The Bilberry, Vaccinium Myrtillus, is a small dark purple fruit from the berry family. Despite what some people think, Bilberries (Vaccinium Myrtillus) are not Blueberries. Bilberries look very much like Blueberries and their names are even similar, so it’s an easy mistake to make.
Although the two are totally different berries they are from the same gene pool. There basically like long-lost brothers. Blueberries are bigger in size, have a green pulp, and are not as juicy.
The Bilberry fruit is more like a blackberry or a blackcurrant on the inside, very dark in colour, softer, and tastes much stronger and pungent than Blueberries.
Bilberries grow wild in Russia, Europe, and the UK. The plants themselves look like shrubs / bushes, are quite tough and can grow very well in bad soil conditions. But it should be noted, only when growing wild are Bilberries in their element. In any other setting they are very hard to grow. Bilberries also grow in single or double berries, where as Blueberries grow in clusters. This makes picking wild Bilberries more harder and more time consuming. Bilberries produce a considerably smaller overall harvest yield than Blueberry crops. This is one of the reasons why real Bilberry extract is so expensive, and also why the fruits themselves are much harder to find being sold in shops and stores on a regular basis.
Another reason why Bilberries are not sold large scale like Blueberries is because Bilberry’s are soft and very difficult to transport without becoming damaged. Because of how delicate Bilberries are they mostly have to be hand picked when harvest time comes due to conventional commercial picking methods being too rough. Again, resulting in damaged fruit. A lot of Bilberry is actually frozen before transportation to ensure a safe and intact delivery, and also to retain the natural levels of anthocyanosides contained in Bilberries. Damage to the fruit lowers the anthocyanoside levels.
Bilberry is at this time commercially collected in a high number of European country’s, as well as in Russia. The Majority of bilberry fruit is still obtained through wild harvesting, a lot of it within certified organic guide lines. A number of efforts have been made in order to commercially grow Bilberry crops in America. Unfortunately, the majority ended up failing. The ones that did have slight success ended up not being enough of a success to make it financially viable for investors.Commercial growing of Bilberry is now looked at as a bad investment and people prefer to keep operations small and in a more wilder setting to ensure better results all round.
Bilberries are classed as a super food. They have been used in traditional medicine for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Bilberries are high in antioxidants, containing anthocyanosides and Flavonoid anthocyanadins. These are known to have many health benefits, but are most well known for eye health. Studies have shown that Bilberries strengthen capillaries and are effective at treating people with eye problems like damaged retina’s, cataracts, and mascular degeneration. Enhanced night vision and a swifter adjustment to darkness has also been observed during trials.
There is a story in circulation about the RAF Pilots in World War II eating Bilberry jam and claiming that it gave them improved night vision when bombing the enemies at night. However, this was a false story. It was leaked on purpose to the Germans in order to hide the real facts behind the improved accuracy in blowing up targets, which was actually thanks to new advancements in technology such as RADAR. But the studies on Bilberries are real and ongoing, and they do have numerous benefits for visual and overall health. Some Including improved blood circulation, helping to keep the heart and respiratory system healthy, improved digestion, and the mopping up of free radicals within body cells. Free radicals are said to be one of the contributing factors for various illnesses, so we can see how important it is to consume foods with the ability to get rid of free radicals.
Other berries and fruits that contain Anthocyanosides include Blackberries, Elderberries, Blueberries, Grapes, and Raspberries. As healthy as all these fruits are, none of them contain more Anthocyanosides than the Bilberry. The only other berry that contains more Anthocyanosides is the Chokeberry, more often called the Aronia berry. However, tests have so far shown that the anthocyanins contained in Bilberries and genuine Bilberry Extract are the only ones that can improve eye health. Perhaps this could be due to the other berries not yet being tested for that purpose. Or it may be due to the high delphinidin content found specifically in Bilberries.
In the UK you may be able to find Bilberry products in shops like Asda, Sainsburys, and Morrisons, such as Bilberry jams, preserved Bilberries in syrup, and occasionally dried Bilberries. Please note: A lot of the time these products are sold out. Other sources for Bilberry include farmers markets and Polish shops. Bilberries grow wild in Poland and are very popular so the Polish shops located in the UK and USA sometimes stock these products to cater for the Polish Community that reside there. If you go to the farmers markets at harvest time you will get fresh Bilberries, and that’s the best method of consuming Bilberries.
On this website we do not recommend taking Bilberry extract supplements. The Bilberry extract supplement market is filled with products that contain little to no Bilberry extract what so ever. Even though most claim to be standardised to a certain extract level. Usually standardised to 25% anthocyanosides. This will be covered more in a future post. I think you will be quite shocked when you find out the truth about Bilberry extracts that are being sold. If you are on a diet or just generally trying to live a healthier lifestyle by exercising and eating better you should definitely consider adding Bilberries to your shopping list. They have unique properties that are not found in a lot of fruits.
If you can’t manage to find them in the shops I believe you can buy them in dried form from Amazon, and having just checked, Amazon UK do have Bilberry jam and Bilberry Juice for sale. If buying dried Bilberries they will lose some of their potency and nutritional value through the drying process and shelf sitting time period, but it’s better to eat the real thing rather than settle for low quality extracts, that like mentioned above, don’t contain the stated amount of Bilberry extract or in some cases contain no Bilberry extract at all.
