New grape pill has better 'potency'

A new top of the south product aiming to tap into the lucrative antioxidant sector of the neutraceutical market has been launched with a claim that it will provide "the goodness of a bunch of grapes and red wine all rolled into one".

Richmond-based Mountain Red says its capsules, put on the market this week under the name Grape Extract Ultra Plus-R, has superior potency to the resveratrol products marketed by multinationals. It says that its extract is produced by a secret extraction process which uses only water and is known only to its developer, Blenheim's New Zealand Extracts.

Mountain Red chief executive Karen Morley said the extract was made from pinot noir grape skins and sauvignon blanc seeds from Marlborough.

It benefited from New Zealand grape growing conditions, with high levels of ultraviolet radiation causing grapes to respond by producing more antioxidants.

The extraction process was a world first, Ms Morley said. "It means it's 100 per cent natural, safe, sustainable, Kiwi-designed and made and backed by science."

Antioxidants are said to have positive health benefits and have been credited by some enthusiasts and neutraceutical manufacturers as helping to extend healthy life.

Mountain Red marketing and communications director Campbell Berry-Kilgour said the product had been independently assessed by New Zealand and international laboratories.