Wild north European bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is one of the richest botanical sources of anthocyanins, a class of molecules responsible for the color of fruits and characterized by a strong antioxidant activity.From a biological point of view, anthocyanins are endowed with several diverse activities and high quality bilberry extracts have been clinically studied in conditions like chronic venous insufficiency and diabetic retinopathy.Given the complexity of the industrial bilberries supply chain and thereof the high cost of their anthocyanins rich extracts, the dietary supplements market is facing a dramatic presence of adulterated extracts, either due to the use of anthocyanins from cheaper sources not related to bilberry or of chemical dyes.Although the current landscape is quite challenging, methods to detect the adulterations are at hand and need to be routinely implemented along the supply chain up to the finished product on the shelf.This review summarizes the market situation and gives a picture of the most recent analytical techniques available to the industry in order to spot these counterfeits and guarantee to the consumers a better quality and consistence of the products.

A 67-year-old woman had left lateral chest pain. CT scan and digital subtraction angiography revealed coarctation of the abdominal aorta just distal from the renal artery and a fusiform aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta with a maximum diameter of 60mm. The meandering mesenteric artery was significantly dilated as a collateral vessel from the superior mesenteric artery to the inferior mesenteric artery. Aortitis syndrome was suspected from the angiographic findings although inflammatory changes in laboratory data were not observed. She underwent aneurysmectomy followed by prosthetic graft replacement of the descending thoracic aorta under femoro-femoral bypass and an extraanatomical bypass grafting from the replaced graft to the abdominal aorta proximal to the aortic bifurcation via the retroperitoneal space. She was discharged on the 42nd day after operation without any complications and in the past year has returned to her usual daily life without any anastomotic site trouble.