What is melatonin?

Melatonin, also known as pineal hormone, English name melatonin, referred to as MT, also known as melatonine; It is an amine hormone secreted by the pineal gland of the brain of mammals and humans, and its concentration in plasma decreases during the day and increases at night, that is, the secretion of melatonin is regulated by light, which is inhibited when it is bright and begins to increase after it becomes dark. As early as 1917, someone once crushed the pineal gland of the cow brain and poured it into the container of keeping tadpoles, and found that the skin and internal organs of the tadpoles became extremely transparent after half an hour. It is assumed that the active factor in the pine cone has the ability to aggregate melanin particles within melanocytes, hence the name melatonin. In 1958, American dermatologist Aaron Lerner led a team that obtained the true sense of melatonin after isolating the pineal active factor.
Mechanism and efficacy of melatonin
The peak of melatonin secretion is in the sleeping period of humans and animals, and the secretion of melatonin gradually increases at night, reaching a peak between 2 and 4 o ‘clock in the morning, and sharply drops to the extremely low limit in the morning. During the day, light can be transmitted to the suprachiasmatic nucleus through the retina and optic nerve of humans and animals to inhibit the secretion of melatonin. It is through this circadian secretion cycle of melatonin that the pineal gland issues “time signals” to the central nervous system, allowing the brain and body to perceive that the outside has become a night and can fall asleep when the night comes, so that body temperature, pulse, blood pressure drop, and cause sleepiness, so melatonin is also known as the human body’s natural “sleep aid” and “physiological hypnotic agent”. The secretion of melatonin is also related to age, and shows different changes with the increase of age. The secretion of melatonin is the highest at the age of 3-5, decreases to 70% at the age of 6-8, and drops to the adult level at the age of 12. After the age of 35, the secretion of melatonin in the body decreases significantly, by an average of 10-15% every 10 years, and the decline of melatonin is more obvious in elderly patients with sleep disorders. Secretion is only one-tenth of its peak, resulting in sleep rhythms and dysfunction of multiple systems.
Therefore, for patients with sleep disorders caused by circadian rhythm disorders, there is a decrease in melatonin secretion. The reduction of melatonin secretion will directly affect people’s sleep depth, and there will be a series of symptoms such as insomnia, dreaminess, fatigue and forgetfulness, and various diseases will follow. Exogenous melatonin supplementation can improve sleep and restore sleep regularity to a certain extent, maintain the melatonin level in the body in a young state, and adjust and restore the circadian rhythm. Daily can take more melatonin content of foods, such as oats, sweet corn, ginger, tomatoes, bananas and so on. In addition, you can also take health food containing melatonin.
The physiological effects of melatonin include adjusting the biological clock, inducing sleep, regulating the endocrine system, delaying aging, anti-oxidation, and enhancing immunity. Among them, its regulating effect on sleep is the most prominent, and it has obvious effect on sleep disorders caused by delayed sleep syndrome and abnormal jet lag.
Improve sleep
Melatonin can make people quickly enter deep sleep, reduce the number of awakenings during sleep, improve sleep quality, and have a good conditioning effect on sleep disorders caused by jet lag. Compared with other sleep AIDS, melatonin has fewer side effects. Studies have shown that melatonin has a significant effect on the treatment of sleep rhythm disorders in patients with dementia-related sleep disorders, especially patients with sunset syndrome. Taking 1 mg of melatonin 2 hours before going to bed every night can effectively improve the main complaints of sleep disorders in patients with dementia-related sleep disorders, shorten the sleep latency period, and reduce the number of awakenings during sleep. Improve sleep efficiency and sleep quality.
Other functions
Delay aging (melatonin is an endogenous hormone that can remove free radicals, resist oxidation, and protect the integrity of cells, so taking melatonin can accelerate the body’s metabolism and have anti-aging effects), regulate endocrine (studies have shown that melatonin can regulate female ovulation period, regulate menopause caused by endocrine disorders of emotional problems, sleep problems, etc.), Whitening and freckle removal (melatonin is widely used in whitening and moisturizing cosmetics, has the effect of whitening and freckle removal, and is sought after by beauty lovers).
The application of melatonin
Food industry

Melatonin is allowed to be used as a raw material for health food in China, and health food containing melatonin has been approved for a long time in China. Melatonin was approved the most during 1996-2000, of which 38 were approved in 1997 alone. In 1998, more than 80% of sleep improvement products were melatonin products. The approval history of melatonin health food for many years has not seen clear reports of adverse reactions, indicating that approved melatonin products are relatively safe to use in accordance with the instructions. In terms of product formulation, the formula of melatonin products is relatively fixed, and as of the beginning of 2020, the main products are “melatonin unilateral” and “melatonin + vitamin B6”, accounting for 91.3%.
Pharmaceutical industry
As a drug monomer with various biological activities, melatonin has a broad research prospect in the field of medicine. Due to its strong liver first-pass effect and low oral bioavailability, some people have developed nasal mucosal administration gelatin microspheres to avoid the first-pass effect and improve the bioavailability of the drug.
Market status of melatonin products
In the U.S., according to SPINS, mainstream melatonin sales will grow 43.6% to $570 million in 2020, ranking fifth among the 25 best-selling mainstream supplement ingredients. Melatonin continued to grow significantly in 2021, increasing 27.9% year over year to reach $730 million. In the sleep health category, melatonin as the number one raw material sales has far exceeded valerian, theanine, chamomile, lemon balsam grass, magnesium, 5-HTP and other similar raw materials. On Amazon, melatonin continues to be one of the hottest ingredients in the sleep aid category, with sales growing 58% year over year in 2021, and four of the top five sleep aid supplements by annual sales on Amazon have melatonin as their main ingredient. The annual report of the Consumer Dietary Supplement Survey released by the Association for Reliable Nutrition Products (CRN) in collaboration with Ipsos also shows that 14% of dietary supplement users take nutrient supplements to improve sleep health, of which 66% choose melatonin sleep aid products. The rest were magnesium products (28%), lavender products (19%), valerian products (19%), cannabidiol (CBD) products (17%) and ginkgo biloba products (10%).
In China, the melatonin market has also developed rapidly, in the era of the Internet information explosion, which has increased the insomnia population but also promoted the rapid development of China’s sleep economy, relevant data show that the market size of China’s sleep economy has grown rapidly from 2015 to 2019, with a compound annual growth of 11.2%. According to the data of Huayin Business Research Institute, China’s melatonin market has grown rapidly since 2015, reaching 543 million yuan by 2020, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year. The analysis of more than 600 health food formulas for improving sleep function approved and registered by relevant state departments found that the main raw materials used were jujube kernel (46%), melatonin (20.8%), schisandra chinensis (18%), Gastrodia gastrodia (12%), pearl (10%), polygala (10%) and so on. Affected by the properties of drugs, the total size of China’s melatonin market is still low, and in the future, as the market recognition and demand continue to rise, the melatonin market will continue to grow.
Regulation of melatonin
Based on a large number of scientific studies, the effectiveness of melatonin in improving sleep has been recognized and recommended dosages have been given at home and abroad.
United States: In 1994, melatonin was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a dietary supplement.
Canada: In 2004, the Natural and Over-the-counter Health Products Agency of Canada (NNHPD) issued a new regulation that natural health products, including melatonin, can be sold in Canada as long as they meet certain licensing, manufacturing, labeling, and safety standards. In 2013, the melatonin oral and sublingual melatonin product license industry Guide issued by Canada stipulated the functions related to melatonin improving sleep, prolonging sleep time (increasing sleep quality) or shortening sleep time or regulating the circadian rhythm of the human body, and the recommended dosage is 0.1~10mg/d. The recommended dose to eliminate or reduce jet lag discomfort is 0.5 to 10mg/ day.
European Union: In 2010, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) allowed melatonin to be added to foods for the purpose of alleviating jet lag, and set a minimum dosage of 0.5mg/ day. In 2011, EFSA added the function of melatonin to shorten the time to fall asleep, with a minimum dosage of 1mg/ day.
China: China’s former State Food and Drug Administration in 2005 issued No. 202 (on the issuance of the “Nutrient Supplement declaration and review regulations (Trial)” and other 8 relevant provisions notice), the health food with melatonin as raw material, the declared health function is temporarily limited to improve sleep, the recommended dosage is 1~3mg/d; In 2021, melatonin was officially included in the catalogue of health food raw materials.
The market prospect of melatonin
In recent years, with the worsening of sleep problems among young people, the demand for melatonin has continued to grow. According to the China Sleep Research Society, more than 300 million people in China have sleep disorders. At the same time, the average sleep duration of Chinese residents decreased from 8.1 hours in 2018 to 6.9 hours in 2020, the average sleep duration of people born in the 1970s and 1980s was 7.22 hours and 7.06 hours, and the average sleep duration of people born in the 1970s, 1990 and 1990 were all less than 7 hours, 6.58 hours, 6.47 hours and 6.45 hours, respectively. On the other hand, the Chinese Sleep White Paper survey data show that long-term sleep deprivation can lead to daytime fatigue (46.2%), memory loss (4234%), inattention (40.3%), decreased immunity (38.8%), aging (38.2%) and other adverse effects.
Among the late sleeping groups in China, 48% are active to stay up late, represented by the post-80s and post-90s; The passive group of staying up late accounts for about 52%, the main factors are emotional distress, work pressure, life pressure, etc., this group is the main consumer group of melatonin. Relevant data show that in 2020, the users of melatonin dietary nutrition products increased by four times year-on-year, and 62% of the post-90 consumers have bought melatonin soft candy, steam eye masks and sleep pillows and other Internet red sleep products. It can be seen that sleep problems have become a big problem plaguing the Chinese people, melatonin products have a great demand in our country, and the industry has broad prospects for development.