Vaccinium (Ericaceae): Ethnobotany and pharmacological potentials

Vaccinium (Ericaceae) is a cosmopolitan genus that reaches 450 species. In different places its berries are being consumed as food and, currently Vaccinium spp. based herbal medicines and in the market. Mainly functional foods are from V. mirtillus and V. macrocarpon from Europe and North America respectively. Hence, for reviewing the ethnobotanical interests of this genus, available literature and specialized databases were accessed. There are reports of medicinal uses or food uses of 36 Vaccinium species, mainly from North America, Asia and Europe. More than 70 diverse uses were compiled, mainly from the systems: digestive, genitourinary and endocrine/metabolic. Most commonly reported uses were: antidiabetic, diuretic, urinary antiseptic, antidiarrheal, antipyretic and astringent. In 22 species, berries are used as food. Fruits and leaves were the most cited useful parts of the plant. Geographic distribution of published researches pointed out that, except V. floribundum and V. meridionale, most of autochthonous Latin-American species has not been studied yet as part of a research work, therefore ethnobotanical, phytochemical and biological activity are needed to be studied in this region. According to pharmacological investigation, that in many cases corroborated traditional uses: presence of biologically active compounds in this genus (mainly polyphenolics) could mean a potential field for development of herbal medicines or nutritional supplements from this plant.