''Vaccinium arctostaphylos'' or Caucasian whortleberry is a species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color. It is native to

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

(

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

), the Caucasus (Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia (country), Georgia; Russian Federation, Russia), and Southeastern Europe (Bulgaria). Vaccinium arctostaphylos-2

Medicinal effects

In a study on 50 hyperlipidaemic adult patients, an extract of the fruit of ''Vaccinium arctostaphylos'' was found to have beneficial effects on serum lipid profile and oxidative stress. Each medicinal capsule contained 45 ± 2 mg of anthocyanins. The authors suggest that the effects may be due to the anthocyanin content of the fruit.

References

External links

* Carl Linnaeus (1753) ''Species Plantarum'', Tomus I

* Vaccinium, arctostaphylos Flora of Western Asia Flora of Armenia Flora of Azerbaijan Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Georgia (country) Flora of Iran Flora of Russia Flora of the Caucasus Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Ericaceae-stub