Euromed recently announced the launch of a new lemon extract ingredient called Wellemon, which contains high flavonone concentrations, to appear alongside its line of Mediterranean fruit and vegetable extracts at Vitafoods Europe in Geneva Switzerland, from October 5 to October 7.
 
The new lemon-based botanical ingredient is a rich source of eriocitrin, a secondary plant substance with antioxidant and inflammatory-modulating properties similar to those observed in studies on the Mediterranean-style diet. A recent clinical study conducted by the CEBAS-CSIC, a research center within the Spanish National Research Council, compared the eriocitrin-rich Wellemon extract with a hesperidin-rich orange extract, which found that Euromed’s lemon extract yielded more bioavailable metabolites than hesperidin and may therefore be more effective in providing health benefits associated with flavonones.
 
In the study, the researchers compared the bioavailability and metabolism of flavonones from lemon as well as orange extracts, and analyzed changes in metabolic markers after a high-fat-high-sugar meal. They found that the overall secretion of metabolites was substantially higher after consuming lemon extract than orange extract, as indicated by blood and urine samples of the participants. Particularly, this pharmokinetic study showed for the first time that, in humans, intake of eriocitrin from lemon extract yields both lemon and orange metabolites, due to a process known as hesperidin-eriodictyol interconversion which is exclusive to an eriocitrin metabolite.
 
This means, the researchers found, that Wellemon can provide a higher total concentration of bioactive metabolites than what can be achieved with hesperidin alone. Hesperidin, which has poor water solubility, is challenging when it comes to bioavailability, and there is high variability in the production of derived bioactive intestinal metabolites in hesperidin products, Euromed said.
 
“Wellemon intake may be sufficient to exert health benefits even in so-called low-producer individuals, reducing interindividual variability and overcoming poor hesperidin bioavailability,” Euromed said. “It is also worth noting that systolic blood pressure remained stable in subjects consuming Wellemon, but increased slightly in those supplementing with orange extract. Besides cardiovascular and metabolic health, possible applications include vascular health, immunity, healthy aging, and nutricosmetics.”
 
“The Mediterranean diet, with a high intake of fruits and vegetables, stands out as  particularly heart-friendly and health-promoting,” Andrea Zangara, head of scientific communications and marketing at Euromed, said. “Citrus fruits play an important role in that eating pattern, especially in winter months due to their rich source of flavonones such as eriocitrin. Our eriocitrin-standardized compound is obtained from sustainability sourced Spanish whole lemons, processed with our proprietary, water-only extraction technology, the Pure-Hydro Process. We’re looking forward to the official launch of Wellemon at Vitafoods, when we will be making it available for new and existing customers.”