Vaccinium angustifolium

Vaccinium angustifolium, “Wild lowbush blueberry” in English and “Bleuet à feuilles étroites” ou “Airelle à feuilles étroites” in French, belongs to the Ericaceae botanical family. Native to North-eastern North America, it is a shrub growing to 0.2 m in dry open barrens, peats and rocks.

The very sweet fruit is eaten raw or cooked, used like raisin, to make sweet wine and juice, and is largely grown for the canning industry.

The plant is a widely used health product for the treatment of diabetic symptoms and contains a variety of phenolic metabolites with putative anti-diabetic activities.

The fruit is known for its antioxidant properties (fifteen anthocyanins), but root, stem and leaves each have a different spectrum of anti-diabetic activities. Among the leaves and stems constituents are chlorogenic acid, rutin, quercetin 3-arabinoside, catechin, epicatechin etc.

• English name Lowbush blueberry
• French name Bleuet