Sabinsa launches antioxidant Amla extract
The superfruit Amla, or Indian gooseberry, is an antioxidant that helps prevent oxidative stress and degradation of skin proteins, and is said to enhance the firmness of the skin.
Sabinsa’s new Saberry Amla extract is standardized to contain a minimum of 10 percent bet-glocogalin and 50 percent gallates, which the firm says are the optimal biomarkers for Amla fruit extract.
Amla biomarkers
“Conventionally, Amla extracts used in dietary supplements were standardized using ascorbic acid as the biomarker. However, recent research has revealed the fact that Amla does not contain ascorbic acid in consistent amounts, and sometimes, only in trace quantities, rendering its validity as a biomarker, questionable,” explained the company.
Sabinsa said its patent-pending branded extract is the result of “years of research”, published this month in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
These in-house studies found that beta-glucogallin is a more powerful antioxidant molecule than ascorbic acid, which prompted the firm to use this as a biomarker. Another “optimal” biomarker, it said, is mucic acid 1, 4 – lactone 5-O-Gallate.
“Although vitamin C is present in traces up to 3.5 percent in some varieties of Amla, our studies show that in over 100 varieties the biological activity is due more to the beta-Glucogallin/Mucic acid gallates content than vitamin C,” said Dr Muhammed Majeed, founder and chairman of the company.
“The clinical efficacy of Amla cannot therefore be explained by vitamin C alone,” he added.
Soluble powder
The new Saberry ingredient is a water soluble, light colored powder. It is processed from fresh Indian gooseberries using solvent free technology, said Sabinsa.
The extract has a cumulative Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) value of 5384 per gram.
The ORAC system is a commonly used value used to measure antioxidant capacity in a given composition. Cumulative ORAC is the sum of the values of ORACTotal (hydrophilic and lipophilic Peroxyl Radical Absorbance Capacity), SORAC (Superoxide Radical Absorbance Capacity), NORAC (Peroxynitrite Radical Absorbance Capacity), HORAC (Hydroxyl Radical Absorbance Capacity) and SOAC (Singlet Oxygen Absorbance Capacity).
