Fruit and veg form base of timely new ingredients

The company introduced the ingredients at Vitafoods in Geneva last week, following positive results from clinical trials. Both have already made their debut in food supplement products launched to the market in certain European countries, and further work is underway to make them suitable for topical applications and foods.

Antioxidants have become a household term throughout the world, thanks to research that has linked high consumption with prevention of serious health conditions such as certain forms of cancer, and heart disease - as well as for their anti-ageing effect.

Fruit and vegetables are regarded as one of the main sources of antioxidants in the diet, yet many customers find it hard to consume the recommended five to nine portions per day.

NB Consulting, based in the southern French town of Béziers, says that Oxxynea, derived from 22 different fruits and vegetables, can be used to significantly boost antioxidant levels. Just 1g is said to provide 5000 ORAC value (the usual measure for antioxidant potency) compared to 4000 ORAC from 400g of fruits and vegetables.

A 12-week study on hamsters conducted at the Laboratory of Health and Nutrition in Montpellier by Prof J M Rouanet showed a decrease in free-radicals of up to 27 per cent; decrease NADPH oxidase (the reduced form of coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) up to 45 per cent; and decreased total cholesterol up to 15 per cent.

Managing director Constantin Dallas told NutraIngredients.com that the finalised results will be submitted for publication.

Sinetrol, meanwhile, has been tested for its lipolytic in human adipocytes in a ex vivo clinical trial at the BioAlternatives laboratory, by measuring the release of free fatty acids.

Sinetrol is a patented synergistic extract made from red orange, orange, grapefruit and guarana extract with total fruit biophenols of 60-80 per cent, flavanones 10-20 per cent HPLC, and caffeine 1-4 per cent.

Human adipocytes from 35-years-old women were collected and treated on the same day with either Sinetrol, a placebo, or 12 percent guarana.

The Sinetrol was seen to increase lipolysis (release of free fatty acid) by 600 per cent more than the placebo, and 200 per cent more than the guarana alone. The effect is attributed to the ingredient inhibiting cathecol-methyl transferase and phosphodiestrerase.

In southern European countries such as France, Spain and Italy, fat burners and weight maintenance products take up a good deal of space on pharmacy shelves.

Dallas said that he expects Sinetrol to be particularly well received in topical formulas: "It is more effective to have a spray or a cream to put directly onto a part of the body where you want to reduce the fat,"​ he said.

Oxxynea is expected to be used in topical anti-ageing formulas, and the technology for this should be available in the next two months.

To take both ingredients into foods such as yoghurts and soft drinks, Dallas said that the technology is being developed to make them more thermostable.