Chokeberry compounds and health effects reviewed
What it found
Chokeberry extracts and their main compounds have been tested in people, animals and cells for effects on heart disease, diabetes, cancer, infections and brain health.
Some human trials found lower blood pressure and cholesterol, but other trials found no change in antioxidant markers.
What they found
Studies in people
Antioxidant capacity in people
In one trial, 11 healthy volunteers who drank 250 mL of chokeberry juice daily for three weeks had a significant increase in serum antioxidant capacity. But a 12-week trial in 49 healthy former smokers taking 500 mg of chokeberry extract daily found no change in oxidative stress markers in plasma or urine.
Heart disease risk factors
A meta-analysis of controlled trials found that daily chokeberry extract for six to eight weeks significantly reduced systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol in adults. In 23 patients with untreated grade I hypertension, drinking 200 mL of phenolic-rich chokeberry juice daily for four weeks significantly lowered average 24-hour and awake blood pressure, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.
Blood vessel function
In a 12-week double-blind trial, 66 healthy men who consumed chokeberry extract or whole fruit powder had a significant increase in flow-mediated dilation, a measure of blood vessel function. Changes were linked to phenolic metabolites and specific gut bacteria.
Animal and lab studies
Cancer, in lab tests
Chokeberry extracts and compounds inhibited the growth of several human cancer cell lines, including colon, breast, liver, lung and cervical cancer cells. In one study, an anthocyanin-rich extract was toxic to colon cancer cells but not to normal colon cells.
Studies in people and animals
Blood sugar and diabetes
In a diabetic rat model, daily chokeberry extract for eight weeks significantly reduced blood glucose, serum insulin and insulin resistance, and improved glucose tolerance and liver glycogen. In an open-label trial, 35 type 2 diabetes patients who drank phenolic-rich chokeberry juice along with standard therapy had improved health status.
Infections and immune effects
In a pilot study, elderly nursing home residents who drank chokeberry juice regularly for six months had fewer urinary tract infections and used fewer antibiotics. In mice, chokeberry extract increased certain immune cells in the gut and helped clear Listeria monocytogenes infection.
What the authors conclude
“However, although Aronia berries and their constituents have been shown to afford beneficial effects on the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, their effectiveness as observed in clinical trial investigations to date seems to be poor.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that chokeberry berries and their compounds show potential benefits for preventing and treating diseases linked to oxidative stress, but that their effectiveness in human trials so far seems poor.
- They advise that future studies should focus on optimizing doses of phenolic and other compounds, developing new formulations, and finding new active compounds.
- They conclude that chlorogenic acid and ursolic acid could be used to design anticancer agents, and quercetin could be a promising lead for COVID-19 or other coronavirus infections and cardiovascular diseases.
How it was done
The authors wanted to focus on how chokeberry compounds work in the body and on human trials, which earlier reviews had not covered well. They also wanted to include triterpenoids and possible anti-COVID-19 effects of ursolic acid and quercetin.
They gathered and described laboratory, animal and human studies on chokeberry berries, their extracts and single compounds such as cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, chlorogenic acid, quercetin and ursolic acid. Human trials included healthy volunteers, former smokers, athletes, people with cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes patients and nursing home residents.
What it can’t tell you
- Many of the findings come from animal or lab studies, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- Human trials so far have been small and short, and some found no effect, so the overall benefit for health is still unclear.
- This review cannot show whether chokeberry prevents or treats any disease, because it only describes other studies.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NCI NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- The Ohio State University, USA
The paper
- Title
- Potential Benefits of Black Chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa ) Fruits and Their Constituents in Improving Human Health
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Ren Y, Frank T, Meyer G, et al (2022). Potential Benefits of Black Chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa ) Fruits and Their Constituents in Improving Human Health. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/molecules27227823Free full textPubMed 36431924DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error