Herb library · Herb · Aronia melanocarpa
Aronia (black chokeberry)
A tart, astringent dark berry from a North American shrub, sold as juice and as a dried powder. It is very rich in plant pigments (anthocyanins). Trials have tested it for heart and metabolic health, and a 2025 review of ten of them found no clear benefit.
Traditional use
A North American shrub whose berries are too astringent for most people to eat raw. They are sold as juice, jam, dried powder and extract, promoted for their antioxidant pigments, and studied as a food for heart health, blood sugar and inflammation.
What studies show
- Limited· shows no benefit
Heart and metabolic health: a 2025 review of 10 randomized trials (666 adults) found that chokeberry did not significantly change weight, blood sugar, cholesterol or blood pressure. Some subgroups showed small drops in cholesterol or blood pressure, but many trials had a high or unclear risk of bias and the certainty of the evidence was very low.
- Limited· a lab measure, not a health outcome
Inflammation: a 2025 review of 18 trials (juice, extract or dried powder for 4 to 13 weeks) found lower levels of some inflammation markers in the blood, such as CRP and IL-6. These are lab measures, not health outcomes.
- Limited
Attention and diabetes: in a one-week crossover trial of 35 healthy young adults, aronia extract made one reaction-time measure about 5% faster than placebo, with no change in memory or planning. In a crossover trial in people with type 2 diabetes, 8 weeks of aronia extract in snack bars did not change blood sugar control.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteAronia (chokeberry) is not chokecherry, a different wild plant; check the Latin name on a product.
- PregnancyNo safety information for concentrated extracts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here. The berry as food is not the concern.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
Sources
- Impact of a Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott) Supplementation on Cardiometabolic Outcomes: A Critical Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (Nutrients, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- The Effect of Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) on Human Inflammation Biomarkers and Antioxidant Enzymes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials (Nutr Rev, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Short-term Aronia melanocarpa extract supplementation improves cognitive performance: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study in healthy young adults (Eur J Nutr, 2024) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Aronia in the Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Regimen (Nutrients, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.