Polyphenol-rich beverage shows anti-inflammatory potential

29-Jun-2011 - Last updated on 30-Jun-2011 at 17:22 GMT

A functional beverage containing a patented coffee fruit extract may reduce markers of inflammation, according to findings from a pilot study.

Daily consumption of the commercially available SoZo beverage containin selected freeze-dried whole fruit and vegetable powders was associated with a 40 percent reduction in levels of a marker of inflammation implicated in many conditions including obesity, diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular conditions.

“The collected data demonstrates the potential utility of acute biomarker measurements for evaluating antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effects of natural products such as polyphenol-rich beverage, and quantitatively shows that a mixture of polyphenol-rich fruit and vegetable components may work acutely on specific oxidative and inflammatory markers in human blood through apparently rapidly acting, though currently unidentified, mechanisms,” wrote researchers in the open-access Nutrition Journal.

Study details

Researchers from FutureCeuticals, NutraClinical (San Diego), Ohio State University, and Applied BioClinical (Irvine, CA) performed the pilot study with 31 overweight and obese volunteers aged between 45 and 55.

Volunteers received a single dose of the SoZo beverage or placebo.The test beverage contained extracts from coffee fruit (CoffeeBerry), calcium fructoborate (FruiteX B), grape seed, blueberry, quercetin, resveratrol, bilberry, raspberry, cranberry, prune, tart cherry, strawberry, broccoli sprouts, broccoli, tomato, carrot, spinach, kale, brussels sprout, pomegranate extract, and acai pulp. All ingredients were supplied by Illinois-based FutureCeuticals.

Results showed that the single dose of the test beverage reduced levels of 8-iso-PGF-alpha (isoprostanes) by 40 percent and this remained reduced for three hours after consumption.

In addition, a 39 percent reduction in advanced oxidation protein products was observed in the SoZo group. According to the researchers, high levels of such oxidation products have been linked with certain cardiovascular conditions.

“This result suggests that the acute effect on plasma 8-iso-PGF2-alpha is both rapid and sustained during first 4 hours after treatment, and justifies further studies using specified 8-iso-PGF2-alpha levels as an inclusion criterion, to both validate this result and explore related effects, such as if the polyphenol-rich beverage may reduce risk of cardiovascular conditions and/or other health problems,” wrote the researchers.

The study’s findings were welcomed by John Hunter, general manager of FutureCeuticals. “As we continue to clinically investigate our CoffeeBerry Brand line of products, we are understandably thrilled to be able to report good study results for a carefully designed end product such as SoZo that utilizes our CoffeeBerry technology,” he said.

FutureCeuticals has acted to protect its intellectual property surrounding its CoffeeBerry-branded ingredient: Earlier this week the Momence-based company announced the filing of a lawsuit against Sandwich Isles Trading Co., maker of the KonaRed line of coffee fruit products, for patent infringement.

“It is our dedicated mission to protect and enforce our patent rights in CoffeeBerry and in our suite of proprietary products, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of our clients and partners who market individual products and whole product lines powered by our exclusive technologies,” said Hunter.

Source: Nutrition Journal
2011, 10:67, doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-67
“Acute reduction of serum 8-iso-PGF2-alpha and advanced oxidation protein products in vivo by a polyphenol-rich beverage; a pilot clinical study with phytochemical and in vitro antioxidant characterization”
Authors: B.V. Nemzer, L.C. Rodriguez, L. Hammond, R. DiSilvestro, J.M. Hunter, Z. Pietrzkowski