Focus
Coffee fruit extract
Coffee fruit extract is a low-caffeine coffee cherry extract with no proven focus or exercise benefit.
How it counts: Not part of the score
We show it on the label and count it as disclosed, but it never affects Dose, any sub-score or the grade. The basis below explains why.
- Clinical dose
- No established clinical dose
- Safety ceiling
- —
- Evidence
- weak
- Category
- Focus
Evidence summary
Research confidence: low
No reference dose. Coffee fruit extract is made from the whole coffee cherry, not the roasted bean, and contains very little caffeine (about 0.7%, or under 1 mg in a 100 mg serving), so it is not a stimulant. In one small, manufacturer-funded study a single 100 mg dose raised blood levels of BDNF, a brain growth factor, but no memory, focus or exercise result was measured (Reyes-Izquierdo 2013). A later 72-person trial found no cognitive or mood benefit from 100 mg or 300 mg of a related coffee fruit extract (Jackson 2023).
Research sources
- Modulatory effect of coffee fruit extract on plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy subjects (Reyes-Izquierdo et al., Br J Nutr 2013)(opens in new window)
- Acute Cognitive Performance and Mood Effects of Coffeeberry Extract: A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study in Healthy Humans (Jackson et al., Nutrients 2023)(opens in new window)
72 adults, double-blind crossover: 100 mg and 300 mg coffee fruit extract (CognatiQ, 40% chlorogenic acid; a different FutureCeuticals product from NeuroFactor) had no benefit on cognition, mood or energy; 100 mg slightly raised mental fatigue and lowered sustained-attention accuracy at 60 min. Funded by PepsiCo.
- Whole Coffee Cherry Extract Improves Working Memory and Response Inhibition: Acute and Longitudinal Results from a Remote, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial (Robinson et al., Nutrients 2024)(opens in new window)
Remote trial, 200 mg decaffeinated whole coffee cherry extract vs placebo: fewer omissions and better accuracy on working-memory and inhibition tasks, acutely and after daily use. Double the 100 mg label dose.