Bilberry Extract in Macular Pigment Density Improvement

Macular Pigments (MPs), by absorbing potentially toxic short-wavelength (400–500 nm) visible light, provide protection against photo-chemical damage. A new method of MPs levels screening analyzes polarization-dependent absorption of blue light by MPs, which results in the entoptic phenomenon called Haidinger’s Brushes (HB). Subjects identify the direction of rotation of HB when presented with a circular stimulus illuminated with an even intensity of polarized white light in which the electric field vector was rotating either clockwise or anti-clockwise. The examination was performed at baseline and after 3 months of daily intake of 320 mg bilberry extract, from Vaccinium myrtillus L. and standardized to contain more than 36% of anthocyanins (anthocyanosides), in normal subjects and MPs improvement was recorded after 3 months of dietary supplements. The results suggest a challenging role of daily intake of 320 mg bilberry extract in macular pigment density improvement possibly due to a macular protection from oxidative damage by bilberry.