Poaceae (Gramineae) Common oat Avenae herba; Avenae fructus Dried aerial parts, harvested before flowering; fruits (=seeds); colloidal oatmeal beta-glucans, steroidal saponins, for example, avenacoside A and B, nitrogen-containing carboxylic acids (avenic acid A and B); flavonoids, for example, vitexin derivatives; minerals. Oat beta-glucan, proteins including glutelins and avenin, avenothionin (a lipoprotein); the alkaloid gramine; polyphenols including the avenanthramides, caffeic and ferulic acids and flavonoids; triterpene saponins and phytosterols (e.g. avenasterin and stigmasterin (Kutz and Wallo 2007; Singh et al. 2013). A few studies have assessed the clinical effectiveness of a proprietary oat herb preparation, Neuravena® (a wild green oat extract) on cognition. A double-blind, randomised cross-over study demonstrated a beneficial effect in elderly volunteers with below-average cognitive performance administered single weekly doses of 1600 mg of extract, compared with placebo or 2400 mg (Berry et al. 2011). A study monitoring changes in healthy subjects administered 1250 mg or 2500 mg of extract, during resting and performance of a concentration test, found changes mainly in the regions of the brain known to be involved in cognitive tasks (Dimpfel et al. 2011). However, another trial did not show any effects on cognitive measurements in 37 healthy adults aged 67 ± 0.8 years when given 1500 mg/day for 12 weeks (Wong et al. 2012). The same group found that systemic and cerebral vasodilator responsiveness significantly increased (by 41% and 42%, respectively) over 24 weeks with 1500 mg/day of Neuravena® compared to placebo, supporting the use of oat herb extract in the maintenance of cardiovascular health (Wong et al. 2013). The majority of clinical trials involving A. sativa
Oats
Avena sativa L.
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