Hoboken, NJ—New research published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture indicates there may be a new application for a well-known branded extract of the French maritime pine tree bark (Pycnogenol from Natural Health Sciences, based here).

Researchers enriched pineapple and red fruit juices with the ingredient and studied how Pycnogenol would affect total phenolic compounds after digestion. Typically, a good portion of phenols are lost during digestion. According to the group, in vitro digestion of the enriched group caused a “significant increase” in two phenolic compounds (chlorogenic and ferulic acids). The non-enriched juices caused a decrease of other phenolic compounds (gallic and caffeic in pineapple, and ferulic in the red juice).

These results suggest that “the stability of Pycnogenol after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion makes it a good choice for phenolic enrichment of fruit juices,” according to the journal article.

The lead researcher was affiliated with the National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition in Rome, Italy.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine December 2010 (online 10/27/10)