ANTIOXIDANT SUPERFRUITS
Nature’s most colourful chemistry.
Açaí, goji, blackcurrant, red-grape skin. Some of the most celebrated superfoods on earth — prized for the deep purples and reds that signal an exceptional concentration of plant antioxidants.
- Açaí
- Goji
- Blackcurrant
- Grape skin
ULTIMATE brings açaí, goji and grape skin. MUSCLE-AID pairs goji with blackcurrant — the Northern Hemisphere’s powerhouse berry and a favourite of sports-recovery researchers. Each one adds its own family of polyphenols: anthocyanins, stilbenes, carotenoids and polysaccharides. ULTIMATE’s green tea and grape seed have their own page.
Açaí · goji · blackcurrant · grape skin
In the balm: ULTIMATE: açaí, goji and grape skin. MUSCLE-AID: goji and blackcurrant.
On this page
At a glance
ULTIMATE — açaí · goji · grape skin
MUSCLE-AID — goji · blackcurrant
Key phytochemicals — anthocyanins · resveratrol-family stilbenes · Lycium barbarum polysaccharides · zeaxanthin and other carotenoids
Research areas — antioxidant capacity · everyday aches and range of motion · energy and athletic performance · exercise-induced muscle damage · cartilage cells · skin protection
Açaí — the Amazon’s purple powerhouse
Açaí is the deep-purple palm berry of the Amazon rainforest, and one of the world’s most famous superfoods. Its reputation is built on remarkable antioxidant chemistry.
When researchers measured freeze-dried açaí pulp and skin across a series of antioxidant assays, they found exceptional activity against the superoxide radical — and, against the peroxyl radical, the highest ORAC value of any food reported at the time.
THE HIGHEST PEROXYL-RADICAL ORAC OF ANY FOOD REPORTED TO DATE
Read the açaí antioxidant-capacity study →
Açaí has also been studied in people with everyday aches. In a 12-week clinical pilot, 14 adults with pain-limited range of motion drank an açaí-pulp-rich fruit and berry juice daily. Researchers reported reduced pain and improved range of motion over the study.
Read the açaí pain and range-of-motion study →
Goji — a superfood with centuries of tradition
Goji berries — Lycium barbarum — have been treasured in traditional Asian herbal practice for centuries and are now one of the world’s best-known superfoods. Their signature compounds are the Lycium barbarum polysaccharides, alongside carotenoids such as zeaxanthin and a rich mix of polyphenols.
In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, healthy adults drinking standardised goji juice for 14 days reported significant increases in energy level, athletic performance, sleep quality, ability to focus, calmness and feelings of overall wellbeing.
More energy. Better athletic performance. Greater wellbeing.
Read the randomised goji study →
Goji’s polysaccharides have also been studied directly in skin biology, where they protected skin cells against UVB-induced photoageing and oxidative damage.
Read the goji polysaccharide skin study →
Goji’s polysaccharides reach joint biology too. A systematic review highlighted Lycium barbarum polysaccharides’ anti-ageing, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as a promising fit for ageing joints, and in a 2025 experimental osteoarthritis model, LBP slowed osteoarthritis progression by protecting chondrocytes from ferroptotic cell death.
Read the goji polysaccharide osteoarthritis review →
Read the 2025 goji osteoarthritis study →
Goji is in both ULTIMATE and MUSCLE-AID.
Blackcurrant — the recovery berry
Blackcurrants are one of the richest natural sources of anthocyanins — the deep-purple pigments behind their intense colour — and New Zealand blackcurrant has become a favourite of sports scientists.
In a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, blackcurrant extract taken before and after strenuous resistance exercise improved recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage. Further research has found blackcurrant extract enhanced muscle oxygenation during repeated forearm contractions in advanced and elite rock climbers.
Faster recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage.
Read the blackcurrant muscle-recovery trial →
A separate randomised placebo-controlled study found blackcurrant nectar, taken for eight days around a bout of high-intensity eccentric knee extensions, reduced creatine kinase — a blood marker of muscle damage — and the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, while boosting blood antioxidant capacity.
Read the blackcurrant muscle-damage study →
Read the blackcurrant muscle-oxygenation study →
Blackcurrant is in MUSCLE-AID.
Grape skin — the colour of red grapes
The skin of the red grape is where the vine concentrates its most famous protective chemistry: the deep-red anthocyanins behind its colour and the stilbenes led by trans-resveratrol. In human articular chondrocytes, resveratrol suppressed IL-1β-driven inflammatory signalling and the cartilage-degrading enzymes MMP-3 and MMP-9 — and in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 110 adults with knee osteoarthritis, resveratrol supplementation significantly reduced knee pain.
Read the resveratrol human-chondrocyte study →
Read the resveratrol knee-OA trial →
Grape skin is in ULTIMATE.
A spectrum of colour, a spectrum of chemistry
Each superfruit brings a different family of polyphenols. Anthocyanins from açaí, grape skin and blackcurrant. Stilbenes from grape skin. Polysaccharides and carotenoids from goji. Together they create a broad, complementary antioxidant spectrum — and they partner beautifully with the pomegranate, mangosteen and liposomal vitamins C and E elsewhere in the formulas, and with ULTIMATE’s green tea and grape seed.
Technical evidence map
CannonBalm materials — ULTIMATE: açaí, goji and grape skin extracts. MUSCLE-AID: goji and blackcurrant extracts.
Açaí — exceptional SOD activity and highest peroxyl-radical ORAC of any food reported (2006); 12-week pilot: reduced pain, improved range of motion.
Goji — randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled 14-day study: improved energy, athletic performance, sleep, focus and wellbeing; LBP protected skin cells against UVB and protected chondrocytes in experimental osteoarthritis.
Blackcurrant — randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial: improved recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage; lower creatine kinase and IL-6 after eccentric exercise; enhanced muscle oxygenation in elite climbers.
Grape skin — resveratrol in human articular chondrocytes; randomised knee-OA trial.
Selected authoritative research
Açaí antioxidant capacity
Schauss AG et al. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2006. PMID 17061840.
Açaí juice — pain and range of motion
Jensen GS et al. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2011. PMID 21470042.
Goji juice — randomised clinical study
Amagase H, Nance DM. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2008. PMID 18447631.
Goji polysaccharide and UVB photoageing
Fan L et al. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences. 2024. PMID 39379645.
Blackcurrant and recovery from muscle damage
Hunt JEA et al. Nutrients. 2021. PMID 34445035.
Blackcurrant and muscle oxygenation
Fryer S et al. European Journal of Sport Science. 2021. PMID 33201779.
Lycium barbarum polysaccharides and osteoarthritis — systematic review
Ni J et al. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. 2021. PMID 34404395.
Lycium barbarum polysaccharide in experimental osteoarthritis
Meng T et al. Molecular Biology Reports. 2025. PMID 41075115.
Blackcurrant nectar and exercise-induced muscle damage
Hutchison AT et al. Journal of Dietary Supplements. 2016. PMID 25153307.
Resveratrol in human articular chondrocytes
Shakibaei M et al. Biochemical Pharmacology. 2008. PMID 18606398.
Resveratrol in knee osteoarthritis — randomised trial
Marouf BH et al. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2018. PMID 30160612.
Where Science Meets Nature.
Nature’s most colourful chemistry.
The world’s favourite superfoods, chosen for the antioxidant power behind their colour.