from the point of view of both fruit genetic resources and amount of fruit production. Around 100 fruit species, including almost all the deciduous fruit species, most of the subtropical and some tropical fruit are grown in Turkey. Among fruits, berry fruits including grapes share 25% of total fruit production of the country. The most...

The leafminer Caloptilia porphyretica Braun (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), has become a frequent pest in commercial highbush blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum L., in New Jersey, but little is known about its seasonal abundance, life history, and parasitism rates. Monitoring programs were conducted from 2003 to 2006 on seven blueberry farms to determine the relative abundance of this leafminer b...

Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., family Ericaceae) is a small evergreen shrub found in the herbaceous layer of circum boreal forests Northern Eurasia and North America. It sometimes cultivated, mainly gardens, but more commonly its edible fruits are collected from native habitats. Chemical composition different aerial parts Vaccinium phenol glycosides, phenyl propanoids, anthocyanins, saponi...

SUMMARY This Technical Memorandum provides a comprehensive and critical review of the available literature on the primary processing, storage and quality of fresh lowbush (wild) blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. and V. myrtilloides Michx.). Areas of discussion include: pre-process cooling, mechanical damage, washing, storage temperature and quality parameters. Recommendations for furthe...