Ingredients business Lipofoods devises gummie range for Vitafoods
Functional ingredients business Lipofoods is set to demonstrate a series of gummies Vitafoods Europe, based around its Curcushine range, a highly bioavailable microencapsulated curcumin for the health market.
The company is participating in the event in Geneva between May 7-9, and is set to offer the vegan series in several formats, including for the drinks sector with its reportedly high solubility when dissolved in water. It has a neutral taste and can be readily incorporated into nutricosmetics, as well as having wider confectionery use, according to the company.
Lipofoods created Curcushine microcapsules in collaboration with the Italian R&D company, Sphera Encapsulation S.R.L. Sphera is dedicated to the research and development of nano- and micro-encapsulation strategies. The collaboration will act through a licensing agreement to market this new, highly bioavailable and water-soluble microencapsulated curcumin source.
Creating a highly soluble turmeric ingredient is challenging. Most curcumin ingredients on the market are water-dispersible, rather than water-soluble. Sphera was able to overcome this challenge by developing an innovative technology that can turn hydrophobic active ingredients into soluble microcapsules via exclusive coating materials and processing.
“Sphera’s proprietary technology is key to fulfilling the increased demand for better-for-you products in new delivery systems,” says Gianni Zoccatelli, CEO of Sphera. “We are excited to partner with Lipofoods, a company committed to the development of innovative botanical solutions.”
“Partnering with Sphera is a strategic move that opens new opportunities for Lipofoods to launch advanced botanical formulations that have a cutting-edge advantage,” declares David Padro, Business Manager of Lipofoods. “Lipofoods is engaged in ongoing research into the anti-aging benefits and other health condition benefits of Curcushine microencapsulated curcumin, seeking out new markets and different food applications.”
The aging process is driven by the lifelong accumulation of molecular damages, mainly due to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) produced by mitochondria, as well as random errors in DNA replication. Measurement of ROS levels is a good predictor of oxidative stress and can be used to test the anti-oxidant properties in live cells.
The innovative delivery system transforms the curcumin into a highly bioavailable formulation using a completely natural encapsulant matrix that protects and embeds the curcumin, which is used within the beauty sector. The increased bioavailability of Curcushine microcapsules can be attributed to the superior solubility in water due to the small dimension of the particles. The high solubility characteristic also allows easy incorporation of the product into all varieties of nutricosmetics and beauty drinks. The formulation is gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and kosher- and halal-certified.
“Curcushine microcapsules provides anti-ageing benefits and is suitable for multiple nutraceutical applications,” explains Isabel Gomez, marketing manager of Lipofoods. “We plan to showcase beauty gummies containing Curcushine microcapsules in our booth at Vitafoods and we will also perform live demos to demonstrate the product´s high solubility.”
