Blueberries - Useful Properties, Recipes

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 02:10

Blueberries: useful properties, recipes

Blueberry is a short bush with straight branching stems. Smooth, thin and finely serrated at the edges, blueberry leaves are located on short petioles. The flowers of the plant are greenish-white in color with a pink tint, they are small in size. The flowers are in the leaf axils singly. Blueberry fruit is a black and blue berry with a bluish bloom, similar in shape to a small ball. Inside, the berry is red-purple in color with numerous seeds.

Blueberries bloom from late spring to early summer. Fruit ripening occurs in June-August. Bilberry is common in coniferous forests, near swamps and under the forest canopy on damp ground.

Composition and calorie content

• Fats: 0.3nbsp; g
• Proteins: 0.7 g
• Carbohydrates: 14.5 g
• Water: 84.8 g
• Ash: 0.2 g
• Cellulose: 2.7 g

Vitamins (per 100 g):	amount	% RDA
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)	9.7-56 mg	46.9%
Vitamin K	19.3 μg	16.1%

Minerals (in 100 g):	amount	% RDA
Calcium	22 mg	73.3%
Vanadium	16.8 mcg	42%
Boron	26.4 μg	37.8%
Iodine	10.9-24.3 mcg	17.5%
* Lead	1 μg	ten%

Other important connections:

• Phytosterols - 22 mg (40% of the RDI)
• Purines - 8 mg (6.7% of the RDI)
• Oxalic acid - 11 mg (2.8% of the RDI)

Complete chemical composition ➤

Useful properties of blueberries

Blueberries contain tannins, flavonoids, vitamins, organic acids and sugar. Thanks to all these substances, the plant has diuretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-putrefactive properties. Blueberries are used as a choleretic and blood sugar lowering agent. The plant contains a huge amount of antioxidants that reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Blueberries are a good remedy for diarrhea in young children, they have a beneficial effect on the digestive system of the body. That is why it is used for constipation. Blueberries are used to improve vision.

Growing blueberries

For the cultivation of blueberries most often buy bushes plants that are 2-3 years old. The root on the bush for planting should be with a clod of earth. A blueberry bush is placed vertically in the prepared hole and covered with soil. At the time of planting, you need to loosen the soil around the roots and spread the roots. After the planting material was covered with peat and sand, the soil needs to be trampled down a little and watered.

Blueberries are also propagated by seeds. The seeds are obtained by kneading fresh blueberries. After the fruits of the plant have been kneaded, the resulting mixture must be poured with water in a ratio of 1:10. We mix and see that the skin, pulp and empty seeds have surfaced, and we do this until it is completely cleansed. The most mature and good seeds will settle at the bottom. After drying the seeds, they are immediately sown in a box of peat. Seedlings will appear after 14–20 days. In the spring, the container with seedlings is removed to a warm and bright room. In the spring, young plants dive and put on a darkened place, protected from winds and sunlight. The next year, seedlings can be planted in the ground.

Blueberries tolerate fertilizing well with mineral fertilizers. Blueberries need constant soil moisture, so watering the plant should be regular. Sawdust should be applied to the soil in a layer of 10 cm, because they hold moisture. In the absence of mulch, the soil must be loosened regularly and shallowly.

Blueberry application

For medicinal purposes, the leaves and fruits of blueberries are used. For example, an infusion of plant leaves is used for diabetes, cystitis, pyelitis and various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Blueberries have tonic and anti-inflammatory properties, therefore they are used for skin diseases, leucorrhoea and typhus.

For gastritis, cystitis, heartburn and rheumatism, it is recommended to eat blueberries both fresh and boiled. Infusion and decoction of blueberries are used for mouthwash for stomatitis, sore throat and pharyngitis. Dried fruits are used to make tea, which helps to cure hemorrhoids. In addition, tea is made from blueberry leaves, but this tea is used for coughs, diarrhea, lichen, and as an external wash and compresses to treat eye irritation or burns.

Blueberry leaf tea. To prepare it, take 1 teaspoon of plant leaves and pour a glass of boiling water, leaving to stand for 10 minutes. Straining the finished tea, take it three times a day, 200 ml. It is also used externally.

Blueberry tea. Take 1 full and half a second tablespoon of dried blueberries and pour a glass of boiling water over them. We put on fire for 10 minutes. Then we remove and filter. This tea is used for diarrhea and for rinsing the mouth and throat.

Blueberry flowers for toothache. Taking 100 grams of blueberry flowers, they are poured with two glasses of water and put on fire until 30% of the original volume remains. Straining the finished broth, they rinse their mouth as needed.

Blueberry ointment. Fresh fruits are ground to the consistency of an ointment. Such an ointment should be put on gauze and simply applied to a sore or affected area (this can be lichen, eczema, burns, as well as rheumatism and gout). Every day, the gauze bandage is changed to a new one.

Contraindications to eating blueberries

Blueberries have no contraindications to their use, but you do not need to abuse their amount. Excessive consumption of blueberries will lead to poisoning with hydroquinone (a substance found in blueberries).

The author of the article: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna | Phytotherapist

Education: Diploma in "General Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the Pirogov University (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Moscow (2008).