Benefits
Higher plasma antioxidant capacity in a controlled feeding study
In a randomized, single-blind, diet-controlled study, 36 healthy young non-smoking adults took an encapsulated cili fruit supplement or placebo for five weeks. Total plasma antioxidant capacity rose more with the fruit than with placebo. This is one small study using a blood lab marker rather than a measure of how a person feels or any clinical outcome.
A food source of vitamin C, superoxide dismutase and polyphenols
The fruit is among the richer food sources of vitamin C and also carries superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant enzyme, along with polyphenols such as flavonoids and tannins. In laboratory assays these components scavenge free radicals strongly, but test-tube antioxidant activity does not by itself show an antioxidant effect in the body.
Shift in the blood glutathione redox balance
In the same five-week feeding study, the ratio of reduced to oxidized glutathione in blood rose with the fruit, which the authors read as the fruit's antioxidants sparing glutathione from oxidation. Total glutathione, the glutathione enzymes and a DNA-oxidation marker did not change. These are surrogate lab readings in a small group.
Antioxidant enzyme and oxidation markers in older adults
A cili-derived oral liquid, which also contained superoxide dismutase, a polysaccharide, vitamins C and E and trace elements, was taken for two months by healthy people aged 50 to 75. Red-cell superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione rose and serum lipid peroxide fell from their starting values, while an untreated control group did not change. It was a multi-ingredient product, so the readings cannot be credited to the fruit alone.
Immune and inflammatory markers in cili juice studies
Cili juice has been studied in adults with chronic arsenic exposure. In a placebo-controlled trial, juice lowered a type of inflammatory immune cell and the cytokines IL-17 and IL-6 in blood over three months, and an earlier juice study reported higher T-lymphocyte readings. These were specific patient groups, and the authors described the evidence as limited.
Lipid and inflammatory readings in a drug-combination study
In hospital inpatients with antipsychotic-linked metabolic syndrome, adding cili to a prescribed metabolic drug for twelve weeks was followed by larger falls in triglycerides, total cholesterol and inflammatory markers than the drug on its own. Because cili was taken together with a drug, any change in blood lipids cannot be attributed to the fruit by itself.
Mechanism of action
Vitamin C as an antioxidant nutrient
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that donates electrons to neutralize reactive oxygen species and to help regenerate other antioxidants. It also contributes to normal collagen formation and normal immune function. Cili delivers vitamin C as part of the whole fruit, alongside its other compounds.
Superoxide dismutase and polyphenols
The fruit carries superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that converts the superoxide radical into less reactive molecules, together with polyphenols that scavenge radicals in laboratory assays. How much intact superoxide dismutase survives stomach digestion when swallowed has not been established.
Sparing of the glutathione system (proposed)
In the human feeding study the reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratio rose without a change in total glutathione or in the glutathione enzymes. The authors proposed that the fruit's antioxidants protect existing glutathione from being oxidized, rather than the body making more of it.
Anti-inflammatory signaling (laboratory and animal work)
In cell and rodent studies, cili flavonoids lowered inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species and dampened NLRP3 inflammasome activity, and a fruit polysaccharide changed fat and glucose handling in diabetic mice. These are preclinical findings and have not been confirmed as clinical outcomes in people.
Clinical trials
Randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind, diet-controlled trial with a two-week run-in, giving an encapsulated Rosa roxburghii fruit supplement or placebo for five weeks. (Janse van Rensburg et al. 2005, Eur J Nutr)
36 young, healthy, non-smoking adults.
Plasma total antioxidant capacity rose significantly with the fruit versus placebo (p = 0.04), as did the blood ratio of reduced to oxidized glutathione (p = 0.03). A DNA-oxidation marker (8-OHdG), total glutathione and the antioxidant enzymes (glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) did not change. The outcomes were blood lab markers, not clinical results.
Controlled study of a cili-derived oral liquid (containing superoxide dismutase, a polysaccharide, vitamins C and E and trace elements) at 10 mL twice daily for two months, with a parallel fruit-fly lifespan experiment. (Ma et al. 1997, Mech Ageing Dev)
Healthy people aged 50 to 75, with an untreated control group.
After two months, red-cell superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione and natural killer cell activity were significantly higher, and serum lipid peroxide lower, than before treatment, with no significant change in the control group. Fruit-fly lifespan was also extended. Because the oral liquid was a multi-ingredient product, the results cannot be attributed to the fruit alone.
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of cili juice versus placebo for three months, measuring Th17 cells and related cytokines in peripheral blood. (Dong et al. 2022, Hum Exp Toxicol)
106 adults with chronic arsenic poisoning randomized (53 juice, 53 placebo); 89 completed.
The juice group showed fewer Th17 inflammatory cells and lower IL-17, IL-6 and RORgt in blood immune cells, with changes in STAT3 and SOCS3 gene expression, compared with placebo. The authors called this limited evidence of a possible immune-modulating effect. The participants were a specific patient group, not healthy adults.
Stratified randomized study comparing plain cili juice with a superoxide-dismutase-enriched cili juice, 120 mL a day for one month, against a healthy untreated comparison group. (Li et al. 2013, Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi)
62 adults with coal-burning arsenic poisoning (31 per cili arm) plus 30 healthy residents as controls.
Both cili arms started with lower T-lymphocyte readings and higher IgG than the healthy controls. After one month, urinary arsenic fell and CD3, CD4 and the CD4/CD8 ratio rose within both treated groups. There was no placebo arm, since both treated arms received a cili product and the comparison group was untreated.
Controlled study in inpatients with antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome comparing the metabolic drug chiglitazar alone with chiglitazar plus Rosa roxburghii for twelve weeks. (Jin et al. 2024, Pak J Pharm Sci)
100 psychiatric inpatients with antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome (50 drug alone, 50 drug plus cili).
Both groups reduced waist circumference and improved lipid and glucose readings. The drug-plus-cili group had larger falls in triglycerides and total cholesterol and lower inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNF-alpha), and its psychiatric symptom score fell from baseline by twelve weeks. Cili was given together with a drug, so the lipid changes cannot be credited to the fruit by itself.