Bilberry Extract Powder

European bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus, is a wild-growing heath shrub whose small, blue-black berries have deep purple flesh, and its ripe fruit is the starting material for this bilberry extract. Water extraction concentrates the soluble fruit fraction of Vaccinium myrtillus, and the liquor is dried to a purple red powder.

This 10:1 ratio extract of bilberry carries no anthocyanin percentage figure. It is water dispersible and milled to 80 mesh. The anthocyanin-standardized extracts are separate products, and so are the other berry extracts in the catalog.

SKU: BOT-BEX-0025 Category: Botanical Extracts Tags: Bilberry, Fruit & Berry, Gummies & Chews, Plant Extracts, Water Dispersible, Water Extracted

Vaccinium myrtillus Fruit Identity & Plant Part

The botanical entity is Vaccinium myrtillus L., a low deciduous shrub of European and northern Asian forests and heaths, in the heath family. The part used is the ripe fruit. Leaves and stems are not included in this bilberry extract. The berries are mostly wild-collected and are smaller than cultivated blueberries.

The most frequent mix-up is with the cultivated highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. Both fruits hold the same family of anthocyanins, but in bilberry the pigment runs through the whole berry, so a cut fruit stains purple, while blueberry flesh is pale and the color concentrates in the skin. The pigment mix also differs: bilberry is dominated by delphinidin and cyanidin glycosides, whereas blueberry carries relatively more malvidin and petunidin types.

Bilberry Extract vs Standardized Anthocyanin Grades

Form	What It Is	Choose It When
10:1 Bilberry Fruit Extract	Water-extracted, concentrated and dried V. myrtillus fruit	A dispersible bilberry extract without a marker is wanted
Bilberry Extract 25% Anthocyanins	Standardized extract with a defined anthocyanin level	The specification names an anthocyanin figure
Berry Anthocyanin Extract 10–25% Anthocyanins	Mixed-berry anthocyanin extract with a defined range	A berry-blend anthocyanin grade is the brief

A berry is mostly water and sugar, so a 10:1 ratio says how strongly the fruit was concentrated and nothing about pigment: two bilberry extracts at the same ratio can hold very different anthocyanin amounts. When a label has to declare anthocyanins, the 25% grade above is the product to cite, and the mixed-berry grade fits blends where the species is not fixed.

This ratio extract fits formulas that want bilberry identity, a purple red tint and a tart note without an anthocyanin claim.

Typical Specifications

Specification Item	Product Information
Latin Name	Vaccinium myrtillus
Plant Part	Fruit & Berry
Processing	Water Extraction
Common Name	Bilberry, European Blueberry
Ingredient Type	Ratio Extract
Extract Ratio	10:1
Appearance	Purple Red powder
Solubility / Dispersibility	Water Dispersible
Quality Parameters
Moisture (LOD)	≤5.0%
Total Ash	≤5.0%
Particle Size	80 mesh
Heavy Metals	Lead ≤2 ppm · Arsenic ≤1 ppm · Cadmium ≤1 ppm · Mercury ≤0.1 ppm
Microbiology	TPC ≤1,000 cfu/g · Yeast & Mold ≤100 cfu/g · E. coli Negative · Salmonella Negative/25 g
Shelf Life	24 months in unopened original packaging, cool and dry storage

Application Areas

Capsule Fills for a Staining Powder

Bilberry extract powder fills capsules after a flow check. The deep pigment shows through clear shells and can stain hoppers and change parts, so opaque capsules and a wipe-down between runs are common. Anthocyanins also darken on contact with iron, which favors stainless or plastic scoops.

Acid-Balanced Drink Powders

Sachet and stick blends pair this extract with citric or malic acid, where the color stays red-violet. In a near-neutral base the same powder turns bluer and duller. The tart, drying taste needs sweetener, and each mix should be tested in the water it will be stirred into.

Speckled-Look Tablets

In compressed tablets the dark powder speckles pale excipients, so mixing uniformity is easy to judge by eye. A film coat limits moisture pickup by the sugar-rich extract and keeps pigment from rubbing off during handling and packing.

Pectin Gummy Premixes

Gummy premixes take bilberry extract after cooking, once the mass has cooled, because sustained heat dulls anthocyanin color. A low-pH pectin set holds the red-violet shade better than a less acidic mass, which drifts toward blue.

Formulation Notes

The powder is purple red with a fruity, tart aroma and an astringent berry taste. In water it disperses to a deep red-violet, lightly hazy liquid whose shade depends on pH, brighter and redder in acid, bluer and duller toward neutral. The sugars and fruit acids in the dried solids hold water, so a container left open turns tacky at the surface first.

Anthocyanins are sensitive to heat, light, oxygen and metal ions, so add the extract late in any heated process, protect finished products from light and keep iron and copper tools away from it. The pigment is so intense that a few undispersed grams show as purple specks in a pale blend; stir the extract into a small portion of sweetener or filler first, then fold that into the batch.

Soft agglomerates that survive into the capsule hopper cause weight drift, so sieve the powder coarsely before filling. After opening a container, reseal it and keep it out of light: air exposure first darkens the surface tint and then sets the sugars into a sticky crust.

Packaging & Commercial Supply

Essencefield supports product evaluation, formulation trials, commercial orders, and ongoing ingredient supply. Packaging, storage, and shipping arrangements are determined by product characteristics, order quantity, stability requirements, and destination-market needs.

Supply Item	General Information
Sample	Available upon request for formulation, testing, and supplier evaluation
Order Quantities	100 g · 1 kg · 5 kg · 25 kg · 100 kg · 500 kg · Bulk
Sample Lead Time	Typically 5–7 days after sample confirmation
Production Lead Time	Typically 15–30 days after order and specification confirmation
Packaging	Suitable protective inner packaging with bags, cartons, drums, or other appropriate outer packaging
Storage	Store in tightly sealed, suitable protective packaging in a cool, dry environment. Protect from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight. Specific storage conditions follow the approved product specification.
Documentation	COA · Product Specification · TDS · SDS · Applicable declarations (as applicable)

Final order quantities, lead times, packaging, documentation, and shipping arrangements are confirmed according to the selected product and commercial requirements.