According to researchers, individuals who consumed a glass of unsweetened cherry juice during morning and evening enjoyed sound sleep than when they had the same amount of some other juice.

Insomnia has been one of the biggest health challenges of the modern age, with about one in four adults suffering from it and a fifth regularly getting less than five hours of sleep every night.

The effect of cherry juice could be owing to the fruit's high content of melatonin, a hormone, which normalizes the body's sleep-wake cycle.

The research was headed by Wilfred Pigeon, a psychiatrist from the University of Rochester in New York.

Boffins assessed sleeping patterns of partakers on two routines.

During the first, they consumed cherry juice, and during the second another fruit juice.

The cherry juice caused an average of 17 minutes more sleep.

Pigeon, whose findings are published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, said, "Given the side-effects of some medications, it is encouraging to have a natural alternative." (With Inputs from Agencies)