HP Ingredients launched an organic and Kosher Maqui Superberry liquid concentrate powder in 2010, but the new ingredient - Delphinol - is 10 times stronger than the previous product, said Annie Eng, CEO of HP Ingredients. It is standardized to 35% Anthocyanins, and 28% delphinidin, she added.
The ingredient is manufactured exclusively by Maqui New Life SA of Chile, and is for food, beverage, and supplements, said Eng. Maqui berry is currently on the approved US import fruits and vegetable list, and hence GRAS is not needed. However, Eng added that the company is working on self-affirmed GRAS status.
Eng added that the ingredient is very easy to work with. “It can be made into any forms without problems,” she said. “Our current research is on stimulating immune response (at 50mg), as well as glucose balance, weight management, and anti-inflammatory (dose at 200mg).”
Science
The potential blood sugar controlling effects of maqui berry extracts have been reported previously.
"Overeating and lack of physical exercise is turning into a global pandemic with metabolic syndrome as a hallmark and type II diabetes representing the fastest-growing disease," explained Juan Hancke, PhD, from the Universidad Austral de Chile and co-author of a recent study paper showing the potential of delphinidin to boost immune health (Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics, doi: 10.1007/s12013-013-9728-z).
"The present lifestyle makes it difficult to turn to healthier lifestyles that include improved dietary control and regular physical activity. In this context, polyphenols from berries, fruits and vegetables have shown at large to contribute to a healthier blood sugar control and maintain body weight within normal limits.
“Typically the plant polyphenols slow down absorption of dietary starch, releasing the glucose less rapidly into the blood stream by impairing the activity of digestive enzymes, such as alpha-amylase and alpha glucosidase.”
The potential to inhibit the activity of alpha-amylase and alpha glucosidase enzymes, which slows the breakdown of starch and other carbohydrates and lowers the increase in blood glucose levels after a meal, was reported by Chilean researchers in 2011 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Vol. 59pp. 1630-7).
The new study by Dr Hancke’s group indicated that the macqui extracts may also have pro-inflammatory activity which increases the production of interleukin-2 and IFN-gamma.
“Taken together, our results suggest that delphinidin exerts immunostimulatory effects on T cells by increasing cytokine production,” they wrote.
None of the studies quoted above specifically used the Delphinol ingredient.