Evening Primose Extract

Antioxidant, Anti-obesity and Diabetes Support*

Evening Primrose is a dicotyledonous plant of genus Oenothera. The seeds have been used for edible oil and known to be a medicine in Europe. Evening Primrose oil contains γ-linolenic acid, which has well known to relieve obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).*

Recently, polyphenols in plant seeds have been given more attention. Polyphenols prevent oxidation of lipids and scavenge active oxygen as a trigger of cause of various diseases. ORYZA OIL & FAT CHEMICAL CO., LTD. has been studying for the physiological function of polyphenols of the Evening Primrose seeds. We have recently developed an EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT (EPE), in which polyphenols are highly concentrated. The product contains more polyphenols than any other products, showing a strong antioxidative activity. Further, we found that EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT has an anti-diabetic activity.*

EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT contains polyphenols such as gallic acid, ellagic acid, pentagalloylglucose, catechin, etc. Our research has shown that EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT would be effective for prevention of diabetes and obesity by test of carbohydrase inhibition in vitro and by sugar tolerance in vivo.*

EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT has antioxidant activity stronger than other plant extracts. It is said that taking foods which have such a strong SOD-like activity or radical scavenging activity is good for prevention of several disease from habit of lifestyle.*

We examined effects of single intake of an extract of seeds of EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT on postprandial blood glucose levels on 18 subjects suffering mild diabetes and borderline diabetes. In the all subjects, the rises of postprandial blood glucose levels were reduced by EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT ingestion, compared to those when placebo taking. These results suggest that EVENING PRIMROSE EXTRACT may be a useful food ingredient for prevention of diabetes mellitus.*