Ployphenols are a wide range of biological molecules which play a protective role in plants. They are one of the major type of secondary metabolities,water soluble or not, which may be classified into four main families: phenolic acids,flavonoids,tannins and lignins.

Oligomeric ProCyanidins,more commonly known as OPC, are phenolic compounds that belong to the flavonoid family.OPC are oligomers of catechin and epicatechin. The OPC that offer the beneficial described by Professor Masquelier are primarily the dimers,trimers,tetramers and pentamers.They are called oligomers. Compounds formed from more thanfive sub-unit repetitions are called polymers which have a much higher molecular weight. They are not easily absorbed, and consequently offer very weak biological action.

oligopin ® is a fine powder extracted from French maritime pine bark extract,grown in South West region.

Not all procyanidins have a biological effect.The OPCs' intestinal absorption and thus their biological activity are based on their molecular weight,the high weight molecules being unabsorbed.

oligopin ® presents an optimal composition in oligomeric procyanidins,which gurantees bioavailability and effectiveness of the extract.

Several pine back extracts are now available in the market however,only oligopin® has a high content in short oligomers of catechin and epicatechin, and is characterised by an absence of tannins.

oligopin® demonstraters in virto a strong affinity for the LDL particles.This affinity conjugated with its anti-free radical properties suggests a potential activity against LDL oxidation, which is a key of the atherosclerosis risk component.

In an in vivoexperiment conducted during 8 weeks at the GBSA in Montpellier (France) in 2002, accumulation of oxidised lipids on the surface of arteries of syrian hamsters,

fed with an hypercholesterolemic diet, was significantly reduced with a 15 mg/kg oligopin© supplementation. In parallel, a supplementation with 82 mg/kg of high polymeric tannins was much less efficient in the same conditions.

oligopin® antioxidant and vascular properties promote the prevention of oxidation damages in vessels, and thus can promote a healthy vein system. oligopin® can also be associated with vitaflavan©, DRT grape seed extract, Centella Asiatica, Ginkgo biloba, rutin, escin, or horse chestnut.

The documented benefits of oligopin® also suggest its use to protect the skin against the effects of ageing.

ORAC value of oligopin© about 15,000 µmol TE / g* Consuming 100 mg of oligopin© a day provides more than 1,500 ORAC units (* Laboratory Brunswick, USA, 2006)

Extracting and purifying the qualities from nature to enable improvements in diet, nutrition and health is the specific field of expertise of drt nutraceutics. It developes ingredients that have a well-deserved reputation of high quality and purity for dietary supplements, functional foods and cosmetics.