OPC—The Natural Antioxidant

2024.10.09

In the winter of 1534-1535, one of the French explorers came to St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada for expedition. Due to the bad weather, the river is frozen, they were trapped in the wilderness. The sailors had to relied on the stock food from ship for living. And after a period of time, because of lacking the fresh fruits, most of the sailors have got sickness and even the rare disease, such as joint pain, large area of reddish-brown spots. And some of them was died not long after. But one of the members was lucky by rescuing from Native American Indian who have used the pine bark soup and pine bark pulp for treatment of his disease. Then in the middle of 1940, French scientist has found the natural antioxidant from Pine Bark, the OPC (Oligomeric Proantho Cyanidins).

 

Proanthocyanidins (PC) is a kind of polyphenol compounds widely existing in plants, which can effectively eliminate superoxide anion free radicals and hydroxyl free radicals. Proanthocyanidins also can protect and stabilize vitamin C, contribute to vitamin C absorption and utilization. Proanthocyanidins are widely distributed and existed in the skins, shells, seeds, flowers and leaves of many plants. Grape seeds and Pine bark trees have the abundant content of Proanthocyanidins and are rich in varieties. OPC is the core antioxidant ingredient of Proanthocyanidins, it has the highest antioxidant ability. In general, when the degree of polymerization is higher than 6, the antioxidant capacity begins to decline significantly. This explains why oligomeric Proanthocyanidins, which are composed of two, three and four polymers, are at the core of antioxidant activity.

 

The Proanthocyanidins mainly has the below functions and applications:

1,  Proanthocyanidins can aggrandize the capillary, artery and vein blood vessel, so it has the effect of eliminating the swelling and silt.

2, Protect the eyes. Scientists have the experiment of people who use to drive in the night and work with computers for whole day, and the result is that almost 98% of them, the Blind resistance ability has improved.

3, Europeans call Proanthocyanidins youth nutrients, skin vitamins, and oral cosmetics, because it rejuvenates collagen, makes skin smooth and elastic and also protects the body from sun damage.

4,  Proanthocyanidins not only help restore the skin elasticity, but also help maintain normal function in joints, arteries, and other tissues, such as the heart. Study shows that French people die of heart disease at a much lower rate than Americans, and coronary heart disease is also 30 to 40 percent lower than non-drinkers, due to Proanthocyanidins in red French wine.

5, Proanthocyanidins is good soluble in water, and is absorbed after oral administration. It takes effect quickly and lasts for a long time.

To know more about OPC or PC products, please visit us at:

The Pine Bark Extract: http://www.kingherbs.com.cn/product/show/246.html

The Grape Seed Extract: http://www.kingherbs.com.cn/product/show/319.html