Bilberry Fruit Extract

Bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus, is a low European shrub whose small dark blue berries are colored through the flesh and have a long history as a wild-harvested fruit for jams, pies and liqueurs. This grade is a 4:1 extract of the fruit, made with a solvent of 25% ethanol and 75% water, so roughly four parts of starting fruit go into each part of finished extract. A ratio extract is defined by its starting material rather than a marker compound; for a grade standardized to anthocyanins, see the bilberry extract page. The extract carries the fruit's purple pigments, which are sensitive to pH, light and heat, so it is best suited to capsules, tablets and low-pH powder blends in opaque packaging.