HUMAN CLINICAL STUDY ON ELDERCRAFT® AND THE HUMAN MICROBIOME
We are what we eat. So too are the 100 trillion or so microbial cells that live in the human gut. And happy guts create healthy people. Feed them poorly and the converse is true.
Test procedure
In order to verify the prebiotic effect of Black Elderberry Extract, researchers enrolled 30 people in a human clinical crossover trial. Here we give you an overview about the study setup:
- Human clinical crossover trial
30 healthy participants - 2 x 300 mg extract (ElderCraft®) daily
- 3 weeks baseline - 3 weeks intervention
3 weeks wash-out phase - Collection of biological samples throughout the study
- 16S amplicon sequencing of fecal DNA
Webinar on prebiotic effects of ElderCraft®
Watch the 30-minute presentation that Dr. Stephan Plattner, Director for Health & Nutrition Ingredients at IPRONA, held for Nutra Ingredients. It focuses on the latest research regarding prebiotic effects of polyphenol-rich elderberry extract.
The webinar covers the following topics:
- An overview of prebiotic classes and prebiotic supplement market insights
- The prebiotic effects of polyphenols and their effect on the intestinal microbiome
- Insights into a new human clinical trial showing the prebiotic benefits of black elderberry polyphenols
- How to formulate polyphenols in prebiotic supplements
- Challenges and opportunities in developing synbiotics with polyphenols
Results
of this Human Clinical Study with 3-week intervention of ElderCraft® 300 mg 2x day:
It has been shown that a daily dose of 600 mg black elderberry extract significantly increases alpha and beta diversity of the microbial community in the human gut followed by quick stabilizing response. Participants had elevated levels of Akkermansia muciniphila, a bacterium that is highly connected to inflammation and metabolism during and after the intervention, thus, the significant increase was observed even after stopping taking the extract.
- NO adverse events were associated to the intervention
- NO negative influence on QoL and Health
- Black Elderberry (ElderCraft®) induces profound INCREASE IN MICROBIAL DIVERSITY MEASURES (alpha and beta diversity)
- A quick STABILIZING RESPONSE BY MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES after the intervention
- Lasting ELEVATED LEVELS OF AKKERMANSIA MUCINIPHILA
BENEFICIAL CHANGES IN THE MICROBIOTA
The effect of ElderCraft® on the gut microbiota adds to evidence that the polyphenol-rich extract has strong prebiotic effects. Polyphenols are known to induce a higher abundance of bacterial target species with beneficial effects on the host, such as increased production of short-chain fatty acids.
KEY TAKE AWAYS
- Overall increase in diversity
(Alpha and beta diversity) - Sustained Akkermansia muciniphila increase
inflammation and metabolism - Suterella increased – Glucose metabolism, immunomodulatory effects
- Bacteroides cellulosyticus increased associated with plant-based nutrition and better a health status
- Bacteroides in general are increased
ECONOMIC RELEVANCE
As our understanding of natural compounds grows, prebiotics sales are booming in the US. Nearly three in five US adults try to eat foods that promote a healthy gut. Sales of products with gastrointestinal benefits surged by 5.7% to $1.1bn in 2021 and are expected to have accrued a further $711m by the end of 2025. That’s compound annual growth of 4.8%.
(Data Source: Mintel. January 2022, Nutrition Business Journal)
While prebiotics have a market share of 20% and a growth rate of 12%, probiotics have a significantly higher market share with 33%, but a much lower growth with 0.4%. Synbiotics have a market share of 21% which is growing by nearly 19%. It’s formulation is challenging, as probiotic bacteria are in a dormant state for years but the ingredient needs to be protected from humidity (water activty AW). ElderCraft® is available with low AW and therefore perfectly suitable for symbiotic formulations.
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