Bioactive properties of wild blueberry fruits

Bioactive extracts from wild blueberries were isolated, fractionated, and a nalyzed, Antioxidant activity, cardioprotective capacity, and ability to in hibit the initiation stage of chemically-induced carcinogenesis were evalua ted. Many fractions had antioxidant activity, especially those rich in anth ocyanins and proanthocyanidins. The ease of isolation of bioactive compound s and the ability to obtain accurate bioassays depended strongly on the sou rce material used. Extracts from spray-dried formulations containing magnes ium citrate and tri-calcium phosphate provided easier materials for bioacti vity assessment and demonstrated antioxidant, cancer preventive and cardiop rotective activity, Extracts with potent antioxidant activity degraded read ily, underscoring the need for rapid alternative fractionation tactics and rigorously controlled storage conditions.