2009 年 16 巻 2 号 p. 60-65
In Europe, bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus Linne) fruits extracts are used as herbal drugs, while they are categorized as foods in Japan. In this study, we evaluated the quality of 7 bilberry products obtained in Japanese markets by using HPLC. Both anthocyanins and anthocyanidins, the latter of which are degradation products of anthocyanins during storage, were used as specific marker compounds. Among the products, the HPLC profiles are divided 3 groups. The fist one (samples A, C and F) showed the same profile as that of an on-specification product to European Pharmacopoeia (EP product). The second one (samples B, E and G) showed the profile not similar to that of the EP product. The last one (sample D) showed additional peaks such as cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside to the HPLC profile of EP products. These data suggest the origin of the second group might not be derived bilberry. In addition, the sample D may contain other additional plant extract(s). Then, we compared the ratio of anthocyanidins to anthocyanins among the products. The results showed that the ratio of sample C and F is remarkably higher than that of sample A and the EP product. These results indicate that there are significant differences in the quality of these products.