The technology was recently introduced to the developer market by Belgian firm Eleanor at SupplySide West in Las Vegas.
The technique may be new to the herbal supply chain, but it’s not new, said Benoit Turpin, one of the company’s officers and an industry veteran. Turpin has a long history of developing and marketing food ingredients, having worked for the American firm Milk Specialties Global. His role at Eleanor is to expand the company’s offering in the US food and beverage market.
“This is a technique that has been used in the pharmaceutical industry for decades.”Turpin said. In the pharmaceutical industry, most of the active ingredients in drugs are small molecules, some of which have problematic ingredients. Various approaches have been developed to make these APIs available in terms of formulation, production cost, and shelf life.
Patented technology
For Eleanor, the technology has several patents registered in Belgium and has entered the US market. The first patents for the technology were issued until 2018.
“It’s not an encapsulation method, and it has nothing to do with microparticles.” Turpin said.
Patents cover a wide range of possible methods for improving the activity of natural ingredients. The patents refer to “natural or synthetic” versions of proteins, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides that are “thermoformed” into their final state with the corresponding bioactive agent.
“We’re using a food-grade carrier to work with one or more active ingredients, and we make those active ingredients more dispersible and soluble.”Turpin said.
A long list of completed prototypes
A common question when introducing these methods at a trade show is that these models are all well and good, but will they work with the ingredients I’m interested in? The food and beverage development highway is littered with crashes of promising projects that fail to reach the finish line despite months and years of effort and expense.
Turpin says one of the reasons the company’s technology made such a splash in Las Vegas is because Eleanor’s team went the extra mile to demonstrate the technology with a large number of ingredients, proving its potential for widespread use.
The company has 15 ready-to-use plug ingredients. These range from herbal ingredients offered as powder or liquid extracts such as Andrographis, Boswellia, and Zeaxanthin to organic acids and even mastic gum. This technology has also been demonstrated with CBD.
In either case, the Eleanor technology will significantly improve the solubility of these ingredients that have been difficult or impossible to use in beverages and/or foods due to formulation issues. In most cases, these ingredients are restricted to dietary supplements in the form of capsules or soft gels.
Cashing in on the ‘food for medicine’ trend
Turpin says this will open the door for processors looking to tap into the “food as medicine” movement. According to IRI, 9 out of 10 US consumers practice some form of self-care, and they are no longer looking for a single brand or product to solve their needs. A recent report.Holistic health is listed as one of the key emerging trends.
Turpin says the health shot is one of the early-hanging fruit in terms of technology.
“Many of the ingredients we work with are not available for photography or other RTD applications.”he said. “We see active nutrition and sports nutrition as the first and biggest market.”.
Turpin said this would allow formulators to get substantial research support for their claims.
“We take well-researched ingredients and make them even better”he said.
Sustainability benefits
In addition to the formulation advantages, Turpin says, the approach can offer a sustainability win because in some cases, rare bioactives can be used to meet functional goals.
“You hear about sustainability left and right. Here’s a time-honored technique for you. Imagine when that could lead to the exploitation of natural resources.”he said.