Geniposide-rich Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruit extract increases healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The human lifespan has been markedly extended since the 1900s, but it has not brought healthy aging to everyone. This increase in life expectancy without an increase in healthspan is a major global concern that imposes considerable healthcare budgets and degrades the quality of life of older adults. Dietary interventions are a promising strategy to increase healthspan. In this study, we evaluated whether a Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruit ethanol extract (GFE) increases the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Treatment with 10 mg/mL GFE increased the lifespan by 27.1% when compared to the vehicle group. GFE (10 mg/mL) treatment improved healthspan-related markers (pharyngeal pumping, muscle quality, age-pigment, and reactive oxygen species accumulation) and exerted a protective effect against amyloid β1-42 toxicity. These effects of GFE are related to the inhibition of insulin/IGF-1 signaling and activation of SKN-1/Nrf, thereby promoting the expression of stress resistance-related genes. In addition, treatment with 10 mM geniposide, the most abundant component of GFE, improved healthspan-related markers and increased lifespan by 18.55% when compared to the vehicle group. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that GFE and its component geniposide increase the lifespan along with healthspan in C. elegans.