 Melatonin is a hormone best known for its function in regulating sleep patterns. It's no wonder then that melatonin has found its way into supplements designed to treat everything from insomnia to jet lag. The problem is that melatonin doesn't dissolve well in water. And while it can be dissolved in organic solvents, these solvents can interfere with melatonin's beneficial effects and can even cause harm. Now, researchers at Taipei Medical University and colleagues believe they have a solution. Instead of expanding the list of ingredients needed to dissolve melatonin, they found a way to expand the dissolving power of water itself. This is plasma-activated water. A plasma is a form of electromagnetic oscillation created at the interface of two materials, one of which is typically a metal. When light of just the right frequency strikes a metal nanoparticle, for example, the electrons in the particle begin to sizzle at that same frequency. The result is an oscillation electromagnetic field that ripples through the medium surrounding each particle. This field has numerous effects on the surrounding medium. It can change its optical properties, electronic properties, or, in the case of water, its very structure. Plasmas cause hydrogen bonds in water to weaken and break, allowing water molecules to become more attracted to chemical species than they normally would be. That, the team from Taipei Medical University discovered, includes melatonin. In experiments, they found that plasma activation of deionized water could increase its solubility by over 150%. What's more, not only did melatonin dissolve more easily in plasma-activated water, it also showed improved health benefits when prepared this way than when dissolved in unaltered deionized water. In the laboratory, human cells were less likely to be infected with the virus that causes dinghy fever and had an improved ability to clear hydroxyl radicals, harmful molecules that can be incredibly damaging to cells. While human studies are still needed, these findings are promising. Using plasma-activated water as an alternative could help preserve melatonin's natural ability to help fight cell damage, viral infection, and the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.