NCT03995602

The Effects of Dragon Fruit Consumption on Vascular Function.

A Randomised, Placebo-controlled, Crossover Study of the Effects of Dragon Fruit Effects of Dragon Fruit (Pitaya) Consumption on Vascular Function in Healthy Males and Females

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: King's College London · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Native to South America and South East Asia, the dragon fruit (pitaya) has become increasingly popular world-wide due to their vivid hue and bizarre structure. More importantly, their high levels of bioactive phytochemical betalains has sparked considerable scientific interest. Recent findings from in vitro and in vivo animal studies tentatively suggest that betalains may have ameliorative effects on vascular function. This will be a first randomised controlled trial aimed to explore the impact of dragon fruit consumption on blood pressure and other vascular parameters in healthy individuals. The study will feature a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled and crossover design with flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) as primary outcome along with blood pressure and arterial stiffness as secondary outcomes. Cardiovascular biomarkers as well as relevant metabolites will also be determined from blood and urine samples collected from participants.

Conditions

• Healthy Men and Women

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Dragon fruit juice drink	Dragon fruit drink containing 24 g of freeze-dried dragon fruit powder dissolved in low nitrate water.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Placebo	Drink with macro- and micro-nutrient matched against the intervention drink.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-06-18
• Primary completion: 2020-01-22
• Completion: 2020-01-22
• First posted: 2019-06-24
• Last updated: 2021-06-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom