Blueberry leaves tea

Use 1-2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh or dried blueberry leaves per cup of tea. Steep in near-boiling water for about 5 minutes before serving. Sweeten with honey or stevia leaf.

Blueberry leaves are rich in antioxidants, which have a number of different health benefits, including lowering fat levels and potentially protecting against hepatitis C.

Lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) leaves is a source of proanthocyanidins. Anthocyanins in the leaves have been found to be a part of the defense mechanism against photoinhibition, along with other mechanisms in photorespiration and the cycle of xanthophylls.

The antioxidant content in blueberry tea was sufficiently high that it showed great potential in helping treat the physiological symptoms of neurodegenerative disease, such as reduced brain function and mental impairment.

Researchers investigated the phytochemical profile of V. angustifolium leaves, and demonstrating its high similarity with the highbush blueberry leaves. They identified ten different compounds in an ethanolic leaf extract. Chlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenolic; it was 30 times more concentrated in the leaf extract (31.19 mg/g dry matter) than in the respective fruit (1.54 mg/g dry matter) and over 100 times more concentrated than in the respective stem or root extracts (0.09 and 0.03 mg/g dry matter, respectively).

Moreover, researchers also detected in significant amounts the flavan-3-ols epicatechin and catechin and in ratio roughly 1:1; they also quantified four quercetin glycosides (in total 9.65 mg/g dry matter), as well as quercetin aglycone (1.24 mg/g dry matter).
Blueberry leaves tea