Organic Dried Bearberry Leaves

Description

Bearberry is a plant in the Ericaceae family. It is an evergreen shrub barely half a metre tall, with creeping stems, small, oval, tough, glossy leaves and pink bell-shaped flowers. Its berries are tiny bright-red spheres. Native to North America, it is now widespread in Europe and Asia. It often grows abundantly in the central Iberian Peninsula.
Its bark is reddish and can be removed easily. Its twig shoots are short, and its oval, tough, glossy dark-green leaves cluster at the tips.

Bearberry leaf contains phenolic acids (gallic and quinic acids), flavonoids (hyperoside, isoquercitroside), pentacyclic triterpenes with an ursane-type skeleton (ursolic acid and its derivatives), iridoids (monotropeoside), traces of volatile components, and a high content (15 - 20%) of tannins, mainly gallic tannins (polygalloylglucose).
It also contains arbutoside, usually at between 6 and 10%, a D-glucopyranoside of hydroquinone. Its hydrolysis releases a glucose molecule and an unstable diphenol that immediately oxidises to hydroquinone. This glycoside, present in numerous Ericaceae species, is accompanied by its methyl ether (methylarbutoside) and piceoside, a glycoside of 4-hydroxyacetophenone. The glycoside content varies according to several factors, particularly leaf age, geographical origin and drying method. The presence of tannins blocks enzymes, preventing the glycoside from hydrolysing during drying.

Among its cosmetic properties, it is mainly indicated for skin with pigmentation spots and acne, as well as for evening out the skin’s natural tone.
Bearberry is also astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and sebum-regulating, and has been indicated for external use to combat inflammation of the mouth and eyes, and on skin wounds.
It also has wound-healing, protective and anti-free-radical properties, making it a staple for preparing many homemade creams.