Alcoholic fermentation of different Vaccinium species: optimization and phytochemical analysis of berry wines

Edible berries are an important part of nutrition, they are often preserved as jams, jellies and beverages. Alcoholic fermentation is one of the commonly used methods of fruit preservation, but not all berry species are suitable. In this study, three closely related blueberry/bilberry species were tested for their suitability and quality of the resulting berry wine, namely Vaccinium myrtillus , V. uliginosum and V. corymbosum . In the first step, the three species were fermented either mashed or juiced ([ Fig. 1 ]). The best result was achieved with V. uliginosum ; V. myrtillus fermentation failed due to mold and V. corymbosum wine, despite the higher content of alcohol in the final product, showed a significantly lower content of health-promoting secondary metabolites and less pleasant aroma. In the second step, juice of V. uliginosum was optimized for alcoholic fermentation by the addition of sugar and/or yeast. Higher alcohol content and higher pH was achieved in the sweetened juices, both with natural yeast and inoculated S. cerevisiae . The addition of yeast resulted in significantly earlier onset of fermentation and a higher phenolic content in the product. Commercial yeast strain also partially attenuated the anthocyanin loss during the fermentation process. Compared to the other related species of blueberry, the bog bilberry V. uliginosum appears to be the most suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. This particular species is still underutilized for food and nutritional supplement production; therefore, this study highlights a novel natural resource for this purpose. Fig. 1 The experimental setup for the berry juice fermentation Funding This work was funded by Austrian Science Fund (FWF ESP 149-B). Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany