For our research articles, we have focused heavily on black raspberry powder. That is because it is by far the most studied form of black raspberries in clinical trials. However, we have been getting questions about clinical trials using black raspberry extracts as well. Today we wanted to take some time to highlight one of these trials and see how the same types of benefits seen using black raspberry powder also carry over to black raspberry extracts.

In a study published by researchers at Ohio State University in 2011, a black raspberry extract was applied to cervical cancer cells to see how much the extract inhibited cancer cell growth over certain time periods. The results showed that across the three different cancer cell types, black raspberry significantly inhibited growth by more than half and, in one cell type, growth was inhibited by as much as 67%.

Researchers also noted that apoptosis—a type of “programmed cell death”—was observed in all three cell types.  Apoptosis acts as a sort of biological “fail-safe” mechanism. When cells are damaged or old, the processes of apoptosis cause them to die on their own. Cancer cells override the signal to undergo apoptosis, enabling them to survive.

The authors of this study concluded that black raspberry extract not only inhibited the growth of new cancer cells, they also caused some cancer cells to die by undergoing apoptosis, making them promising candidates in the area of cancer prevention and treatment.

Of course, we have to take into account that normally you cannot simply apply black raspberry extract (or powder) to cancerous or precancerous cells. However, for cancers of the mouth and throat, a black raspberry extract might be very beneficial since it is possible to spread out doses throughout the day and keep affected cells in direct contact with the black raspberry compounds for longer.

If you are looking for an in-depth look at the study, check out this great blog post by Promega.

When searching for a black raspberry extract, it is important to find one that contains all the different compounds in the black raspberries. Research has shown that any time a single, isolated component of black raspberry extract has been tested, it has not performed as well as the whole complex mixture of all the different components working together. This is why some companies, like BerriHealth, are focused on providing the nutrients of the whole berry in different ways, from the extract to the powder to whole freeze-dried berries.

Next week we will take an in-depth look at black raspberry extracts, why some are better than others, and what the differences are between black raspberry extracts and black raspberry powder.

 

 

Posted on: August 24, 2012, by : Brian