Blueberries (Bilberries) Organic

Blueberries (Bilberries) - organic & wild collected

Bilberries have something magical about them. These dark-violet, almost black mini-berries go almost unnoticed growing on delicate bushes in our mountain forests, but they are packed with healthy nutrients like hardly any other fruit - a real super fruit! Their gorgeous bittersweet flavour brings back the wonderful childhood memories of hour-long roaming of forests right across the blueberry bushes and eagerly collecting the small jewels.

These delicious and nutritious dried bilberries, as they are also known, have a wide range of important nutrients and are particularly rich in vitamins C, E and B6 as well as iron, fibre and other vital substances such as resveratrol, zeaxanthin, lutein, anthocyanins and other polyphenolic compounds. Because they contain such a high amount of phenols, particularly gallic acid, blueberries are known as “neuro-protective agents.” According to researchers from Iran, this means that they can literally protect our brains from degeneration, neurotoxicity and oxidative stress.

For a fruit it has a particular high content of iron, essential for the production of oxygen-rich blood cells throughout the body. Also, dried wild blueberries contain a very high antioxidant capacity of approximately 50,000 μmol TE / 100g (ORAC value = Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity).

Blueberry extract skin care products are becoming very popular around the world. It’s been reported that the wide spectrum of vitamins and minerals help restore hormone balance, which counteracts acne. That makes blueberries an excellent home remedy for acne. Also, blueberries contain resveratrol, which is a natural sunscreen and tans your skin.

Wild Blueberries (Bilberries) vs Cultivated Blueberries

They look almost alike. Both of them are blue, round and taste great. But what are the differences between these two berries?

Blueberry has become a universal name for blue-coloured berries of the Vaccinium family, but it is good to know the difference between blueberries (often American Blueberries) and bilberries (European or Wild Blueberries).

First of all, while blueberries are cultivated in various places around the world, wild bilberries grow on small shrubs and mainly at the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Bilberries in comparison with cultivated blueberries have higher content of vitamins and much higher content of anthocyanin than in cultivated blueberry.

The anthocyanins in wild bilberry are visible to the eye as blue and red pigments in the inside flesh of the berry. While blueberry is white and slightly powdery from the inside, bilberry‘s contents are juicy bluish purple.

The wild blueberry (bilberry) has historical uses since the 16th century based upon both the dried berries and leaves of this shrub. Modern interest stems in part from the fruit's use by British pilots in World War II, when pilots noticed night vision improvement after eating bilberry jam prior to night bombing raids.

Why we love Wild Blueberries

Most dried wild blueberries on the market have added sugar and preservatives. We prefer our berries a 100% pure and raw, with their wonderful natural flavour and high nutritional profile. Our wild bilberries have a dark violet, almost black colour which indicates the quality and purity of the product. In addition, nowadays almost only blueberry (American blueberry) from cultivation is available in the market, which is simply not comparable to the wild blueberry in taste and is clearly less rich in nutrients.

Pearls of Samarkand Wild Blueberries (Bilberries)

Our wild bilberries have a fruity, aromatic sweet and sour taste. They originate from the remote mountains of the picturesque environment of Samarkand in Uzbekistan. There, they are hand-picked and then quickly dried, with one of the most modern solar drying systems which is extremely gentle on the fruits and also environmentally friendly.

Our wild blueberries are 100% natural, gently processed and dried and without preservatives, dyes, sweeteners or other unnatural additives.

Current origin Ukraine

Organic blueberries from wild gathering are very hard to come by and especially if the harvest in Uzbekistan was not so rich, one relies on acquisitions from Eastern Europe. We also had Bosnia's ancestry, but now for a long time from the Ukraine.

These blueberries are from the Lemberg region. This is located in western Ukraine, near the Polish border and about 7.5 hours drive from Chernobyl. Due to the nuclear disaster of 1986, all imported food from Ukraine to the EU is checked for radioactivity. Pearls of Samarkand also checks the products annually for harmful substances, nutrients etc.

Usage of Wild Blueberries

Thanks to their intense, typical blueberry taste, they are perfect as an addition to muesli, smoothies and dessert topping. For smoothie recipe, we recommend you soak the wild blueberries the night before, so they plump up and are easier to blend up with your other smoothie ingredients. They also fit well into yogurt (also vegan coconut yogurt) and honey. A real treat!

Nutritional values Wild Blueberries per 100g

Calories 1310 kJ / 310 kcal
Protein 5 g
Carbohydrates 58 g
of which sugar 37 g
Fat 6.3 g
of which saturated fatty acids 0 g
of which monounsaturated fatty acids 3.33 g
Of which polyunsaturated fatty acids 2.97 g
Fibres 36.4 g
Vitamin C 223 mg (278%*)
Vitamin E 14.1 mg (117%*)
Vitamin B6 0.74 mg (53%*)
Iron 5.2 mg (37%*)
All data are subject to the usual fluctuations in natural products.
* Percent of the recommended daily dose for an adult according to Swiss Food Legislation.

Storage

Store in a cool, dry and dark place.