Bergamot, a citrus fruit native to southern Italy, is one of the most popular nutraceuticals in use today for its cardiometabolic benefits.
A number of bergamot extracts have been manufactured over the years aimed to obtain highly purified ingredients concentrated in flavonoids. Developed by Giellepi, Kalita® is unique in its kind thanks to a gentle physical extraction process that preserve the whole bergamot phytocomplex. A phyto-chemical characterisation study done by the researchers of University of Milan revealed a wide range of key compounds found in Kalita® of which soluble fibres (e.g. pectins and polysaccharides), amino acid derivates (e.g. stachydrine) and polyphenols are the most abundant1. Among the 86 total compounds identified in the study, hesperetin, naringenin, apigenin and eridictyol glucosides resulted the main components.
Efficacy of Kalita® to modulate cardiometabolic parameters was evaluated in an experimentally induced rat model of metabolic syndrome by a research team from Sao Paulo State University in Brazil. The findings showed a significant improvement of all the assessed parameters in animals supplemented with Kalita®. In particular, triglycerides, insulin resistance, systolic blood pressure, visceral adipose tissue, and adiposity index were significantly reduced by Kalita® in comparison to the control group.
These results were similarly confirmed by an Italian study involving overweight subjects with metabolic syndrome2. The results of both preclinical and clinical investigations suggest that not only bergamot polyphenols but instead the full-spectrum of naturally-occurring compounds found in Kalita®’s phytocomplex have a powerful synergistic effect on different cardiometabolic markers. The presence of macromolecules in the form of vegetable fruit matrix allows a natural protection of the bioactive compounds during passage through the harsh environment of the upper gastrointestinal tract thus contributing to the formation of bioactive phenolic compounds in the gut after colonic fermentation.
Kalita® comes in a convenient water dispersible powder suitable for a wide range of applications including tablets, capsules, stick packs and gummies.
1. Della Vedova L. et al. Molecules 2023;28,2964:1-22.
2. Cicero AFG et al. Arch. Med. Sci.submitted
