Overview
Brasanac-Vukanovic and colleagues characterized phenolics, antioxidant activity and element content of six laboratory extracts made from wild bilberry fruits and leaves from Montenegro, aimed at nutraceutical use. Elements were measured by ICP-OES in the dry extracts. The main text prints only the lowest and highest values of essential elements; lead, cadmium and arsenic values sit in a supplementary table that is not available here.
Key numbers
- Manganese ranged from “42.85 ± 0.10” µg/g in the Soxhlet fruit extract to “1210 ± 2” µg/g in the macerated leaf extract (Section 2.1.4, p. 9).
- Chromium ranged from “0.123 ± 0.002” to “1.11 ± 0.03” µg/g, both in leaf extracts (p. 9).
- The authors state all extracts were below WHO medicinal-plant limits for cadmium (0.3 µg/g) and lead (10 µg/g), with values in Table S2a (p. 9).
Methods (brief)
Extracts were microwave digested in nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide and analyzed by ICP-OES, in duplicate with three replicates each. No detection limits, reference materials or recoveries are reported.
Evidence Fitness
Context only for heavy metals: the toxic-metal results are supplement-only and the matrix is a concentrated laboratory extract, not berries as eaten. The manifest note said the abstract names no toxic metals; the full text discusses lead, cadmium and arsenic but prints no numbers for them. Not usable as a proxy for blueberry-muffin.