J Food Bioact

Journal of Food Bioactives, ISSN 2637-8752 print, 2637-8779 online

Journal website www.isnff-jfb.com

Opinion

Volume 6, June 2019, pages 1-5

Guarana as a source of bioactive compounds

**Table 1.** Studies *in vitro* or *in vivo* about health effects of guarana
Health effects	In vitro/in vivo	Dose	References
Effects on metabolic comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome)	In vivo: elderly humans	Twice or more times a week	Krewer et al. (2011)
Oxidative stress and metabolic disorders (effects on the oxidation of LDL-c)	In vivo: blood samples of elderly humans; In vitro: isolated LDL-c	In vivo: at least 5 times per week In vitro: 0.05, 0.1,0.5,1, and 5 µg·mL⁻¹;	Portella et al. (2013)
Oxidative stress	In vivo: overweight humans; Ex vivo: oxidation of LDL-c and total plasma antioxidant capacity	In vivo: 3 g of the powder diluted in 300 ml of water before intake, daily for 15 days before breakfast	Yonekura et al. (2016)
Antihyperglycemic	In vitro: inhibition of activity of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes (α-amilase and α-glucosidase)	Guarana extracts after in vitro digestion α-amilase: 0.315, 0.525 and 0.875 mg·mL⁻¹); α-glucosidase: 0.4 and 0.8 mg·mL⁻¹	Silva et al. (2018)
Gut microbial composition and redox and inflammatory parameters	In vivo: Wistar rats	Guarana seed powder the major compounds are caffeine (34.19 ± 1.26 mg·g⁻¹), theobromine (0.14 ± 0.01 mg·g⁻¹), (+)- catechin (3.76 ± 0.12 mg·g⁻¹), and (−)-epicatechin (4.05 ± 0.16 mg·g⁻¹)	Silveira et al. (2018)
Antimicrobial activity	In vitro: antibacterial potential of the guarana extracts against Streptococcus mutans	The aqueous extract (AqE) from the 5% (w/v) guarana seeds; crude (EBPC) extracts and semi-purified (EPA and EPB) fractions	Yamaguti-Sasaki et al. (2007)
Cognitive performance and mental fatigue	In vivo: healthy young adults	vitamin/mineral/guarana combination	Kennedy et al. (2008)
Mood, cognitive performance and functional brain activation	In vivo: healthy young adults	vitamin/mineral/guarana combination	Scholey et al. (2013)
Antiproliferative effect	In vitro: breast cancer cells MCF-7	Guarana extracts 1, 5 and 10 µg·mL⁻¹	Hertz et al. ( 2015)
Anticancer effect	In vivo: female C57Bl/6 mice	2.0 mg·g⁻¹ body weight	Fukumasu et al. (2008)
Antitumor effect	In vitro: Colorectal and breast cancer cell lineages HT-29 and MCF-7 cells	0.1, 1, 10, and 100 µg·mL⁻¹	Cadoná et al. (2017)

Table 1. Studies in vitro or in vivo about health effects of guarana

Health effects

In vitro/in vivo

Dose

References

Effects on metabolic comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome)

In vivo: elderly humans

Twice or more times a week

Krewer et al. (2011)

Oxidative stress and metabolic disorders (effects on the oxidation of LDL-c)

In vivo: blood samples of elderly humans; In vitro: isolated LDL-c

In vivo: at least 5 times per week In vitro: 0.05, 0.1,0.5,1, and 5 µg·mL⁻¹;

Portella et al. (2013)

Oxidative stress

In vivo: overweight humans; Ex vivo: oxidation of LDL-c and total plasma antioxidant capacity

In vivo: 3 g of the powder diluted in 300 ml of water before intake, daily for 15 days before breakfast

Yonekura et al. (2016)

Antihyperglycemic

In vitro: inhibition of activity of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes (α-amilase and α-glucosidase)

Guarana extracts after in vitro digestion α-amilase: 0.315, 0.525 and 0.875 mg·mL⁻¹); α-glucosidase: 0.4 and 0.8 mg·mL⁻¹

Silva et al. (2018)

Gut microbial composition and redox and inflammatory parameters

In vivo: Wistar rats

Guarana seed powder the major compounds are caffeine (34.19 ± 1.26 mg·g⁻¹), theobromine (0.14 ± 0.01 mg·g⁻¹), (+)- catechin (3.76 ± 0.12 mg·g⁻¹), and (−)-epicatechin (4.05 ± 0.16 mg·g⁻¹)

Silveira et al. (2018)

Antimicrobial activity

In vitro: antibacterial potential of the guarana extracts against Streptococcus mutans

The aqueous extract (AqE) from the 5% (w/v) guarana seeds; crude (EBPC) extracts and semi-purified (EPA and EPB) fractions

Yamaguti-Sasaki et al. (2007)

Cognitive performance and mental fatigue

In vivo: healthy young adults

vitamin/mineral/guarana combination

Kennedy et al. (2008)

Mood, cognitive performance and functional brain activation

In vivo: healthy young adults

vitamin/mineral/guarana combination

Scholey et al. (2013)

Antiproliferative effect

In vitro: breast cancer cells MCF-7

Guarana extracts 1, 5 and 10 µg·mL⁻¹

Hertz et al. ( 2015)

Anticancer effect

In vivo: female C57Bl/6 mice

2.0 mg·g⁻¹ body weight

Fukumasu et al. (2008)

Antitumor effect

In vitro: Colorectal and breast cancer cell lineages HT-29 and MCF-7 cells

0.1, 1, 10, and 100 µg·mL⁻¹

Cadoná et al. (2017)