Benefits
Less skin reddening after UV exposure
In a placebo-controlled trial in 90 women, 100 or 250 mg a day for 2 months raised the UVB dose needed to redden the skin by about 27 to 30%, with no change on placebo. An earlier study at 250 mg a day reported rises of 34% at 8 weeks and 56% at 12 weeks, and a small 2025 crossover study found less redness after UV exposure from the first day. All three involved the maker. Keep using sunscreen.
Lower oxidative damage marker in the skin
In the same 90-woman trial, malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative damage to fats, fell by about 19 to 33% in the outer skin layer and rose less after UVA exposure, while it did not change on placebo. DNA damage was not measured in people; the DNA findings come from skin cells in the laboratory.
Wrinkle depth and skin elasticity
In the 90-woman trial, crow's feet wrinkle depth fell by about 14 to 15% after 2 months on either dose and skin elasticity rose by about 4%, while neither changed on placebo. Collagen breakdown was not measured in people, so the laboratory collagen findings remain a proposed explanation.
Mechanism of action
Antioxidant interception of UV-generated ROS
UV light creates reactive oxygen species in skin that damage fats, proteins and DNA. In skin cells grown in the laboratory, the combination lowered UV-induced reactive oxygen species and DNA damage. In people, the 90-woman trial measured lower malondialdehyde, a marker of fat oxidation, but did not measure DNA damage.
Inflammatory signals and collagen in UV-exposed skin cells
In UV-exposed skin cells, the combination lowered the inflammatory messengers IL-1, IL-6 and IL-8, limited the UV-driven drop in procollagen and elastin, and lowered MMP-1 and MMP-3, enzymes that break down collagen. None of these markers was measured in people, so this is a proposed explanation for the human results.
Clinical trials
Randomized, placebo-controlled parallel trial; 100 mg or 250 mg a day or placebo for 2 months, with a separate 5-person crossover pilot on redness (Nobile et al. 2016, Food Nutr Res)
90 women, average age about 51 to 53, with skin phototypes I to III and mild to moderate signs of skin ageing; 30 per group
The minimal erythemal dose rose 29.8% (100 mg) and 26.9% (250 mg) at 2 months, unchanged on placebo. Skin malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative damage, fell, crow's feet wrinkle depth fell about 14 to 15% and elasticity rose, all versus placebo, with no difference between doses. In the pilot, redness after UV faded faster on the extract. Funded by Monteloeder and Nutrafur; Monteloeder helped design the protocol.
Randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded crossover study within a mainly laboratory paper; doses 1 hour before a measured UV exposure and 24 and 48 hours later (Navarro et al. 2025, Int J Mol Sci)
20 men and women aged 18 to 69 with skin phototypes I to III
Both doses reduced skin redness after one minimal erythemal dose of UV compared with placebo from the first day, and redness faded faster. The abstract gives the doses as 100 and 200 mg while the methods describe 100 and 250 mg. Four of the five authors work for Monteloeder, and no adverse reactions were reported.
Human volunteer study within a mainly laboratory paper; 250 mg a day by mouth for up to 12 weeks (Pérez-Sánchez et al. 2014, J Photochem Photobiol B)
Human volunteers; the abstract does not give the number of people or say whether a placebo group was used
The minimal erythemal dose rose 34% after 8 weeks (p < 0.05) and 56% after 12 weeks (p < 0.01). The 2016 trial paper describes this as an earlier pilot of the same extract combination.