Solabia Nutrition: How Brainberry aronia extract boosts memory and brain vascular function
11 Feb 2026 | Solabia Nutrition
Billie Ivanova, marketing and communications manager at Solabia Nutrition, discusses Brainberry, a standardized aronia extract. She explains what makes the “Nero Eggert” variety of aronia uniquely suited for cognitive health, while sharing how the ingredient crosses the blood-brain barrier to enhance neuronal signaling. Ivanova also highlights low-dose formulation advantages of the extract and Solabia’s sustainable Baltic aronia supply chain.
Hi, this is Benjamin Ferreira for Nutrition Insight and I'm speaking with Billy Ivanova, who is the marketing and communications manager at Salaia Nutrition, who's here to speak to us about the scientific benefits of Brainberry, which is the company's ingredient for spatial working memory and brain vascular function, and it's based on an extract of Aronia.
So, thank you so much for joining us and just diving right into it.
I'd like to ask, what makes the narrow Eggert variety of Aronia in your extract uniquely suited for brain berry compared to other common strains of Aronia or more mainstream blueberries, more mainstream berries like blueberries.
First of all, thank you, Benjamin, for having this interview together.
It's a pleasure for me to join you today.
And indeed, jumping right in, it's important to start with the fact that, of course, not all berries are the same.
We consciously made the choice to extract brain berries specifically from the narrow Eggert variety of Aonia melanocarpa berries, which is a very long name, but we chose it because it's exceptionally high in the in its anthocyanin profile, which is exactly the main active that we are interested in.
So compared to other Aronea strains and even compared to the popular berries like blueberries, our Aerroneous strain has higher concentration of the specific polyphenols linked to cognitive health and that allows us to standardize to at a 25% concentration using a relatively low amount of the fruits compared to if we wanted to use blueberries, for example.
So in practical terms, it means that brain barrier can deliver clinically relevant effects with the low daily dose, which is of course commercially viable for nutraceutical applications.
And could you also walk us through the specific mechanism of action by which brain barrier crosses the blood-brain barrier to enhance neuronal signaling?
Of course, this is a very important question and it's also important to make a small note here.
Rather than thinking in terms of a single compound simply crossing the blood-brain barrier, it's more accurate to say that anthocyanins in their metabolites can influence brain function through different pathways that complement each other.
Like scientific literature shows that anthocyanin and their metabolites are bioavailable and can reach the brain tissue where they interact with pathways involved in neuronal signaling.
At the same time, anthocyanins are also known to support neurovascular function, which helps to deliver nutrients to the brain.
This is exactly what we wanted to explore with our latest clinical study, this dual mechanism.
We observed improvements in cognitive performance doing the gold standard test in for cognitive function which is the CANTAPP test, but we also did very complex MRI imaging in order to assess the new, the brain vascular activity.
Because we want to put forward that brain barrier helps to create an environment which supports healthy brain signaling rather than focusing and acting through one isolated pathway.
And actually, in our previous studies, we also saw that brain barrier improves eye-hand coordination and focus.
And how do the findings in your latest study translate to tangible quality of life benefits for the aging consumer?
What really matters for the aging consumer is definitely not our abstract score in the scientific paper.
It, what really matters is that they maintain their independence and confidence and mental clarity.
In our study, brain very significantly improved spatial working memory, which maybe is not exactly clear what it is, but in simple Term, this is the short-term memory.
Involved in everyday activities, remembering where did we leave our keys, where did we park our car.
This is one of the cognitive domains that is the most relevant for independence, but unfortunately, it's also the cognitive domain which tends to decline very early with age.
So, By demonstrating improvements with Brain barrier, we're showing effects that are both scientifically relevant but also functionally meaningful, and these results support the idea that Brain barrier can help older adults to maintain sharp, but in previous clinical studies, we also saw positive effects of brain barrier in younger populations.
Given the low 65 mg dose, what specific formulation advantages does Brainberry offer for trending formats like functional gummies or ready to drink beverages?
So, yeah, Brainberry was specifically developed with formulation realities in mind.
Delivering the clinical efficacy at a low daily dose, 65 mg.
It offers a major advantage for our customers and for today's trending formats for applications like gummies.
And ready to drink beverages, shots, and gels.
This low dose means minimal impact on texture and taste.
It's much easier to formulate products that align with clean label, sugar-free, and no stimulant trends.
From a brand perspective, Brain barrier enables convenient daily use in consumer-friendly format, which is exactly what we see, with a very strong growth in the cognition category.
We even have more and more clients integrating Brainberry into, functional food formats like nutritional bars and even, functional chocolates.
And lastly, how does salabia ensure a sustainable and transparent supply chain for the specific Baltic grown aronia?
This is another very important question and sustainability for sure starts at the farm, at the field, not in an office.
There are a few different things to mention when it comes to brain berry.
For example, our, variety has low-reaching branches which makes it very, efficient to harvest.
It also produces higher , fruit yield per land area, meaning that less land is required in order to achieve the same amount, the same output, which is an important factor in, for our environmental impact.
Our variety of Oronia berries is also exceptionally resilient.
It thrives in the harsh climate in the Baltics where it's very snowy, icy, it's -20 °C in winter, and, this natural resilience allows the plants to regenerate without us having to intervene with any chemicals.
And at the same time, these harsh temperatures are exactly what stimulates the fruits.
To produce the active ingredients that we're interested in.
They basically produce them as a survival mechanism.
So they're naturally rich in anthocyanins.
But beyond the cultivation, the, this variety of Aronia berries also has a very positive role in the local ecosystem becau because it has an extended flowering period and it's very important, food source for the bees in the area.
The full traceability from the field to the finished ingredients is very important for us at Sulabia and we monitor this for all of our ingredients like a pure bon leaf and brain berry and all the rest.
All right, thank you very much for your insights, Lili.
Thank you for having me today.
