Blueberry Bioactive Properties and Their Benefits for Health: A Review

Angelica Markus Nicoletti, Marcia Arocha Gularte, Moacir Cardoso Elias, Magda Santos dos Santos, Bianca Pio Avila, Jander Luis Fernandes Monks, William Peres

Research intended to elucidate the biochemical role of dietary antioxidant bioactive substances, such as blueberry constituents, particularly anthocyanins, associated with their functional properties, has been conducted. The purpose was to identify the effect of these substances on specific biomarkers and the biological occurrence of these correlations, by reducing the risk of developing degenerative diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, cancer, coronary heart disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity. In view of the above, the aim with this literature review was to gather information about the antioxidant bioactive substances from blueberries, showing how they acted to their antioxidant power, in relation to reducing the risk of developing degenerative chronic diseases. These substances were observed as significant variations of the bioactive composition in the blueberries, influenced by soil and climate conditions. Blueberries, through the biological function of their bioactive substances, would have shown positive effects in reducing the risk of developing several non-transferable chronic diseases.