Brandon Metzger

The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry recently published another study conducted at Standard Process. Our scientists, along with investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, looked at the effects of purple carrot on markers of inflammation. Purple and blue pigments in fruits and vegetables, called anthocyanins, are usually considered bioactive phytochemicals; however, our researcher found that other phytochemicals had even greater anti-inflammatory bioactivity.

Brandon Metzger, a research scientist at Standard Process and lead investigator on the project, said, "When we designed our experiments, we decided to focus on the anthocyanins, because many studies have already identified anthocyanins as having anti-inflammatory properties." Metzger explained that although the purple carrot anthocyanins may be partially responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects, they found that another class of phytochemicals, called polyacetylenes, had even stronger anti-inflammatory properties.

"To our knowledge," said Metzger, "we know of no other study that has looked at the carrot polyacetylenes and inflammation." In their concluding remarks, the authors said that the diverse phytochemical make-up of the purple carrot makes it a good target as a functional food. They also suggested that further research is needed to look at the synergistic effects of these anti-inflammatory phytochemicals.

The study is entitled "Purple Carrot (Daucus carota L.) Polyacetylenes Decrease Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Expression of Inflammatory Proteins in Macrophage and Endothelial Cells"