Nutraceuticals Europe 2020: Pharmactive’s affron saffron improves sleep quality

04 Mar 2020 --- Pharmactive’s Spanish saffron-based ingredient affron has demonstrated that it may help support several parameters of sleep quality, including helping induce restorative sleep even at very low doses. A company-issued clinical study recently found that affron saffron extract helped reduce overall insomnia by 25 percent, while subjects reported less difficulty falling asleep and less interrupted slumber. Saffron may be a natural means of ameliorating the symptoms of sleep deprivation, which is currently considered an “underestimated global public health pandemic.”

“Sleep deprivation goes unrecognized because most people consider six or less hours of sleep and waking up during nights as normal. This lack of awareness in general populations continues to hide the problem,” Julia Díaz, Head of Marketing at Pharmactive, tells NutritionInsight.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the parallel, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigated the sleep-enhancing effects and safety of affron in 58 adults with self-reported poor sleep. After taking a standardized 28 mg dose of affron saffron extract for 28 days, the study participants expressed “feeling more refreshed” and “alert upon awakening,” which enhanced their overall quality of life.

Díaz and Gonzalez speak with NutritionInsight live from the Nutraceuticals Europe showfloor.The synergic combination of safranal, crocins and picrocrocin act as a natural sleeping aid, Díaz explains. Moreover, Pharmactive obtained “excellent results,” with just 28 mg of affron. “It seems the ingredient works well enough with the recommended daily dose,” she states. 

The company points to the fact that poor sleep quality is known to pose significant health implications, disrupting mental and physical well-being and interfering with daily function. Moreover, short sleep duration has also been associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Age-based sleep needs 
Sleep needs notably vary throughout the different life stages but consumers are not sufficiently aware of how sleep affects their general health and well-being, Daniel Gonzalez Hedström, Scientific Researcher for Pharmactive, tells NutritionInsight from the ongoing showfloor at Nutraceuticals Europe, hosted in Madrid, Spain.

“Young people need more sleep because they are energetic and affron can help them increase their hours of sleep and reduce waking up at night. Older adults don’t need as many hours of sleep to feel well, but they need higher quality sleep. They can sleep fewer hours but they want to feel better when they wake up.” Gonzalez Hedström also affirms that affron can help boost the early morning alertness and moods of the elderly.

“Affron is safe to use in any life stage and can help people with any sleep needs,” he maintains.

Ample applications
The study selected coated tablets for its ingredient application as they protect the bioactive compounds of affron in the stomach and later release them in the intestines at the correct pH level, Gonzalez Hedström further explains. “There, the crocins are more stable and the pH can hydrolyze the crocins. However, affron is effective in any application form – sachets in liquids, galenic formulations and capsules, for example.”

Currently, Pharmactive is busy experimenting with adding affron in food ingredient applications to create functional foods, exploring the milk and dessert sectors. “Because of its good taste, saffron is typically used in Mediterranean recipes. Affron as a saffron extract can keep the color, flavor and smell of saffron, as it’s more concentrated compared to saffron.”

Saffron’s beneficial health variables can alter depending on where and when you buy it. Díaz also adds that because affron is standardized to contain >3.5 lepticrosalides, it provides the same amount of bioactives to offer enough of its beneficial properties, avoiding the problem of ingredient variation entirely. 

Previously, NutritionInsight explored Pharmactive’s sustainable saffron sourcing practices, as well as its industrial solvent-free and energy-efficient extraction process AFF ON Cool-Tech.

Affron saffron extract by Pharmactive has further been touted for its other beneficial health properties, including promoting eye health, alleviating anxiety, reducing asthma symptoms and boosting relaxation. Díaz concludes that following the research evidencing affron’s potential in improving sleep quality, more studies are coming that are testing the efficiency of affron.

By Anni Schleicher, with additional reporting from Katherine Durrell at Nutraceuticals Europe in Madrid, Spain