Supplements

Tart Cherry

Updated · 27 sources

Tart cherry, also called sour cherry (Prunus cerasus), is a fruit sold as juice, juice concentrate and powdered capsules. Athletes use it for recovery after hard exercise, and it is also marketed for sleep, gout and blood pressure. Nearly all of the trial evidence comes from the Montmorency cultivar.

The single most important fact is that the evidence is inconsistent even on recovery, its best-studied use. Three meta-analyses reached three different conclusions about soreness and strength. Larger and longer trials have generally been less favorable than small early ones: a 28-day dose-ranging trial in people with gout found no effect on serum urate, and pooled trials show no blood pressure effect. Products also vary widely. One lab analysis found tart cherry concentrates ranging from 1.5 to 23.7 mg of anthocyanins per serving.

This page summarizes what meta-analyses, clinical trials, product analyses and regulators report. It is for education only and is not medical advice.

Property Detail
Type Fruit; sold as food and dietary supplement
Main studied cultivar Montmorency
Forms Juice, juice concentrate, freeze-dried powder capsules, dried and frozen fruit
Doses in cited trials 30 mL concentrate twice daily; 240 mL juice twice daily; 480–500 mg powder once daily
Key compounds Anthocyanins and other polyphenols; small amounts of melatonin
Sugar About 25.5 g carbohydrate per 30 mL of concentrate in one trial product; 22–26 g sugars per 240 mL of juice on two labels
Half-life Not established; phenolic metabolites peak in blood about 1–2 h after a dose
US status Not an approved drug; FDA has treated disease claims as making a product an unapproved new drug
WADA status Not named on the 2026 Prohibited List

What it is

Tart cherries differ from sweet cherries and are predominantly cultivated from the Montmorency cultivar (Sabou et al., Front Nutr 2021). Most trials used US-grown Montmorency fruit (Zhu et al., Front Nutr 2026).

Tart cherry cultivars fall into two groups. Morello types have dark juice, and Amarelle types, which include Montmorency, have clear juice. A two-season comparison of 11 cultivars grown in the same orchard conditions found these anthocyanin levels (Traore et al., Molecules 2026):

Cultivar group Total anthocyanins (mg per 100 g fresh weight)
Morello cultivars 68–78
Montmorency About 50
Most other Amarelle cultivars 20–26

Montmorency is therefore not the highest-anthocyanin cultivar, and season matters: one of its anthocyanins was about 12 times higher in 2025 than in 2024. Tart cherries also contain quercetin derivatives (Traore et al. 2026).

What a serving actually contains

  • Across trials. A review of 43 supplement studies found total polyphenol doses of 143–2,140 mg/day and anthocyanin doses of 15–547 mg/day. Only 20 studies analyzed their own product. Six reported no polyphenol content, and 17 borrowed figures from earlier papers and presumably different batches. The authors concluded that the relative efficacy of different doses cannot be reliably worked out from this literature (Sabou et al. 2021).
  • Across retail products. A UK analysis of commercial tart cherry concentrates measured 208–591 mg total phenolics and 1.5–23.7 mg anthocyanins per serving (Rickards et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022).
  • Against labels. In that study, a concentrate labeled at 320 mg anthocyanins per 30 mL measured 1.5–4.0 mg, and a capsule labeled at 85.2 mg per serving measured 0.2 mg. Assay differences may explain part of this gap.
  • Within trial products. One research group’s batch analysis gave 68–73.5 mg anthocyanins per 60 mL of concentrate (Kimble et al., Nutrients 2021), roughly double the highest per-mL value in the UK retail test.

Melatonin content

Tart cherries contain melatonin, but in very small amounts. In fresh-frozen fruit, Montmorency contained 13.46 ng/g and Balaton, another tart cultivar, 2.06 ng/g (Burkhardt et al., J Agric Food Chem 2001). At that concentration, 100 g of fresh Montmorency cherries would hold about 1.3 mcg.

Product estimates vary. Losso and colleagues put the melatonin in one juice-blend trial at 0.135 mcg per dose and in a 60 mL/day concentrate protocol at 85 mcg/day (Losso et al., Am J Ther 2018). These different products are about 600-fold apart, and we found no independent assay of commercial capsules. Even the higher figure is well below the 0.5–5 mg/day those authors cite for insomnia.

How it works in the body

Proposed mechanisms are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and effects on blood vessels through phenolic acids. These remain hypotheses. After Montmorency concentrate, the phenolic acids protocatechuic acid and vanillic acid rose at 1–2 h, and those rises tracked a short-lived blood pressure drop (Keane et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2016). Kimble and colleagues note that these metabolites clear rapidly and that systolic pressure returned to baseline within 3–4 h in earlier work (Kimble et al. 2021). This short window may explain why acute studies can look better than measurements taken after an overnight fast.

Doses used in trials

No optimal dose has been established. These are amounts used in cited studies, not recommendations.

Form Amounts used Source
Concentrate 30 mL twice daily, usually diluted Daab et al., Sports Med Open 2026; Kimble et al. 2021
Concentrate, gout 7.5, 15, 22.5 or 30 mL twice daily Stamp et al., Rheumatology 2020
Juice 236–355 mL twice daily; 240 mL twice daily Daab et al. 2026; Hillman et al., Nutr Health 2026
Powder capsule 480–500 mg once daily Daab et al. 2026; Tucker et al., Nutrients 2024
Powder beverage 60 g/day Daab et al. 2026

In exercise studies, supplementation ran 1–19 days, with 0–16 days of loading before the exercise bout and 0–8 days after it (Zhu et al. 2026).

What the research shows

Muscle soreness and recovery

Trials damage muscle with hard exercise or a match or race, then track soreness, strength and blood markers for up to 96 h. Results are standardized effect sizes (ES or SMD), which express group differences in standard deviation units, not soreness points or kilograms.

Analysis Who and what Soreness Strength and power Blood markers Certainty
Hill et al., Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2021 14 studies; search to July 2020 ES −0.44 (95% CI −0.87 to −0.02), favors cherry Strength ES −0.78 (95% CI −1.11 to −0.46); power ES −0.53 (95% CI −0.77 to −0.29), favor cherry CRP and IL-6 lower; CK and TNF-α no effect Not stated in abstract
Daab et al. 2026 19 trials in trained athletes, mostly concentrate or juice; search to December 2025 No pooled effect Maximal strength improved: ES 1.12 at 24 h, 1.29 at 48 h, 2.14 at 72 h, 4.82 at 96 h. Jump height improved only at 48 h CRP lower up to 48 h; CK, IL-6, TNF-α no effect Very low to moderate; I² 69–93% for strength
Xu et al., Front Nutr 2026 Network analysis of 30 trials, 595 healthy adults, 8 supplement types SMD −0.34 at 24 h (95% CI −0.58 to −0.10); −0.39 at 48 h (95% CI −0.70 to −0.07); −0.56 at 72 h (95% CI −1.04 to −0.07) No clear advantage No clear advantage for CK or CRP Generally low

These do not agree. Hill found benefits for both soreness and strength. Daab found strength but not soreness. Xu found soreness but not strength. They differ in who was included (trained athletes vs healthy adults), which trials were available, and how trials were pooled, and all rest on small studies.

Daab’s ES of 4.82 would be enormous if real, and the authors report that significance at several time points depended on individual studies. Interventions lasted at most 19 days, so these trials cannot show whether long-term use helps or interferes with muscle gain or training adaptation.

For other supplements studied for inflammation and recovery, see Turmeric and Fish Oil (Omega-3).

Exercise performance

A 2020 meta-analysis of 10 randomized trials in healthy people (127 men, 20 women) found a small improvement in endurance performance when tart cherry was taken from 7 days to 1.5 hours before testing: SMD 0.36 (95% CI 0.07–0.64; I² 0%) (Gao & Chilibeck, J Am Coll Nutr 2020).

A later scoping review counted 4 of 10 studies reporting improved performance, 7 of 14 reporting better strength recovery and 6 of 22 reporting reduced soreness. It described the findings on performance and soreness as mixed (Zhu et al. 2026).

Sleep

The sleep evidence consists of small trials with conflicting results.

Trial Who What was given Result
Howatson et al., Eur J Nutr 2012 20 healthy adults; crossover Concentrate (30 mL twice daily) or placebo for 7 days Higher urinary melatonin; more time in bed, total sleep and efficiency. Reported as 34 min more sleep (Losso et al. 2018). No shift in melatonin rhythm timing
Losso et al. 2018 8 completers over age 50 with insomnia; crossover Juice, 240 mL twice daily, or placebo for 2 weeks 84 min more sleep on polysomnography (P = 0.0182); most questionnaires unchanged
Hillman et al. 2026 44 adults with sleep records Juice (two 240 mL bottles per day), capsules (two per day) or placebos for 30 days No difference in sleep time or quality
Tucker et al. 2024 34 adults with sleep issues and overweight or obesity; crossover 500 mg capsules or placebo 1 h before bed for 14 days No effect on sleep or inflammation measures, using sleep trackers and questionnaires

The largest effect comes from the smallest trial, which was supported by the Cherry Marketing Institute. Tucker’s authors suggest testing higher doses, so the capsule result does not rule out an effect at larger amounts.

The mechanism is disputed. Howatson’s authors attributed the benefit to extra melatonin, while Losso’s argued the amount is too small and proposed an alternative: in cell culture, procyanidin B-2 from the juice inhibited an enzyme that breaks down tryptophan. Neither explanation is established in people.

Gout and uric acid

  • Observational signal. In a case-crossover study of 633 people with gout, who served as their own controls, cherry intake over 2 days was linked to 35% lower odds of an attack (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.50–0.85), and cherry extract to OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.30–0.98). Combined with allopurinol, the OR was 0.25 (95% CI 0.15–0.42). Exposure was self-reported online, and the design is observational, not randomized (Zhang et al., Arthritis Rheum 2012). This study covered cherries in general, not tart cherry specifically.
  • Dose-ranging trial in gout. Stamp and colleagues randomized 50 people with gout and serum urate above 0.36 mmol/L to placebo or 7.5–30 mL of concentrate twice daily for 28 days. Half were on allopurinol. Dose had no significant effect on serum urate, urine urate excretion or flare frequency (P = 0.76). The authors concluded that any flare benefit over a longer period is unlikely to work through lowering urate (Stamp et al. 2020).
  • Pooled trials. A 2026 meta-analysis of 4 randomized trials (8 comparisons, 392 participants) found a modest reduction in serum uric acid (SMD −0.22; 95% CI −0.43 to −0.01), with substantial heterogeneity and a confidence interval that nearly reaches zero. The authors called the evidence limited in quantity and consistency (Zhang et al., Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 2026). This is a blood marker, not attacks.
  • The definitive trial did not finish. A 12-month, placebo-controlled trial of Montmorency juice, planned for 120 people with gout and funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, was designed to test attack frequency directly (Lamb et al., BMJ Open 2020). The registry lists it as terminated because of COVID restrictions, with 38 enrolled and no posted results as of its June 2024 update. This leaves the question open rather than answering it (ClinicalTrials.gov).

The American College of Rheumatology reviewed cherry and cherry extract for its 2020 guideline. It judged the certainty of evidence, drawn mainly from observational studies, as low or very low, and so made no specific recommendation (FitzGerald et al., Arthritis Care Res 2020). We found no trial testing tart cherry as a replacement for urate-lowering drugs.

Blood pressure and cardiometabolic health

A short-lived acute effect has been shown, but sustained effects have mostly not:

  • Acute. In 15 men with early hypertension, a single 60 mL dose of concentrate lowered systolic pressure by a peak of 7 ± 3 mm Hg (mean ± SEM) at 2 h compared with placebo (Keane et al. 2016).
  • Pooled trials. A meta-analysis of 21 randomized trials found no effect on blood pressure or heart rate. It did find a small drop in serum CRP (−0.39 mg/L; 95% CI −0.74 to −0.05, moderate certainty) (Norouzzadeh et al., Heliyon 2023).
  • Largest long trial. In 50 middle-aged adults, 30 mL of concentrate twice daily for 3 months did not change blood pressure, arterial stiffness, endothelial function, glucose, lipids or CRP compared with an energy-matched placebo (Kimble et al. 2021). This trial was funded in part by the Cherry Research Committee.
  • Older adults. In 37 adults aged 65–80, 480 mL/day of juice for 12 weeks produced a favorable treatment-by-time effect on systolic pressure and lower LDL cholesterol than the control drink, which was matched for energy and sugar. The cherry group also ended with higher glucose and BMI (Chai et al., Food Funct 2018).

Kimble and colleagues suggest any effect is more likely with raised baseline pressure, which has not been established. We found no trial showing fewer heart attacks, strokes or other clinical events.

Industry funding in the literature

  • Exercise trials. Of 28 Montmorency exercise trials, 13 reported industry funding. The rest were supported by government, academic or other sources, or reported no external funding. Only 2 were registered, one of them retrospectively (Zhu et al. 2026).
  • The review itself. That scoping review was funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, one author was its employee, and the funder took part in study design, data interpretation, the decision to publish and preparing the manuscript.
  • Other studies. The Cherry Marketing Institute also supported the Losso sleep trial and the 12-month gout trial, and it supplied the concentrate for the Kimble trial.

Funding does not by itself predict the result: Kimble’s trial used industry-provided concentrate and found no effect. We did not find a formal analysis comparing results by funder, so the size of any sponsorship effect is unknown.

Side effects and risks

Trials report few adverse events. Kimble and colleagues described 3 months of concentrate as safe and well tolerated, and in Stamp’s 28-day gout trial, only 1 of 24 reported adverse events (hyperglycemia) was considered possibly related to cherry. Trials were short and small, so they cannot detect rare harms.

Sugar and calories

Amounts add up at trial doses. A 480–500 mg capsule, by contrast, contains under 1 g of total material.

Product Serving Energy Carbohydrate or sugars
Concentrate in one trial 30 mL 102 kcal 25.5 g carbohydrate
Same, twice daily 60 mL/day 204 kcal/day 51 g carbohydrate/day
Labeled tart cherry juice (two US products) 240 mL 120–130 kcal 22–26 g sugars
Same, twice daily 480 mL/day 240–260 kcal/day 44–52 g sugars/day
Raw sour cherries 100 g 50 kcal 8.49 g sugars

Sources: Kimble et al. 2021; USDA FoodData Central entries for raw sour cherries and juice labels (FDC 2601896, FDC 2606873).

Concentrate figures vary by product: the 12-month gout trial listed 80 kcal and 20 g of carbohydrate per daily serving (Lamb et al. 2020). The labeled juices list no added sugar, but this still counts for anyone managing carbohydrates or diabetes. In Kimble’s trial, fat mass rose in both the cherry and the sugar-based placebo groups over 3 months, so the trial cannot separate sugar from cherry.

Kidney disease and potassium

In a case report, a patient with chronic kidney disease (CKD) developed acute kidney injury and high potassium after daily cherry concentrate (cherry type not stated in the abstract), and both improved after stopping. The author proposed that cherry compounds inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes in a way that resembles NSAID painkillers (Luciano, Am J Kidney Dis 2014). A single case cannot prove cause, and its frequency is unknown.

Juice also supplies potassium: the two 240 mL labels above list 300 and 379 mg, which matters mainly for people with CKD or on potassium restriction.

Interactions

We found no controlled drug-interaction study of tart cherry. What exists is limited:

  • Allopurinol. In Stamp’s trial, allopurinol use did not change the effect of cherry on urate or urine urate excretion, but a 28-day trial of 50 people is too small to rule out problems with the combination.
  • NSAIDs and kidney-active drugs. The proposed COX mechanism raises a theoretical concern about combining concentrated cherry products with NSAIDs, particularly in CKD. This has not been tested.
  • Anticoagulants. We found no clinical study or established interaction report for tart cherry with warfarin or similar drugs. That is an absence of data, not evidence of safety.

We did not find trials in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Most exercise trials enrolled young, healthy adults.

Tart cherry is sold in the US as a food and dietary supplement. In January 2026, FDA issued a warning letter classifying a tart cherry extract as an unapproved new drug, citing claims including “Effective anti-inflammatory to help reduce joint and bone pain” (FDA warning letter, 2026).

Tart cherry is not named on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. In the UK analysis, several concentrates carried the Informed Sport mark and still varied widely in measured anthocyanins (Rickards et al. 2022). That certification screens for banned substances; it does not confirm polyphenol content.

Key takeaways

  • Recovery evidence is real but inconsistent. Three meta-analyses disagree on whether the benefit is in soreness, strength or both, and certainty is mostly low.
  • Sleep data are small and conflicting. The largest effect came from 8 completers, while a 30-day trial of juice and capsules and a 14-day capsule trial found nothing.
  • Melatonin is a doubtful explanation. Estimates of its content are far below the doses used for insomnia.
  • Gout claims outrun the trials. An observational study links cherries to fewer attacks, but a 28-day trial in gout found no effect on urate, the 12-month attack trial was stopped during COVID restrictions, and the ACR made no recommendation.
  • Blood pressure effects look brief. A drop of about 7 mm Hg was seen 2 h after a dose in men with early hypertension, while pooled trials of longer use showed no effect.
  • Check the product and the sugar. Measured anthocyanins varied roughly 16-fold across concentrates, and 60 mL/day of one trial concentrate supplied about 51 g of carbohydrate. A kidney injury case in CKD is the main reported safety signal.

Sources

  1. Sabou VR, O’Leary MF, Liu Y, et al. Review of analytical methods and reporting of the polyphenol content of tart cherry supplements in human supplementation studies investigating health and exercise performance effects: recommendations for good practice. Front Nutr. 2021;8:652094. PubMed.
  2. Zhu Y, Smith J, Cohn A. The effect of Montmorency tart cherry consumption on athletic performance and post-exercise recovery in healthy adults: a scoping review. Front Nutr. 2026;13:1794292. PubMed.
  3. Traore JM, Rozpara E, Głowacka A, et al. Polyphenol and flavonoid levels of selected Morello and Amarelle tart cherry cultivars (Prunus cerasus L.): implications for orchard production and consumer selection. Molecules. 2026;31(16):2881. PubMed.
  4. Rickards L, Lynn A, Barker ME, Russell M, Ranchordas MK. Comparison of the polyphenol content and in vitro antioxidant capacity of fruit-based nutritional supplements commonly consumed by athletic and recreationally active populations. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2022;19(1):336–348. PubMed.
  5. Kimble R, Keane KM, Lodge JK, Howatson G. The influence of tart cherry (Prunus cerasus, cv Montmorency) concentrate supplementation for 3 months on cardiometabolic risk factors in middle-aged adults: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1417. PubMed.
  6. Burkhardt S, Tan DX, Manchester LC, Hardeland R, Reiter RJ. Detection and quantification of the antioxidant melatonin in Montmorency and Balaton tart cherries (Prunus cerasus). J Agric Food Chem. 2001;49(10):4898–4902. PubMed.
  7. Losso JN, Finley JW, Karki N, et al. Pilot study of the tart cherry juice for the treatment of insomnia and investigation of mechanisms. Am J Ther. 2018;25(2):e194–e201. PubMed.
  8. Keane KM, George TW, Constantinou CL, et al. Effects of Montmorency tart cherry (Prunus Cerasus L.) consumption on vascular function in men with early hypertension. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(6):1531–1539. PubMed.
  9. Daab W, Bouzid MA, Nassis GP, et al. Effects of tart cherry juice supplementation on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med Open. 2026;12(1):40. PubMed.
  10. Stamp LK, Chapman P, Frampton C, et al. Lack of effect of tart cherry concentrate dose on serum urate in people with gout. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2020;59(9):2374–2380. PubMed.
  11. Hillman AR, Trickett O, Brodsky C, Chrismas B. Montmorency tart cherry supplementation does not impact sleep, body composition, cellular health, or blood pressure in healthy adults. Nutr Health. 2026;32(1):239–248. PubMed.
  12. Tucker RM, Kim N, Gurzell E, et al. Commonly used dose of Montmorency tart cherry powder does not improve sleep or inflammation outcomes in individuals with overweight or obesity. Nutrients. 2024;16(23):4125. PubMed.
  13. Hill JA, Keane KM, Quinlan R, Howatson G. Tart cherry supplementation and recovery from strenuous exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2021;31(2):154–167. PubMed.
  14. Xu KX, Chang J, Wu YJ, et al. Comparative effects of plant-derived anthocyanin- and flavanol-rich supplements on recovery outcomes after exercise-induced muscle damage: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Front Nutr. 2026;13:1857527. PubMed.
  15. Gao R, Chilibeck PD. Effect of tart cherry concentrate on endurance exercise performance: a meta-analysis. J Am Coll Nutr. 2020;39(7):657–664. PubMed.
  16. Howatson G, Bell PG, Tallent J, et al. Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. Eur J Nutr. 2012;51(8):909–916. PubMed.
  17. Zhang Y, Neogi T, Chen C, et al. Cherry consumption and decreased risk of recurrent gout attacks. Arthritis Rheum. 2012;64(12):4004–4011. PubMed.
  18. Zhang Z, Feng Z, Yan W, et al. Tart cherry intake and serum uric acid: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and evidence from network pharmacology. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2026;35(3):451–462. PubMed.
  19. Lamb KL, Lynn A, Russell J, Barker ME. Effect of tart cherry juice on risk of gout attacks: protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2020;10(3):e035108. PubMed.
  20. Sheffield Hallam University. The effect of tart cherry juice on risk of gout attacks. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03621215. Terminated; last update posted June 27, 2024. ClinicalTrials.gov.
  21. FitzGerald JD, Dalbeth N, Mikuls T, et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology guideline for the management of gout. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;72(6):744–760. PubMed.
  22. Norouzzadeh M, Hasan Rashedi M, Shahinfar H, Rahideh ST. Dose-dependent effect of tart cherry on blood pressure and selected inflammation biomarkers: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Heliyon. 2023;9(9):e19987. PubMed.
  23. Chai SC, Davis K, Wright RS, Kuczmarski MF, Zhang Z. Impact of tart cherry juice on systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Food Funct. 2018;9(6):3185–3194. PubMed.
  24. Luciano RL. Acute kidney injury from cherry concentrate in a patient with CKD. Am J Kidney Dis. 2014;63(3):503–505. PubMed.
  25. US Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central: Cherries, sour, red, raw (FDC 173954); branded tart cherry juice labels. USDA FoodData Central; FDC 2601896; FDC 2606873.
  26. US Food and Drug Administration. Warning letter: Supersmart USA, LLC, 706566. January 21, 2026. FDA.
  27. World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List. WADA 2026 Prohibited List.