For women intent on fighting mother nature, a new ingredient has shown some promise in its ability to diminish the appearance of cellulite.

Made from a natural melon concentrate, Cucumis melo L., the ingredient is, appropriately enough, named CELLULIGHT. It is rich in superoxide dismutase (SOD); there are more than 130 published studies on SOD's anti-fibrotic efficacy.

SOD is a great candidate to fight the main cause of cellulite: the hormono-induced fibrotic state located in the dermis and hypodermis.

CELLULIGHT was named a finalist in the Nutraceutical Business & Technology Awards 2013, organized with Vitafoods Europe, and the ingredient went on to win an award in the Most Innovative Ingredient category. It has been recognized as the Beauty Innovation of the Year 2012 by the NuW Excellence Awards jury and at the Health Ingredient Europe Show (Frankfort).

Ingredient Prime for Cold-Drink Applications

CELLULIGHT has been developed by French ingredient firm Bionov, an industrial producer of natural and protected SOD.

CELLULIGHT is available for cold instant drink applications; it is made with a specific coating to assure total dispersion in cold beverages.

Stable in water and acid conditions, the grade S coating is also tasteless and colorless. CELLULIGHT is a natural melon juice concentrate rich in SOD, with both mechanistic and clinical studies on anti-cellulite action.

CELLULIGHT is easy to use in many formulations. A flavored-testing application has been developed in a stick, in collaboration with PYC Laboratory. The ingredient is available with two natural coatings preserving SOD from gastro-degradation: one for dietary supplements and the other for instant drinks.

Bionov is committed to green and natural development: CELLULIGHT is solvent free, gluten- and allergen free, BSE and GMO free, pesticide free and heavy-metals free.

Demonstrated Efficacy of Cellulight

A double-blind, randomized placebo controlled clinical study on 41 healthy women with cellulite on thighs and/or stomach has demonstrated that CELLULIGHT administrated orally (40mg/day) reduces cellulite up to 9.5% (compared to placebo) after 28 days of supplementation ( p<0,05). This decrease reaches 11.3% after 56 days of supplementation ( p<0,05). Results have shown that the more cellulite is pronounced, the more CELLULIGHT is efficient with a maximum measured benefit achieving 100% of supplemented women.

Two in vitro mechanistic studies on human explants of adipose tissue have shown a significant increase of lipolysis by 94% in treated adipocytes of women with cellulite, as well as a significant reduction of adipocytes size, in CELLULIGHT group compared to control.

Bionov sells several other ingredients, including Extramel M, to improve mental and physical everyday performance. Extramel is also made from melon juice microencapsulated in a vegetal coating.