Benefits
Blood Antioxidant Capacity
In a single-blind crossover pilot study, the blood's antioxidant capacity was higher after a test meal containing jaboticaba peel than after a control meal. A randomized crossover trial in healthy adults found that 250 mL of jaboticaba juice before a carbohydrate meal also raised blood antioxidant capacity, and a 4-week peel powder study found oxidative species about 9% lower after a meal.
Postprandial Blood Sugar and Insulin Response
Results are mixed. In a 5-week trial in adults with metabolic syndrome, 15 g a day of peel powder lowered the area under the blood sugar curve during a test meal compared with placebo. In the pilot study, serum insulin was lower 4 hours after peel intake. A separate 4-week crossover study in healthy adults found no significant change in post-meal glucose or insulin.
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Response
In a randomized crossover trial in 16 healthy adults, drinking 250 mL of jaboticaba juice immediately before a carbohydrate meal raised the post-meal rise in glucagon-like peptide-1, a gut hormone involved in blood sugar control and fullness, with the peak at 60 minutes. Blood sugar, insulin and appetite ratings did not differ from the sugar-matched placebo drink.
Inflammatory Marker Support
In the 5-week metabolic syndrome trial, the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 was lower with peel powder than placebo, while TNF-alpha, interleukin-1-beta and C-reactive protein did not change. A 4-week crossover study in healthy adults found fasting and post-meal interleukin-6 about 30 to 40% lower after peel powder intake.
Vascular Function Support
In a randomized double-blind trial in 24 healthy adults, 250 mL a day of jaboticaba juice for 6 days blunted the drop in brachial artery flow-mediated dilation, blood flow and tissue oxygen reperfusion seen 24 to 48 hours after strenuous eccentric exercise. In the metabolic syndrome trial, resting blood pressure did not change over 5 weeks.
Plasma Glutathione and Exercise Recovery
In a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 24 resistance-trained adults, 250 mL a day of jaboticaba juice raised plasma reduced glutathione, a key cellular antioxidant, after muscle-damaging eccentric exercise. Muscle soreness was lower and recovery of strength and muscle quality was faster over the following 72 hours than with a flavored placebo drink.
Mechanism of action
Polyphenols concentrated in the peel
The dark peel holds most of jaboticaba's polyphenols: anthocyanins, mainly cyanidin-3-glucoside, plus ellagitannins and ellagic acid. In a laboratory analysis of the peel, anthocyanins were the most abundant polyphenols but ellagitannins contributed most to its antioxidant capacity. The sweet pulp contains far less, so peel and pulp products are not interchangeable.
Ellagitannins become urolithins in the gut
Jaboticaba's ellagitannins and ellagic acid are largely metabolized by gut bacteria into urolithins, and how much a person makes depends on their gut microbes. In a crossover clinical trial, capsules of peel and seed powder produced urolithins in urine, mainly urolithin A glucuronide, which may carry much of the polyphenols' activity in the body.
Insulin signaling and inflammation in animal studies
In high-fat-fed mice, freeze-dried peel powder reduced insulin resistance and improved insulin-receptor signaling, and lowered liver inflammatory markers (interleukin-1-beta and interleukin-6). These are animal findings; the small human trials have measured only short-term, post-meal changes, not a lasting effect.
Clinical trials
Single-blind, placebo-controlled crossover pilot study of a test meal containing jaboticaba peel, measuring serum antioxidant capacity and glucose and insulin responses, alongside laboratory analysis of the peel's polyphenols. (Plaza et al. 2016, Food Chem)
Healthy adults in a crossover design; the abstract does not state the number of participants.
Serum antioxidant capacity was significantly higher after the jaboticaba peel test meal than after the control meal, and serum insulin was lower 4 hours after peel intake, following a second meal. In the chemical analysis, anthocyanins were the most abundant polyphenols while ellagitannins contributed most to the peel's antioxidant capacity. A small pilot with no sample size given in the abstract.
Randomized controlled crossover trial comparing 250 mL of jaboticaba juice with a sugar-matched placebo drink taken immediately before a carbohydrate meal. (Geraldi et al. 2022, Br J Nutr)
16 healthy adults (11 women, 5 men), average age 28, average BMI 22.
Compared with the placebo drink, jaboticaba juice raised the post-meal glucagon-like peptide-1 response (area under the curve, peaking at 60 minutes) and the blood antioxidant capacity. Post-meal glucose, insulin, C-peptide and appetite sensations did not differ between the two drinks.
Single-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled randomized trial of jaboticaba peel powder 15 g/day for 5 weeks, with a mixed-meal tolerance test. (Geraldi et al. 2024, Nutr Res)
49 adults with metabolic syndrome, assigned to peel powder or a matched placebo.
Peel powder lowered the area under the glucose curve during the meal test and the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 compared with placebo. Blood pressure, body weight, body composition, blood lipids, GLP-1, TNF-alpha, interleukin-1-beta, C-reactive protein and insulin sensitivity and resistance indexes did not change. Registered in the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial of 250 mL/day jaboticaba berry juice (about 1,300 mg polyphenols) or placebo for 6 days, with vascular testing after muscle-damaging exercise. (Ramos Junior et al. 2024, Food Funct)
24 healthy participants.
After eccentric exercise, the placebo group showed larger drops in brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and blood flow and in tissue oxygen reperfusion at 24 to 48 hours than the juice group, along with a larger fall in blood glutathione. The juice appeared to protect large- and small-vessel function under exercise-induced oxidative stress. A short study in 24 people.
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 250 mL/day jaboticaba berry juice (about 1,300 mg polyphenols) or a flavored placebo for 7 days, with muscle-damaging eccentric exercise on day 4. (Ramos Junior et al. 2025, Eur J Nutr)
24 resistance-trained participants.
Eccentric exercise raised muscle-damage markers and soreness and lowered blood glutathione and strength. Compared with placebo, jaboticaba juice raised plasma reduced glutathione, reduced soreness, and sped recovery of muscle strength and functional and morphological muscle quality over 72 hours. A small, short trial.
Randomized, controlled, crossover trial of jaboticaba peel powder 7 g/day for 4 weeks (about 225 mg polyphenols) versus a sugar- and fiber-matched control, with a 28-day washout. (Batista et al. 2025, Food Res Int)
19 healthy adults (8 men, 11 women), average age 27.5, average BMI 24.6.
Post-meal glucose, insulin, adiponectin and non-esterified fatty acids did not change. Fasting and post-meal interleukin-6 were 30 to 40% lower with peel powder, oxidative species fell about 9% after a meal, subjective appetite improved about 10%, and selective attention 45 minutes after the meal was better. Two authors reported industry ties.