Blue North – 100% Organic Haskap Juice 1 L

Scientifically Supported Health Benefits of Haskap

1. Cyanidin-3-glucoside density

Haskap is unusual among berries for how concentrated a single anthocyanin is within it. Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside makes up 79 to 93 per cent of its total anthocyanins, at 68 to 649 mg per 100 g of fresh fruit — compared with about 3 mg per 100 g in blueberry [1]. Total anthocyanins in Baltic-grown cultivars average around 318 mg per 100 g [2].

2. Endurance performance

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 30 male recreational runners took 6 g of freeze-dried haskap — around 150 mg of anthocyanins — for six consecutive days plus two doses on the test day. Their 5 km time trial improved by about 21 seconds, time to exhaustion by 20 seconds, and heart rate was 3 to 5 beats per minute lower at lactate threshold [3].

3. Cyanidin-3-glucoside absorption in humans

That the dominant compound is actually absorbed has been established directly. In a carbon-13 tracer study, eight participants took a single 500 mg dose of labelled cyanidin-3-glucoside; relative bioavailability was 12.4 per cent, with total recovery of 43.9 per cent across urine, breath and faeces. What circulates is largely the phenolic metabolites rather than the intact anthocyanin [4].

4. Memory in older adults

A double-blind crossover pilot in 20 adults aged 62 to 81 tested single doses of haskap extract at 100, 200 and 400 mg of anthocyanins. Word recall was significantly higher at the 200 and 400 mg doses, and word recognition improved at 400 mg, measured 90 minutes after the dose. This was an acute, single-dose pilot [5].

5. Anthocyanins and cognition, as a compound class

Separately from haskap, a 2025 meta-analysis of 59 randomised controlled trials on anthocyanins and anthocyanin-rich foods found improvements in global cognition, visuospatial attention, episodic memory and working memory. None of those trials used haskap — this is evidence about the compound class the berry is rich in [6].

6. Iridoids

Haskap carries 120 to 276 mg of iridoids per 100 g of fresh fruit, dominated by loganic acid, with fifteen individual iridoids identified. These are the compounds behind the berry's characteristic bitterness, and they are largely absent from the berries it is usually compared with [7].

References

1. Rupasinghe HPV, Arumuggam N, Amararathna M, De Silva ABKH. The potential health benefits of haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.): role of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside. J Funct Foods. 2018;44:24–39. doi:10.1016/j.jff.2018.02.023
2. Česonienė L, Labokas J, Jasutienė I, et al. Biochemical and agro-biological diversity of Lonicera caerulea accessions grown in Lithuania. Plants. 2021;10(4):624. doi:10.3390/plants10040624
3. Howatson G, Snaith GC, Kimble R, Cowper G, Keane KM. Improved endurance running performance following haskap berry (Lonicera caerulea L.) ingestion. Nutrients. 2022;14(4):780. doi:10.3390/nu14040780 · PMID 35215430
4. Czank C, Cassidy A, Zhang Q, et al. Human metabolism and elimination of the anthocyanin, cyanidin-3-glucoside: a ¹³C-tracer study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;97(5):995–1003. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.049247
5. Bell L, Williams CM. A pilot dose–response study of the acute effects of haskap berry extract (Lonicera caerulea L.) on cognition, mood, and blood pressure in older adults. Eur J Nutr. 2019;58:3325–3334. doi:10.1007/s00394-018-1877-9 · PMID 30535796
6. Micek A, Godos J, Giampieri F, et al. The effect of anthocyanins and anthocyanin-rich foods on cognitive function: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. GeroScience. 2025. doi:10.1007/s11357-025-02008-7
7. Kucharska AZ, Sokół-Łętowska A, Oszmiański J, Piórecki N, Fecka I. Iridoids, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of edible honeysuckle berries (Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica Sevast.). Molecules. 2017;22(3):405. doi:10.3390/molecules22030405
8. Belcar J, Gorzelany J, Basara O, Kapusta I, Korfanty P. Characterisation of berries of Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx and var. kamtschatica. Molecules. 2023;28(6):2525. doi:10.3390/molecules28062525
9. Gołba M, Sokół-Łętowska A, Kucharska AZ. Health properties and composition of honeysuckle berry Lonicera caerulea L. Molecules. 2020;25(3):749. doi:10.3390/molecules25030749
10. Thompson MM. Introducing haskap, Japanese blue honeysuckle. J Am Pomol Soc. 2006;60(4):164–168. doi:10.71318/apom.2006.60.4.164
11. Tanaka T, Tanaka A. Chemical composition of hasukappu (Lonicera caerulea) fruit. Nippon Shokuhin Kagaku Kogaku Kaishi. 1998;45(2):129–133. doi:10.3136/nskkk.45.129
12. Bora L, Lombrea A, Batrina SL, et al. Lonicera caerulea L. as a source of bioactive compounds with cardio-metabolic potential: a systematic review. Antioxidants. 2024;13(6):694. doi:10.3390/antiox13060694
13. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1991 of 13 December 2018 authorising the placing on the market of berries of Lonicera caerulea L. as a traditional food from a third country.