From: ((Steven B. Harris))
Subject: Re: PYCNOGENOL (The Adventures of Bilberry Finn)
Date: 11 Jul 1995
Newsgroups: sci.life-extension,sci.med.nutrition

In <3trpv6$sk8@newsbf02.news.aol.com> kardog@aol.com (Kardog) writes:


>Anthocyanin
>
>Anthocyanin is the generic term this bioflavinoid, including pycnogenol.
>I believe pycnogenol is actually from a type of pine tree (??) There are
>other types derived from grape skin, grape seeds, and an herb called
>bilberry.


Comment:

Yes, and also in green tea, silymarin, ginkgo, wine, and hawthorn berry.
The more correct term is perhaps bioflavinols, since these compounds are
not the same as the more familiar citrus bioflavonoids.

Also, by the way, "bilberry" is referred to above as some kind of "herb"
as though it might be exotic.  The bilberry is simply what Europeans
call what we call the huckleberry.  Huckleberries are much more strongly
colored and flavored than their relatives the blueberries.  That extra
coloring is all anthocyanins-- in fact it is mostly delphinidin, the
compound that makes delphiniums blue (anthocyanins are colored breakdown
products of proanthocyanidins, which is a generic term that includes the
polychatechins and epichatechins in Pycnogenol, etc).  Huckleberries are
not really cultivated anywhere I know of, but they grow wild in Idaho
and Montana, and fine huckleberry jams can be mail-ordered from there if
you don't live there (which is what I do-- email me if you want an
address and phone number).  If you want a gourmet "life-extension
sandwich," it's hard to do better than almond butter and huckleberry jam
on 10-grain bread.  I eat several a week.

                                                Steve Harris, M.D.