Abstract
Cherries are well known to be a rich source of (poly)phenols, especially anthocyanins, with exhibited antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this review is to describe the effects of cherry extract observed in clinical trials and the respective tolerability indications, highlighting the differences in efficacy depending on the type of extract, cherry, formulation, and dosage used. In particular, the supplementation of standardized tart cherry extracts has been shown to improve different markers of human health, exercise performance, and quality of sleep. Most clinical studies conducted to date have reported the total (poly)phenol and anthocyanin doses administered that were contained in cherry extracts, which ranged from 143 to 2140 mg/day and 15 to 547 mg/day, respectively, as well as the duration of treatments, which ranged from acute supplementation to 84 days.
Although cherry extracts are currently prescribed as dietary supplements in several areas of medicine, further investigations of the mechanisms of action and long-term randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are required in order to validate the efficacy and safety of clinical applications. In addition, a real challenge for the next few years is the standardization of cherry’s (poly)phenolic fractions. In this context, the optimization of the extraction procedure and downstream processing represents a key point in reliable active guiding principles for the formulation of food supplements. In fact, due to the different extraction methods of cherries, the relative efficacy is closely related to the specific (poly)phenol profile obtained, which cannot be extrapolated from the literature. Future research should include an analysis reporting the total (poly)phenol content and the specific analytical methods used to quantify total and individual anthocyanin contents.
Introduction
Cherries are part of the Prunus species and more than one hundred cherry cultivars in the world are known, despite them being commonly grouped into two main types: the sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) and the tart cherries (Prunus cerasus L.). The sweet cherry, belonging to the Rosaceae family, a Prunus genre, and Avium subgenre, is one of the most appreciated fruits worldwide. Its largest producer is Turkey, followed by the United States of America, Iran, and Italy. The most commonly cultivated sweet cherry cultivar in the United States is Bing, while the one most used for the preparation of desserts is the Montmorency variety [1].
Tart cherries are widely cultivated in the Balkans and in other areas of Central-Western Europe [2]. Both sweet and tart cherries are very nutritious fruits and have numerous health benefits, deriving mainly from high levels of phytochemicals (Table 1). These fruits are particularly rich in numerous phenolic compounds, which have a very positive and beneficial bioactivity as demonstrated by different clinical trials [3,4]. Despite sweet cherries containing 4 g more sugar (per 100 g of product) and half as much folates, as well as being 20 times less rich in vitamin A in comparison with tart cherries, the content of (poly)phenols and, in particular, anthocyanidins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols is quite similar [5].
Nevertheless, many factors can impact on the final composition of the cherry phytocomplex, including the stadium of ripening, portion of fruit, storage, and other factors which contribute to the (poly)phenolic concentration and the phytochemical composition of cherries. In particular, dry extracts of cherries may differ from their composition in phenolic compounds, depending on the variability of several aspects from the cultivation of the plant to the extraction and production techniques [6]. In this context, the use of standardized and titrated cherry extracts has made it possible to significantly reduce the physiological variability of the composition of the extract due to the plant (moisture content, plant origin, method and time of harvest), extraction (extraction method, type of solvent, solvent concentration), and production processes (batch size, extraction speed).
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Colletti, A.; Cravotto, G.; De Meo, A.; Pellizzato, M.; Riccardi, E.L.; Marchetti, M. Health Benefits of (Poly)phenols from Cherries: A Review of Clinical Trials. Nutraceuticals 2025, 5, 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/nutraceuticals5020012
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