The Effects of Red Fruit Extract Supplementation on Blood Lactate
Concentration after Sub-Maximal Exercise
Pahala Tua Hutajulu and Yohanis Manfred Mandosir
Cenderawasih University, Abepura, Jayapura, Indonesia
Keywords: Red Fruit, Antioxidant, Sub-maximal Exercise, Blood Lactate.
Abstract: In this study, the use of red fruit (Pandanus conoideus Lam) extract as an alternative natural resource of an
antioxidant supplement was introduced. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of red fruit
extract supplementation on blood lactate concentration after sub-maximal exercise. The maximal exercise
was applied as an exercise test in order to assess the aerobic capacity. Fourteen amateur soccer athletes from
Jayapura, Indonesia, volunteered to take part in the study, where they were randomly divided into two groups:
placebo and supplement. Four hours prior to the sub-maximal exercise, the subjects consumed either a placebo
or 1000 mg of red fruit extract supplement. The subjects’ blood lactate concentration was recorded at four
hours pre and post sub-maximal exercise. The sub-maximal exercise resulted in an increase of blood lactate
concentration in both the placebo (1.30 ± 0.69 to 2.73 ± 0.58 mmol/L) and supplement groups (1.01 ± 0.39 to
2.14 ± 0.36 mmol/L). Although the increase of blood lactate concentration after performed sub-maximal
exercise of supplement group was lower compared to the placebo group, independent t-test calculation shows
no significant effect of red fruit extract supplementation.
1 INTRODUCTION
Physical training is the foundation for an athlete to
achieve the highest level of physical performance
(Stone et al., 2007). The improvement of physical
performance resulted from multiple adaptive
reactions, which occurs primarily in the skeletal
muscle fibers, nervous system, and circulatory system
(Clausen, 1977). Although the physical effect of
training could be very individualized, in general,
there are four types of physical activities based on
their effects. First, aerobic activity which may
improve body composition and cardio respiratory
fitness; second, muscle-strengthening activity which
may improve muscular fitness such as muscular
strength and endurance; third, stretching activity that
can improve flexibility and last is neuromuscular
activity that improves neuromuscular fitness such as
balance and agility. Among these four, the aerobic
activity is typically performed by a high intensity
sport athlete, particularly a soccer athlete (O'Reilly
and Wong, 2012).
In order to assess the aerobic capacity, there are
two kinds of exercise tests, maximal and sub-
maximal exercises. The maximal exercise was
considered the gold standard with higher precision
however was limited due to high risk of pain and
fatigue since it requires a maximal level of exertion.
Contrarily, sub-maximal exercise appears to have
merits since it is safer and minimizes undue strain
(Noonan and Dean, 2000). There are large numbers
of sub-maximal testing protocols that have been
proposed. Among them, the Astrand and Ryhming
(1954), Margaria et al. (1965), and McArdle et al.
(1972) are examples of protocols that have been well
developed in very fit individuals, so they can be used
to evaluate aerobic capacity of an athlete.
Previous study has been revealed that the blood
lactate concentration increases early in the periods of
sub-maximal exercise (Rieu et al., 1989), although it
could be lower after a long term of exercise due to
adaptations to training (Hurley et al., 1984). It is
known that lactate is a major cause of muscle fatigue
and induced tissue damage (Gladden, 2004) due to the
high production of oxygen free radicals. The human
body naturally has the ability to neutralize oxygen
free radicals by forming endogenous antioxidants,
however, the use of antioxidant supplements to
quench oxygen free radicals has attracted attention in
recent years (Ackerman et al., 2014). Natural
ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, have been
studied and exhibit antioxidant content such as
avocado, jackfruit, longan, mango and tamarind
Hutajulu, P. and Mandosir, Y.
The Effects of Red Fruit Extract Supplementation on Blood Lactate Concentration after Sub-Maximal Exercise.
In Proceedings of the 2nd Inter national Conference on Sports Science, Health and Physical Education (ICSSHPE 2017) - Volume 1, pages 247-250
ISBN: 978-989-758-317-9
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
247

(Soong et al., 2004; Leonard et al., 2002) which can
reduce oxygen-free radicals and lactic acid levels.
In this study, we introduced the red fruit
(Pandanusconoideus Lam), a typical plant which
grows in Papua. Current studies have shown that red
fruit has rich content in phenolics, flavonoid, and
carotenoid, which strongly indicated that it can be
used as a natural antioxidant source (Rohman et al.,
2010; Rohman et al., 2012). Therefore, we utilized
the red fruit extract as an antioxidant
supplementation. The purpose of this research was to
study the effects of red fruit extract supplementation
on blood lactate concentration after sub-maximal
exercise.
2 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Fourteen soccer amateur athletes from Jayapura,
Indonesia, who were well trained, volunteered to take
part in the study after they were informed verbally
and literally about the nature of the experiment. Each
subject reported to the laboratory before the actual
experiments and performed a practical trial of sub-
maximal exercises. Their height was measured using
body height tape (HKS 6.56Ft Measure Tape) while
their body weight and body composition were
measured using Omron HBF-214 Body Composition
Monitors.
The subjects were instructed to abstain from all
supplements and to rest well for 48 hours. They were
randomly divided into two groups: placebo and
supplement. Four hours prior to the sub-maximal
exercise, each subject consumed either a placebo or
1000 mg of red fruit extract supplement. The
Subjects’ blood lactate concentration was also
recorded in this initial condition. Subsequently, all
subjects consumed enough meals and rested quietly
for 4 hours. Afterwards, the blood lactate
concentration pre exercise was recorded. Hereafter,
each subject performed sub-maximal exercise
following the Astrand-Ryhming protocols (Astrand
and Ryhming, 1954), using Kettler Paso’s 109 cycles
ergo meter. Finally, the blood lactate concentration
post exercise was recorded again soon after the
exercise. The blood lactate concentration was
recorded using Roche Accutrend Plus. During sub-
maximal exercise the subjects’ heart rate was
monitored with a Polar H7 heart rate monitor.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The group descriptive measurements (placebo vs.
supplement) are noted in table 1. All participants were
found to be in normal range in age, height, body
weight, and body composition. There were no
significant differences between the placebo and
supplement groups with regards to the general
descriptive measures taken.
Table 1: Subjects descriptive statistics.
Placebo (n = 7)
Supplement (n = 7)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Age (yr)
21.86
2.54
22.00
2.77
Height (cm)
158.57
5.69
147.21
38.95
Weight (kg)
59.24
9.92
60.76
6.51
BMI
22.49
1.98
22.76
2.00
Fat (%)
24.74
3.25
24.96
2.82
Visceral fat
3.71
1.11
3.29
1.11
Figure 1: Blood lactate concentration of placebo and
supplement groups.
Figure 1 shows blood lactate concentration of
both placebo and supplement groups. The blood
lactate concentration value at 4 hours pre sub-
maximal exercise for both placebo and supplement
groups were 1.15 ± 0.49 mmol/L and 1.07 ± 0.61
mmol/L, confirming that they had rested well before
the experiment (Zhang and Ji, 2016). This condition
was maintained during four hours of resting, as shown
by no significant differences in blood lactate
concentration values measured at pre sub-maximal
exercise, with value of 1.30 ± 0.69 mmol/L and 1.01
± 0.39 mmol/L respectively. Statistically, the paired
t-test confirmed no significant difference in blood
lactate concentration value measured at 4 hours prior
and pre sub-maximal exercise for both groups, as
noted in table 2.
Table 2: Paired t-test calculation between 4 hr rest time.
t
t
table
Placebo
-0.352
2.447
Supplement
0.182
p < 0.05
The sub-maximal exercise resulted in an increase
of blood lactate concentration in both the placebo
(1.30 ± 0.69 to 2.73 ± 0.58 mmol/L) and supplement
ICSSHPE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sports Science, Health and Physical Education
248

group (1.01 ± 0.39 to 2.14 ± 0.36 mmol/L). Table 3
shows the paired t-test calculation between pre and
post sub-maximal exercise for placebo and
supplement, which confirmed that there is a
significant difference in blood lactate concentration
between pre and post sub-maximal exercise.
Table 3: Paired t-test calculation between pre and post sub-
maximal exercise
t
t
table
Placebo
-4.571
2.447
Supplement
-3.063
p < 0.05
In order to study the effects of red fruit extract
supplementation on blood lactate concentration after
sub-maximal exercise, the independent t-test of blood
lactate concentration of post exercise and the
increased value (post-pre) was calculated. As shown
in figure 1, the increase of blood lactate concentration
after performing sub-maximal exercise of supplement
group was lower compared to that of the placebo
group, however independent t-test calculation
showed no significant differences between the
placebo and supplement group, as noted in table 4.
Table 4: Independent t-test calculation between placebo and
supplement group.
t
t
table
Placebo
0.621
2.447
Increased
(Post-Pre)
0.844
p < 0.05
Although large numbers of studies have
demonstrated that the addition of antioxidants can
improve muscular performance, a benefit of
antioxidant supplementation is still under debate
(Draeger et al., 2014). Moreover a review study on
antioxidant and exercise concluded that there is
limited evidence showing that antioxidant
supplementation improves human performance
(Powers and Hamilton, 1999). A comprehensive
study on the effect of antioxidant supplementation on
exercise performance has suggested that acute doses
opposed to chronic consumption of antioxidant
supplementation may be more beneficial (David et
al., 2015). It should be noted that in this study red fruit
extract supplementation and sub-maximal exercise
were given occasionally.
4 CONCLUSION
The main finding of the present study was that both
placebo and supplement groups experience increases
of blood lactate concentration after sub-maximal
exercise. Although the increase of blood lactate
concentration after sub-maximal exercise from
supplement group was lower than that of the placebo
group, still there was no significant effect of red fruit
extract supplementation found. The utilization of red
fruit as a natural source of supplement may promote
the local potential of Papua; however, further study of
regular and long term dose of red fruit extract
supplementation is needed to gain more detailed
information on the effects.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was fully funded by Ministry of Research,
Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of
Indonesia, through Junior Lecture Research Grant
(Hibah Penelitian Dosen Pemula) year 2017
(Contract Number: 17/UN20.2.2/PP/DP/2017)
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