Experiments on the domestication of bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.)

摘要

For treating mild recurrent lower urinary tract infections the leaves of bearberry are used as standard phytotherapy with the hydroquinone derivative arbutin being the value-determining component. Bearberry is an indeciduous, reptant shrub belonging to the family of the Ericaceae. In some European countries it is a protected species. At present, raw material sourcing is done via in-situ collection in Eastern Europe and Spain. The intent of the study is the domestication of bearberry according to the interest of the phytopharmaceutical industry to obtain standardised raw material produced by controlled cultivation. Screening of 53 different bearberry provenances was the basis for the selection of adequate origins. The quantification of hydroquinone derivatives, calculated as anhydrous arbutin, showed arbutin concentrations between 8.3% and 18.9%. Thus, all tested provenances reached an arbutin content of more than 7% as specified in the monograph on bearberry in the European Pharmacopoeia. Vitality and growth characteristics of the provenances were tested in a substrate-bulk-container-experiment with seven different substrates and pH-values between 3.8 and 7.5. Essential issues for cultivation such as crop establishment, plant care measures, harvest, and yield expectations were tested on a 500 m 2 area with two different bearberry provenances. A high failure rate during young plant culture was caused by fungal pathogens.