The Natural Products Journal   Eleni Pavlidou 1 , Constantinos Giaginis 1,* , Aristeidis Fasoulas 1 and Dimitris Petridis 2 1 Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of the Aegean, Mitropoliti Ioakim, Myrina, Lemnos, Greece; 2 Department of Food Technology, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece A R T I C L E H I S T O R Y Received: June 02, 2017 Revised: August 09, 2017 Accepted: August 23, 2017 DOI: 10.2174/2210315507666170830120953 Abstract: Background: The ever-growing concern about achieving quality of life and longevity leads scientists to the search of natural wellness resources. Also, prevention of diseases through food is considered as the driving force of the organism. The beneficial effects of superfoods, such as blueberries, on human health are expected to be proved, putting these effects under the microscope. Objective: Evaluating the effect of blueberries consumption in humans, in order to draw relevant conclusions for their beneficial effect and thus develop food policies and launch target in future searches. Methods: Comprehensive review of published studies of the last decade, using keyword combina- tions which are derived from the available database. Results: Based on the cited studies, that blueberries consumption reduces degenerative damage caused by free radicals, increases the natural killer cells and inflammatory cytokines, and provides evidence for cellular antioxidant defense against DNA damage, playing also an important role in the anti-cancer nutritional preventive treatment. Moreover, the blueberries consumption protects the elderly from neurodegenerative diseases, which are associated with oxidative stress and aging, im- proves gait performance, vascular function and insulin sensitivity. It also benefits school-age chil- dren’s cognitive function. The blueberries consumption also positively influences certain bifidobac- terial populations, affects the recovery of visual acuity and operates as a complementary therapeutic factor to reduce the severity of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Conclusion: The consumption of blueberries is a supplementary function to prevent and cure chronic inflammatory diseases, providing an admirable medical therapy support in order to reduce degenerative damage. However, further studies conducted on larger populations are strongly rec- ommended. Keywords: Blueberries, chronic diseases, complementary therapeutic factor, degenerative damage, human health, Vaccinium myrtillus. 1. INTRODUCTION Blueberries are members of the Ericaceae family and grow in moorland soil, in forests and high mountains, espe- cially in temperate and cold regions, forming massive colo- nies in silicon-rich soils. The ideal soil for tree-blueberry is light sandy or gravel soil, rich in organic matter, as well as sloping slightly in order to be well-drained, while the soil pH is important for preventing weed growth. The fruit harvest varies from May to August, depending on the country of origin. [1] However, there are many different varieties of blueberry species, but each having different special features [2, 3] and presents a variety of size. Approximately 450 *Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of the Aegean, Mitropoliti Ioakim 2, Myrina, Lemnos, 81440, Greece; Tel: +302254083117; Fax: +302254083109; E-mail: cgiaginis@aegean.gr species have been reported [4] with different names such as Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium ashei, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium darrowii, Vaccinium elliottii, Vac- cinium myrtillus, Vaccinium virgatum, Vaccinium uligino- sum. Of these species, the smaller ones have the advantage in terms of anthocyanins yield, due to the blue dye of the blue- berry flesh. People consume these crisp slightly sour fruits and use their leaves for tea or infusion, as it is considered that contain health promoting ingredients [5]. These spheri- cal blue-black fruits having a high content of polyphenols (procyanidins, flavonoids, flavonols and derivatives of stil- benes) and anthocyanins (cyanidin, delphinidin, malvidin, pelargonidin, petunidin, peonidin), the percentages of which are affected by various factors such as species, climatic con- ditions during cultivation, harvesting, storage, handling, processing etc. [4, 6, 7]. In addition, are rich in numerous 2210-3163/18 $58.00+.00 © 2018 Bentham Science Publishers Send Orders for Reprints to reprints@benthamscience.ae The Natural Products Journal, 2018, 8, 45-53 45 REVIEW ARTICLE Clinical Evaluation of the Effect of Blueberries Consumption on Chronic Diseases, Illness Prevention and Health Promotion