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Lingonberry (red) is a plant that has numerous properties and healing effects. Thanks to them, it has been used as a remedy for diseases of the urinary system, diarrhea and ulcers. Lingonberry will also help lighten pigmentation spots on the skin. Check what other properties lingonberry has, how it differs from cranberry and try out recipes for healing tinctures and delicious lingonberry jams.

Lingonberry , also known as red bilberry, red blueberry or evergreen blueberry, is a plant that has long been found thanks to itshealing propertiesapplicationin herbal medicine. Fruit ( Vitis idaeae fructus ) and lingonberry leaf ( Vitis idaeae folium ) are commonly used.

Contents:

  1. Lingonberry in diseases of the urinary system
  2. Lingonberry vs cranberry
  3. Lingonberry for diarrhea
  4. Lingonberry can prevent stomach ulcers and cancer
  5. Lingonberry can prevent obesity
  6. Lingonberry - use in cosmetics
  7. Lingonberry - use in the kitchen
  8. Lingonberry - recipes

Lingonberry in diseases of the urinary system

In herbal medicine, lingonberry leaves are used in diseases of the urinary system, incl. in inflammation of the bladder and kidneys or urolithiasis. Lingonberry leaves contain a substance called arbutin (a phenolic glycoside), which has a strong disinfecting and diuretic effect on the urinary tract, reducing the development of inflammation in the urinary tract.

Worth knowing

Lingonberry vs cranberry

Both cranberries and lingonberries are distinguished by their very sour taste and red color. However, the similarities end there. Cranberries are much larger than lingonberries and unevenly covered in color. Their diameter - in the large-fruited version - is approx. 1 cm. The lingonberry has small, tiny, uniformly red fruits. In addition, the cranberry lies horizontally on the ground and has no vertical shoots. In its natural environment, it grows most often in peat swamps. Cranberries are also grown. Lingonberry iswhile small shrubs (approx. 20-30 cm). It grows in pine forests and mixed, moderately dry forests - that's why you can often find blueberries during walks in the forest.

Lingonberry for diarrhea

Lingonberry leaves also have an anti-diarrheal effect. The tannins contained in them have a strong astringent effect on the mucous membranes of the digestive system, reducing the liquidity of stools, and also bactericidal on the bacterial flora of the stomach and intestines, inactivating bacterial toxins.

Lingonberry can prevent stomach ulcers and cancer

Water extracts of lingonberry leaves have an antibacterial effect against some bacterial strains, including Helicobacter pylori. All thanks to the content of tannic acid (tannic acid), argue Estonian scientists from the University of Tartu¹. Helicobacter pylori is closely related to the occurrence of approx. 80 percent. gastric and duodenal ulcers. H. pylori can also lead to stomach cancer.

Lingonberry is also called red blueberry because of the color of its red berries, or sometimes evergreen blueberry because its leathery leaves do not fall in winter.

Lingonberry can prevent obesity?

Modern phytotherapy recommends the use of lingonberry fruits mainly for stomach problems, because they are characterized by the ability to regulate the work of the digestive tract. However, preliminary scientific research shows that they can have a much wider application.

Lingonberry fruit may prove to be effective in the fight against obesity. Scientists from the Scottish Crop Research Institute² came to such conclusions. In in vitro studies, scientists assessed the effect of the polyphenols of various berries on the activity of pancreatic lipase, an enzyme involved in the digestion of fats. It has been shown that the polyphenol-rich extracts of lingonberry fruit inhibit pancreatic lipase and thus affect the digestion of fats and energy consumption by the human body. Inhibition of lipase activity contributes to reduced digestion of fats and their increased excretion unchanged by the body. As a result, a smaller amount of free fatty acids is directly absorbed into the blood and their storage in the form of adipose tissue is lower.

Important

Large doses of lingonberry leaf extracts used for a long time may cause vomiting, agitation, cramps and anemia. At the same time, the tannins contained in decoctions can irritate the stomach and cause poisoning.

Lingonberry - use in cosmetics

Arbutin contained in the leaves of lingonberriesnot only has a positive effect on the work of the urinary system, but also on the skin, as it brightens skin and pigmentation changes. The depigmentation effect of arbutin is due to the inhibition of melanin synthesis - a pigment found mainly in the cells of the dermis and epidermis, the content of which determines the color of the skin. This action was confirmed, among others, by Japanese scientists from Kobe University School of Medicine³. Arbutin, as a pure substance or a component of plant extracts, is used in dermocosmetics as a lightening agent for skin discoloration, while the effect of pure arbutin is much stronger.

Lingonberry - use in the kitchen

Lingonberry can be used to make jams, preserves and other preserves. They can also be used to prepare medicinal tinctures and infusions.

Lingonberry fruit is very persistent because it contains natural benzoic acid, a popular preservative used as a preservative to extend the shelf life of food (known as E210).

Lingonberry jelly mixed with horseradish, orange peel and pears from varieties with a large number of stone cells (giving a rough aftertaste) is the basic ingredient of the original Cumberland sauce - a cold sauce used in English cuisine as an accompaniment to game dishes ( mainly wild boar and hare).

Lingonberry preserves retain their properties if the fruit and leaves are properly harvested and then prepared. Leaves are harvested from June to August. Then they are dried in drying rooms, initially at 30 degrees C, and then at up to 60 degrees C. They are odorless, have a bitter, slightly tart and astringent taste. The fruits of the red lingonberry appear in August. The berry is initially creamy white and turns red as it matures. In the southern part of Poland, it often flowers a second time and bears fruit in October, and sometimes in November. Flowering fruits are usually smaller, but more persistent and more colored.

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Lingonberry - recipes

Lingonberry juice - recipe

Washed, fresh lingonberry fruits lightly crush, pour water to half the mass, cover with a little sugar, cover and leave for a few hours, then cook for 10 minutes. Pour the fruit mass through a strainer. The resulting juice can be sweetened - then it becomes a syrup and due to the high sugar content it will also strengthen and coat the cough - and then pour it into bottles and pasteurize it.

Jam withcowberry - recipe

Ingredients: 1.5 kg of cowberry, 0.5 kg of sugar. Make a syrup from sugar and 1 glass of water, bring to a boil, add the lingonberry and fry it for about 30 minutes, until the mass tends to solidify. Pour the hot jam into the jars and pasteurize it.

Lingonberry fruit tincture - recipe

Ingredients: ripe, red lingonberry fruits (1 kg), 1 l of 96% spirit, 0.5 kg of sugar, 1 l of water.

Preparation method: clean, wash and slightly crush the ripe red lingonberry fruits. Put it in a jar and pour the spirit over it. Macerate in a warm place until the fruit is faded. After this time, boil the sugar syrup (from 0.5 kg of sugar and 1 l of water), cool it and add the spirit tincture to it. Filter and pour into bottles. Store for one year in a cool, dark place. The tincture has a bright red color and a sour taste.

Lingonberry leaf tincture - recipe

Pour half a cup of dry, crushed leaves with 0.5 liters of vodka, then macerate for 14 days and filter.

Bibliography:

1. H. Annuk, S. Hirmo, E. Turi, M. Mikelsaar, E. Arak, T. Wadstrom: E¡ect on cell surface hydrophobicity and susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to medicinal plant extracts, FEMS Microbiology Letters 172, 1999, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10079525

2. G. J. McDougall, N. N. Kulkarni, D. Stewart: Berry polyphenols inhibit pancreatic lipase activity in vitro, Food Chemistry 115, 2009, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030881460801443X

3. A. K. Chakraborty, Y. Funasaka, M. Komoto, M. Ichihashi M: Effect of arbutin on melanogenic proteins in human melanocytes, Pigment Cell Research, 1998, Aug Vol. 11 (4), https: //www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pubmed/9711535

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