The purpose of this randomized, double-blinded and crossover study was to evaluate the effect of oral supplementation in glucosylceramide from pineapple on oral moisture and xerostomia symptoms. For this, 16 participants have been recruited. They received the active supplement or a placebo once a day for 2 weeks. They switched to the second supplementation after a 4-week washout period.

Results showed an improvement in oral moisture, notably of the lingual mucosa (p = 0.03). No change in the number of fungiform papillae has been measured. However, patients reported a significant improvement in the dryness of the mouth (p = 0.04), and a trend to improvement in saliva secretion (p = 0.09) after the glucosylceramide supplementation, while no change has been noted with the placebo supplementation.

Therefore, this study suggests that the glucosylceramide extracted from pineapple may improve oral moisture, even if larger studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary results.

Murakami M, Nishi Y, Harada K, Masuzaki T, Minemoto Y, Yanagisawa T, Shimizu T, Tsuboi A, Hamada T, Nishimura M. Impact of Oral Intake of Glucosylceramide Extracted from Pineapple on Xerostomia: A Double-Blind Randomized Cross-Over Trial. Nutrients. 2019 Aug 28;11(9).