Benefits
Improved some attention and processing-speed test scores after a single dose
In one randomized, double-blind trial of 96 healthy adults aged 35 to 65, a single 250 mg dose improved reaction time, accuracy and error rates on three computerized tests (Shifting Attention Test, Symbol Digit Coding and Stroop) compared with placebo. The improvement was smaller than the one seen with 200 mg of caffeine, so this is not a caffeine equivalent. Three of the study's authors are employed by Akay Natural Ingredients, the company that makes the extract, and no independent group has repeated the result.
Worked best alongside caffeine, not instead of it
In the same single-dose trial, the group that took the extract together with 200 mg of caffeine did best, with greater and more sustained benefits at the 5 and 8 hour checks, while the extract on its own faded after about 3 hours. The best result in this study therefore came from a combination that contained caffeine, so the extract should not be described as a caffeine replacement. All of this comes from one dose on one day, with no measurements past 8 hours and no test of repeated use.
Fast 1-hour onset
In the trial, test scores for focus, accuracy and reaction time were already better than placebo at the first measurement, 1 hour after a single 250 mg dose. That fast, short-lived effect is essentially all this ingredient has been shown to do. Because the study gave only one dose and stopped measuring at 8 hours, there is no evidence about taking it daily.
Better scores on computer-based attention tests, for about 3 hours
The trial used CNS Vital Signs, a validated set of computerized tasks. The Shifting Attention Test looks at switching between rules, Symbol Digit Coding at processing speed, and the Stroop Test at naming ink colors while ignoring the printed word. Taken alone, the extract's advantage over placebo showed up at 1 hour and mainly held through about 3 hours. These are laboratory test scores in healthy middle-aged adults, not measures of work, study or driving performance.
BDNF and neuroprotection: an untested idea, not a demonstrated effect
Neither study cited on this page measured BDNF, neurotransmitters or brain protection. The second citation is a rat study in which an antioxidant-rich black cardamom fruit fraction, not this branded extract, reduced damage markers in the liver, kidneys and lungs of animals given the chemotherapy drug methotrexate. It involved no brain tissue and no people. Treat the BDNF and neuroprotection story as an untested idea, and treat any suggestion of long-term brain benefit as unsupported.
Dissolves in water and tastes mild
The extract dissolves in water and has a mild taste, so you will find it in drink mixes and gummies as well as capsules. That is a manufacturing convenience rather than a health benefit, and it tells you nothing about whether the ingredient works.
Caffeine crash: suggested by the authors, never actually measured
The trial did not measure a caffeine crash. What it showed is that the group taking the extract with caffeine still scored better than placebo at the 5 and 8 hour checks. The study authors raised the idea that this might mean a smoother comedown, but it was never tested directly, and it comes from a single day of measurements in one manufacturer-affiliated study.
Mechanism of action
Neurotransmitter modulation
One proposed explanation for the quick effect is that compounds in black cardamom act on brain signaling chemicals involved in attention. This is only a proposal. No study cited here measured neurotransmitters, in people or in animals, so why the 1-hour change happened is unknown.
BDNF expression support
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, or BDNF, is a protein involved in the growth and survival of nerve cells. The claim that this extract raises BDNF is unsupported: BDNF was not measured in the human trial or in the rat study cited on this page, and no long-term study of this ingredient has been published.
Neuroprotection via antioxidant compounds
Black cardamom fruit contains polyphenols and terpenoids that act as antioxidants in laboratory tests. The study behind this section was done in rats given the chemotherapy drug methotrexate, where a cardamom fraction lowered oxidative stress and inflammation markers in the liver, kidneys and lungs. That is an animal toxicity model, it did not look at the brain, it did not use this branded extract, and it does not show that the supplement preserves anyone's thinking or memory over time.
Synergistic enhancement of caffeine pharmacology
The combination group scored better and for longer than either the extract or caffeine alone. Why that happened is not known. The suggestion that the extract slows caffeine metabolism has never been demonstrated, and a four-arm test of a single dose cannot separate true synergy from simply adding two active ingredients together.
Water-based extraction preservation
The manufacturer uses a water-based extraction rather than solvents such as ethanol or acetone, and holds a patent on the process (MA2-24). No published study has compared this extract head to head with a differently made cardamom extract, so the claim that it works at a lower dose than other extracts is a company statement, not a measured result.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, four-arm study comparing a single dose of the MA2-24 black cardamom extract, 200 mg caffeine, the two together, and placebo. Computerized CNS Vital Signs tests were run at baseline and again at 1, 3, 5 and 8 hours after the dose. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience in 2026 (doi:10.3389/fnins.2026.1786880). Two limitations matter: three of the authors are employees of Akay Natural Ingredients Private Limited, which makes the extract, and this is the only human study of the ingredient.
96 healthy adults aged 35 to 65, split into four groups of 24: placebo, 250 mg MA2-24, 200 mg caffeine, or the extract plus caffeine. Each person was dosed once; nobody took the extract daily.
The 250 mg extract improved reaction time, accuracy and error rates on the Shifting Attention Test, Symbol Digit Coding and Stroop tests compared with placebo, starting at 1 hour and mainly holding through about 3 hours. Caffeine at 200 mg produced larger improvements than the extract did. The best-performing group was the extract plus caffeine, which showed greater and more sustained benefits at 5 to 8 hours. The design is stronger than most supplement studies, with a placebo group, an active comparator and validated tests. But it tested one dose on one day, so it does not show what happens with daily use, and it did not directly measure any caffeine crash.
No study of the MA2-24 extract examining neurotransmitters, BDNF or brain protection is cited anywhere on this page. The only preclinical paper cited is a 2022 rat study of a black cardamom fruit fraction, not the branded extract, and its subject was damage caused by the chemotherapy drug methotrexate.
Rats, plus test-tube antioxidant assays. No human participants, and no brain tissue.
In rats given methotrexate, an antioxidant-rich fraction of Amomum subulatum fruit reduced oxidative stress markers and the inflammatory signals TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 in the liver, kidneys and lungs. Nothing in that study involved the brain, thinking, BDNF or neurotransmitters, and none of it was done in people, so it cannot explain or support any of the cognitive claims on this page.