SOD from melon: can a melon extract affect stress, sleep and fatigue?

Ingredient spotlight · SOD-rich French melon in Health Royals’ Peak Performance, multivitamin for women with omega 3 · 6 min read

Superoxide dismutase, SOD, is an enzyme the body makes itself to neutralise superoxide radicals. Extramel® is a protected concentrate of a French cantaloupe melon unusually rich in it, made by Robertet. In two randomised, placebo-controlled human studies at 10 mg a day, over four weeks and over 84 days, perceived stress, fatigue and sleep-related problems were measured against placebo. Peak Performance contains the same 10 mg.

Stress rarely stays inside one part of the day. It follows you into the evening, shapes how well you recover, and decides how focused you feel the next morning. That connection is the starting point for the research behind an unusual ingredient: a concentrate of a cantaloupe melon grown in the south of France, from a variety naturally rich in the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase, or SOD.

This article covers what SOD is, why the melon and its manufacturer are worth naming, what the two human studies measured, sleep first, and why Peak Performance contains exactly the 10 mg those studies used.

SOD at Health Royals

Peak Performance contains 10 mg of Extramel® melon concentrate from Robertet per daily dose, approximately 140 IU of SOD, the amount used in both placebo-controlled human studies. The same daily dose includes vitamin B12 as MecobalActive®, folate as Quatrefolic® and niacin. Niacin and vitamin B12 contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism, and niacin, folate and vitamin B12 contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

See Peak Performance, multivitamin for women with omega 3

Why do stress, sleep and fatigue belong together?

Because a demanding period rarely affects only one of them.

Stress makes it harder to switch off at night, a poor night affects concentration and energy the next day, and fatigue then makes ordinary demands feel heavier. Not every sleep problem is caused by stress, but everyday resilience depends on more than one measure, which is why the studies behind the melon ingredient assessed a connected set of outcomes: perceived stress, sleep-related problems, fatigue, quality of life and cognitive performance.

The biology of that loop, and what actually restores recovery, is covered in our articles on stress and sleep and on cortisol.

What is SOD, and what does the enzyme do?

Superoxide dismutase is one of the body’s own antioxidant enzymes. It converts superoxide, a reactive molecule produced during normal metabolism, into less reactive forms, as part of a wider network of protective enzymes.

The question for a supplement is whether SOD taken by mouth reaches the intestine at all. SOD is a protein, and unprotected it would be broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes like any other protein. That is why the raw material, not just the enzyme, decides whether there is anything to study.

What makes this French cantaloupe unusual, and who makes Extramel®?

The ingredient begins with a proprietary, non-GMO variety of cantaloupe cultivated in the south of France, selected for its naturally high SOD content. Only the edible part of the fruit is used, processed through controlled physical steps, separation, filtration, concentration and freeze-drying, without solvent extraction, into a concentrate that keeps SOD together with the other compounds naturally present in the fruit.

Then comes the step that makes it an ingredient rather than melon powder: the concentrate is coated with a protective delivery technology developed for oral use, so that the enzyme passes through digestion with its activity preserved, approximately 140 IU of SOD per 10 mg.

The raw material is Extramel®, made by Robertet, a specialist manufacturer of botanical raw materials, and the two published human studies were run on this raw material. This is the kind of manufacturer we look for at Health Royals: a named material with a defined process, a stated activity and human studies on that material rather than on the enzyme in general. Health Royals works with specialist manufacturers, researchers and supplier networks when raw materials are selected, and that is how Extramel® came to be in Peak Performance. What a branded name does and does not guarantee is its own article.

What did the four-week study report on sleep?

That the improvement in sleep-related problems was 38 percent greater in the Extramel® group than in the placebo group.

The first study, published by Milesi and colleagues in Nutrition Journal in 2009, was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial in 70 healthy adults aged 30 to 55 who experienced everyday stress and fatigue. Participants took either placebo or 10 mg of Extramel® daily for four weeks, and validated questionnaires assessed perceived stress, quality of life, fatigue and sleep-related problems. After 28 days, the Extramel® group showed greater improvements than placebo across several connected measures.

The sleep figure comes from validated questionnaires on everyday stress and fatigue, in healthy adults over four weeks. It concerns sleep difficulties within a demanding everyday life rather than insomnia or other sleep disorders, and sleep problems that persist belong with a doctor.

Sleep is the most relevant of the four-week findings, because recovery at night decides how the following day feels. It is also why Extramel® is the ingredient in Peak Performance closest to what people mean by recovering better.

What did the 84-day study add?

Time, a second group of participants, and a measure of mental performance.

The second study, published by Carillon and colleagues in Nutrients in 2014, was again randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled. It followed 61 adults aged 29 to 60 for 84 days on placebo or 10 mg of Extramel® daily, measuring perceived stress, physical and mental fatigue, quality of life and cognitive performance.

Compared with placebo, perceived stress was significantly lower in the Extramel® group after both 28 and 84 days. Cognitive performance, evaluated with the Stroop test of attention, processing speed and cognitive control, improved by 13.9 percent more than placebo after 28 days and by 20.8 percent more after 84 days. At day 84, perceived physical fatigue was 9.4 percent lower than with placebo, and quality of life improved to a greater extent.

So the second study repeated the stress finding in a separate group and extended it over twelve weeks. Both studies used the same daily amount: 10 mg, the amount in Peak Performance.

What do the two studies show together?

The two studies followed 70 and 61 healthy adults and measured what people actually experience: perceived stress, sleep-related problems, fatigue and quality of life with validated questionnaires, and mental performance with a cognitive test.

That is enough to act on. A specific, protected raw material, at a specific daily dose, was tested twice in randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled human studies, and both times the group taking it reported lower perceived stress than placebo; in the first study, sleep-related problems improved 38 percent more. It is the kind of documentation we ask for before a raw material goes into a jar.

Why can 10 milligrams be meaningful?

Because this raw material was studied at 10 mg.

Ten milligrams looks small beside ingredients measured in hundreds of milligrams or grams. But Extramel® is not a bulk nutrient. It is a concentrated botanical defined by its SOD activity, approximately 140 IU in each 10 mg, and protected so that the activity survives digestion.

Extramel® was studied at 10 mg per day. Peak Performance contains 10 mg per daily dose. For us, the ingredient cannot be separated from its source, manufacturer and studied dose. A larger amount of ordinary melon powder would not be a bigger dose of the same thing, only a different, untested material.

How does Extramel® fit into Peak Performance Formula?

Peak Performance is our daily multivitamin for women with omega 3 from algae: one daily dose, twelve named components, each with a reason to be there. Extramel® is the component closest to recovery, and around it sit nutrients with authorised claims on the same territory. Niacin and vitamin B12 contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism, and niacin, folate and vitamin B12 contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue; here folate is 200 µg as Quatrefolic® 5-MTHF and vitamin B12 10 µg as MecobalActive® methylcobalamin, with thiamine 1.1 mg and niacin 16 mg. DHA contributes to the maintenance of normal brain function; OMEGATEX® algal oil, 500 mg, provides 375 mg of omega 3, of which 300 mg DHA and 50 mg EPA. Selenium contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress; selenium is 27.5 µg as L-selenomethionine, with zinc 5 mg as L-OptiZinc® and chromium 20 µg as chromium picolinate. The rest is vitamin D3, 25 µg as Quali-D®; vitamin K2, 90 µg as MenaQ7®; and Hytolive® olive fruit extract, 150 mg, giving 15 mg of hydroxytyrosol, with 450 mg of extra virgin olive oil.

Hytolive® and Extramel® sit at the daily amounts used in their human studies. The vitamins and minerals sit at nutritional levels, so that nothing is dosed higher than there is a reason for. The claims above belong to the vitamins, the minerals and DHA; Extramel® adds human research on the connected experience of stress, sleep, fatigue and mental performance, at the dose that research used.

Both studies ran on daily intake for four to twelve weeks, so the ingredient is meant to be taken every day. That is why the jar is amber glass with a scent core, designed to stand on the counter, and why the subscription sends the jar once and refill bags after that.

We have done the selection so that you do not have to. Peak Performance gives you Extramel® at 10 mg a day, the amount in its two placebo-controlled studies, together with B vitamins, D3, K2, selenium and omega 3 from algae, in doses we publish and can explain. If recovery is the question, our wellbeing page has the wider picture.

See Peak Performance, multivitamin for women with omega 3

Go deeper

• Guide: wellbeing from within
• Stress and sleep: cortisol, rhythm and real recovery
• Cortisol: what the stress hormone does to skin, sleep and energy
• Branded ingredients: what the name actually guarantees
• Hydroxytyrosol, the olive polyphenol
• Omega-3, what it is and why it matters
• Vitamin B12, the active form for energy and balance
• Peak Performance, multivitamin for women with omega 3

Frequently asked questions

What is Extramel® and how does it differ from ordinary melon powder?
Extramel® is a concentrate made by Robertet from a proprietary, non-GMO cantaloupe variety grown in the south of France and selected for its naturally high SOD content. The processing is physical, without solvent extraction, and because SOD is a protein the concentrate is coated for oral use. Ordinary melon powder is neither defined by its SOD activity nor protected, so it is a different material.

What did the studies on SOD measure for stress and sleep?
Two randomised, placebo-controlled human studies on Extramel® at 10 mg a day assessed perceived stress and sleep-related problems with validated questionnaires. In the four-week study, sleep-related problems improved 38 percent more than with placebo and perceived stress 12 percent more. In the 84-day study, perceived stress and physical fatigue were lower than with placebo. Sleep problems that persist are a question for a doctor.

What did the study measure after four weeks?
Milesi and colleagues, Nutrition Journal 2009, followed 70 healthy adults aged 30 to 55 on placebo or 10 mg of Extramel® daily. After 28 days the Extramel® group showed greater improvements than placebo: 38 percent for sleep-related problems, 12 percent for perceived stress and 9 percent for quality of life.

Why does Peak Performance contain only 10 milligrams?
Because 10 mg is the daily amount both published studies used, corresponding to approximately 140 IU of SOD. Extramel® was studied at 10 mg per day, and Peak Performance contains 10 mg per daily dose. A bigger number of a different material would not be a better dose.

References

Milesi, M.A.; Lacan, D.; Brosse, H.; Desor, D.; Notin, C. Effect of an oral supplementation with a proprietary melon juice concentrate on stress and fatigue in healthy people: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Nutrition Journal. 2009;8:40. DOI: 10.1186/1475-2891-8-40.

Carillon, J.; Notin, C.; Schmitt, K.; Simoneau, G.; Lacan, D. Dietary supplementation with a superoxide dismutase-melon concentrate reduces stress, physical and mental fatigue in healthy people: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Nutrients. 2014;6(6):2348 to 2359. DOI: 10.3390/nu6062348.

Robertet Health & Beauty. Extramel® ingredient, sourcing and technical research information.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It summarises ingredient characteristics, published research and manufacturer-provided information. Individual needs and experiences may vary. Consult a qualified healthcare professional with questions about supplementation, medication or personal health.