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Ethnobotanical Study of the Mortiño (Vaccinium fLoribundum) as Ancestral and Potentially Functional Meal

Abstract:

Mortino is a native wild plant from Ecuador and Colombia. With an edible and tasty berry, mortino has been consumed since pre-hispanic ages with a ceremonial significance that is reflected nowadays in the celebration of Dia de los difuntos (All Souls' day). The relevant properties are the high content of polyphenols due to the presence of sugars, fibers, lipids, minerals, vitamins proanthocyanidins, anthocyanidins and flavonoids that permits their use as food colorants. Compounds as flavonoids, tannins and poli-polyphenic acids are recognized as antioxidants and promote the retinal and general micro circulation, platelet antiaggregation as well as the reduction of chronic venous insufficiency, potentially suggesting mortino as a nutritional supplement.