Consumption of chokeberry (Aronia mitschurinii) products modestly lowered blood pressure and reduced low-grade inflammation in patients with mildly elevated blood pressure

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that consumption of chokeberries may improve cardiovascular disease risk factor profiles. We hypothesized that chokeberries (Aronia mitschurinii) have beneficial effects on blood pressure, low-grade inflammation, serum lipids, serum glucose, and platelet aggregation in patients with untreated mild hypertension. A total of 38 participants were enrolled into a 16-week single blinded crossover trial. The participants were randomized to use cold-pressed 100% chokeberry juice (300 mL/d) and oven-dried chokeberry powder (3 g/d), or matched placebo products in random order for 8 weeks each with no washout period. The daily portion of chokeberry products was prepared from approximately 336 g of fresh chokeberries. Urinary excretion of various polyphenols and their metabolites increased during the chokeberry period, indicating good compliance. Chokeberries decreased daytime blood pressure and low-grade inflammation. The daytime ambulatory diastolic blood pressure decreased (−1.64 mm Hg, P = .02), and the true awake ambulatory systolic (−2.71 mm Hg, P = .077) and diastolic (−1.62 mm Hg, P = .057) blood pressure tended to decrease. The concentrations of interleukin (IL) 10 and tumor necrosis factor α decreased (−1.9 pg/mL [P = .008] and −0.67 pg/mL [P = .007], respectively) and tended to decrease for IL-4 and IL-5 (−4.5 pg/mL [P = .084] and −0.06 pg/mL [P = .059], respectively). No changes in serum lipids, lipoproteins, glucose, and in vitro platelet aggregation were noted with the chokeberry intervention. These findings suggest that inclusion of chokeberry products in the diet of participants with mildly elevated blood pressure has minor beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.