Pinus pinaster subsp. pinaster

P. maritima Lam.; P. pinaster subsp. atlantica Villar; and others

Pinaceae

Cluster pine; pinaster pine

Bark (generally, a specific bark extract derived from a population of French maritime pine grown on the Atlantic coast)

French maritime pine bark contains a range of procyanidins, flavonoids and polyphenols. The procyanidins account for 65–75% of the extract and are composed of catechin and epicatechin subunits of varying chain lengths. It contains other phenolic acids, including cinnamic acids and their glycosides, and flavonoids including taxifolin (D’Andrea 2010; Schoonees et al. 2012; Williamson et al. 2013).

Various pine bark extracts are available (see Maimoona et al. 2011) but almost all of the clinical research has been conducted on French maritime pine bark, most notably Pycnogenol®.

Clinical studies have shown benefits in several conditions. These have recently been systematically reviewed and 15 trials (with a total of 791 participants) were evaluated for the treatment of seven different chronic disorders (Schoonees et al. 2012): asthma (2 studies, 1 in children; n = 86), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (1 study in children; n = 61), chronic venous insufficiency (2 studies; n = 60), diabetes mellitus (4 studies; n = 201), erectile dysfunction (1 study; n = 21), hypertension (2 studies; n = 69) and osteoarthritis (3 studies; n