Lingonberry is a bright red, four-celled berry that grows on a low, creeping, evergreen shrub and is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and eaten raw, thus preserving most of their nutrients. This small but powerful berry contains numerous medicinal and nutritional benefits. Lingonberries can be processed into juices, jam, syrup and other form of food. The extract of lingonberries has also been produced to control blood sugar levels, prevent fat deposition and weight gain, encourage weight loss, provide powerful antioxidants and reduce inflammation in the body. Additionally, this kind of extract is developed as a flavoring agent with freeze-thaw stability, and can be utilized in many culinary applications such as chocolate, cakes, and ice cream.
Nutrition and Health Benefits of Lingonberry
Lingonberry extract is rich in nutrients, including anthocyanins, rhodopsin, pectins, tannins, vitamin C and B vitamins, and has recently been renowned for its amazing phytochemical contents including arbutin, resveratrol, and procyanidin, among which anthocyanins are the mainly biologically active ingredients doing wonders for health. Rhodopsin is the most basic substance for eye vision, which can enhance the sensitivity to dark and weak light. Flavonoids have the activity of vitamin P and are beneficial to protecting blood vessels and preventing cancer. The extract also contains plentiful nutritional elements of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. It naturally comprises benzoic acid that is commonly added as a preservative to prevent the growth of mold in many other fruit and berry products.
Main Biological Functions of Lingonberry
With respect to the functional effect of lingonberry, it can prevent rupture of blood vessels and is also known as a repairman of capillaries. It is also able to protect the eyes, prevent cancer, reduce inflammation, and relieve chronic hepatitis B.
- Lingonberry extract provides antioxidants much more than other fruits and vegetables, which can eliminate free radicals that harden blood vessels to prevent arteriosclerosis. Therefore, lingonberry is known as a repairman of capillaries in the circulatory system. The antioxidant anthocyanins are helpful for the treatment of heart disease and cancer, and can inhibit urethritis by preventing E. coli from adhering to the bladder wall. Regular consumption of lingonberry juice containing antioxidant polyphenol flavonoids could have a significant inhibitory effect on chronic hepatitis B.
- Lingonberry increases the flexibility of capillaries, promotes the expansion and expansion of blood vessels, and prevents blood vessel rupture. It thus may offer benefits to those with cardiovascular concerns.
- Lingonberry can strengthen the capillaries in the eyes, and of course, reinforce the capillaries in other organs and tissues of the body to prevent vascular diseases in various organs.
- Lingonberry contains a significantly large amount of quercetin that exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, and thus it can help to deal with chronic inflammation issues.
- Special components such as ellagic acid, ellagic acid tannin, folic acid, anthocyanin, and flavonoids in lingonberry can inhibit the activity of an enzyme that enables cancer cells to be rapidly proliferated.
- The antimicrobial effects of lingonberries against bacteria are helpful to keep a healthy mouth.
Medicinal Use
Lingonberry is a widely acceptant medicine with a pleasant flavor. In folk medicine, lingonberry has been used as an aperitif, an astringent, a depurative, a diuretic, anti-hemorrhagic agent, an antiseptic for the urethra, and a tonic for the nervous system. It is also applied to treat breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, blood disorder, rheumatism, and various urogenital infections in various ways. In traditional Austrian medicine, the fruits have been administrated internally as jelly or syrup for the control of disorders of gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. Some people also eat lingonberry or use the juice of the berries to treat colds, fever, coughs and sore throats.
Leave a Reply