Cyvex markets cranberry extract on antioxidant claim

Cyvex has build up a catalogue of fourteen fruit and vegetable-derived antioxidant ingredients, each presented as part of the 'red' or the 'green' team depending on the colour of the produce from which it is derived. By this logic, CranVida sits alongside the likes of PomActiv and BerryVin in the red team.

The new addition, which contains no preservatives, sweeteners or flavorings and is 100 per cent cranberry derived, is said to contain 120mg of anthocyanins per 100g. According to the company's marketing director Charlene Lee, supplements made with CranVida could be a concentrated, competitively priced alternative to commercially available cranberry juice.

In 2004 new evidence emerged supporting the fruit's positive effect on heart health, with a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's Annual Congress in Calgary showing that the cranberry improves circulation by increasing the level of HDL, or good cholesterol and acting as a powerful antioxidant.

Mainly, though, the cranberry market has mushroomed in recent years thanks to research elucidated the reasons behind the fruit's long-time use to ward off urinary tract infections; its proanthocyanidins (type A) has been shown to help reduce the adhesion of E coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls.

Much of the research has been conducted using material supplied by Ocean Spray, the American cooperative that claims to produce around two-thirds of America's cranberries

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that the company's Craisins sweetened dried cranberries had similar anti-bacterial effects as cranberry juice in the treatment of urinary tract infections.

Ocean Spray Ingredients Technology Group has reported such growth in demand for its cranberry ingredients that this year it doubled production at its plant in Massachusetts. The plant manufacturers Ocean Spray's BerryFusions fruits range.