Dispatches from HIE 2010
Improving perceptions of oat beta glucans
He explains that Biovelop’s PromOat ingredient has broken new ground in the form of a tasteless, colourless white powder produced via a patented process, and insists that it has a wide variety of uses in food, drink and supplement sectors that oat-based beta glucans previously struggled to break into, due to negative perceptions regarding mouth feel, colour and taste.
PromOat is being marketed on a range of bases, Peters explains, including as a fat replacer, viscosity modifier and emulsifier. Potential application areas are wide-ranging as a result, with demand for the soluble ingredient in fruit-juice based beverages and yoghurt drinks, to baked goods, meat products and emulsions.
Peters says what surprised Biovelop at HIE in Madrid was the number of companies approaching it to suggest new application areas, and he predicts the trend will only increase as awareness of the cholesterol-lowering benefits of oat-based beta glucans grows in the wake of EFSA’s positive 13.1 opinion.