Coffee berry extract may boost alertness & mood: PepsiCo study

13-Dec-2021 - Last updated on 13-Dec-2021 at 18:17 GMT

Coffee berries, also known as coffee cherries or the outer layer of the coffee fruit, are a rich source of polyphenols, which may exert brain health benefits. Image © Bartosz Hadyniak / Getty Images

A single dose of an extracts from coffee berry – the outer layer of the coffee fruit and a rich source of polyphenols – may boost alertness in healthy men and women, with effects still observable six hours after consumption, says a new study.

Researchers from Northumbria University (England), PHMR Ltd (England), and PepsiCo (USA) report that the chlorogenic acid-rich coffee berry supplementation also led to self-reported increases in vigour/activity and decreases in fatigue/inertia.

“… 1100 mg coffee berry extract, administered in isolation, was associated with a clear pattern of beneficial effects on subjective alertness and overall mood,” wrote the researchers in Nutritional Neuroscience.

“These results replicate and build upon the effects of the same dose of coffee berry reported recently by our lab, which suggests that these effects are robust.”

The study was funded by PepsiCo.

Study details

The new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study included 46 healthy men and women with an average age of 23. On four separate occasions, the participants were assigned to one of four groups: 1,100 mg coffee berry extract; 1,100 mg coffee berry extract plus 275 mg apple extract; 100 mg coffee berry extract plus 275 mg apple extract; or placebo. Cognitive and mood assessments were performed before consuming the interventions, and again after one, three, and six hours after the dose.

The results showed that the 1,100 mg coffee berry extract consistently improved alertness, with the participants also reporting increases in increased vigour/activity. Decreases in fatigue/inertia and overall negative mood were also reported following 1,100 mg of coffee berry extract.

“Importantly, all these results were main effects of treatment indicating that the beneficial effect was consistently observed up until 6 h post treatment,” stated the researchers.

On the other hand, limited effects were reported on cognitive function.

“The combination of the coffee berry extract, at high and low doses, with apple extract resulted in a single beneficial effect of treatment across all analyses,” they stated. “The absence of an apple extract alone condition, in particular, hinders this interpretation slightly and, whilst the 22 mg dose of caffeine naturally present in the coffee berry extract is below the psychoactive dose for this compound, its role here cannot be ruled out.”

“A more expansive investigation of mood in coffee drinkers, considering differing ratios of caffeine, chlorogenic acid and other phytochemicals, would also be of great interest,” they concluded.

Source: Nutritional Neuroscience
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2021.1963068
“Acute cognitive performance and mood effects of coffee berry and apple extracts: A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover study in healthy humans”
Authors: P.A. Jackson et al.