Bilberry

The Arctic bilberry grows wild in the clean, northern forests. The bilberry is a perennial shrub reaching 10–30 cm in height. In Finland the bilberry usually ripens in mid-July – early August. The berry is spherical with a diameter of 6–8 mm. It is either dark blue and waxy or black and shiny, and dark blue on the inside.

In food industry bilberries are used to produce juice, jam, dried berries and berry powders as well as to grain and dairy products. By-product fractions in berry processing are suitable for example for animal feed and cosmetic applications.

Bilberries are low in fat and rich in fibers. Bilberries contain vitamins C and E. The most significant health benefit of the bilberry, however, are the anthocyanin compounds it contains. The wild bilberry is three to four times richer in these flavonoids than is the related highbush blueberry.

Bilberries of Kiantama are hand-picked wild bilberries from Finland and Sweden. Bilberries are also available in organic quality depending on the product range.