Still in an embryonic stage, a new investigation by the University of Coimbra will test an innovative methodology for processing blueberry leaves, transforming them into a biomass with potential therapeutic application

We only eat the berries, and like all berries, blueberries are very rich in phenolic compounds, which give them their antioxidant properties, but there are other parts of the bush that are equally rich in bioactive compounds (for example, phenolic compounds) that remain on farmland without any use. Phenolic compounds are present in all parts of the blueberry bush, but in the leaves in particular and, at certain times of the year, especially after fruiting (from September to November), the leaves are much more enriched with these compounds. The green leaf, on the other hand, does not lose phenolic compounds, they do not have exactly those that are necessary for the investigation, since they are in smaller quantities and different in terms of quality.

What this new Portuguese investigation will do is take the blueberry leaves, which are eventually used to make infusions and little else, in this case provided by the Cooperativa dos Agricultores de Mangualde, and process them. “We are going to optimize an innovative process for processing blueberry leaves, to the detriment of traditional infusions, in order to obtain a biomass enriched in bioactive compounds. The recommended result is the generation of a new nutraceutical product capable of acting on the central nervous system with neuroprotective and neuroregenerating potential in multiple sclerosis and eventually in other neurological and psychiatric diseases”, explains Sofia Viana, one of the researchers responsible for the project, to paired with Flávio Reis, both working in pharmacology and experimental therapy at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra.

This work is still at a very early stage and “concrete results in relation to its therapeutic potential will only be seen in 2019”, warn the researchers, who have a multidisciplinary team with advanced training in the areas of biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmacy and neurology, from the Instituto de Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the Instituto de Investigação Clínica e Biomédica de Coimbra of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, in collaboration with the School of Biotechnology of the Catholic University of Porto.

“Ninguém vai mascar folhas de mirtilo, estas vão ser processadas de forma a preservar estes compostos que consideramos ter utilidade terapêutica”, salienta Sofia Viana. O objetivo final é conseguir usar a biomassa como um suplemento alimentar, seja em comprimido ou em cápsula, no tratamento da esclerose múltipla, uma doença neurodegenerativa com incidência crescente em adultos jovens e para a qual as atuais estratégias terapêuticas são insuficientes, tornando imperativo a procura de novas soluções.