PharmaBiome and Roquette: partnering for predictive prebiotic innovation
The technology will enable for the continued innovation of novel fibres by Roquette, extending from their current Nutroise range; with studies highlighting successes in managing blood sugar levels, digestive health, and satiety.
Dr. Tomas de Wouters, CEO of PharmaBiome, stressed: “This new generation of designed prebiotics will address two challenges of current prebiotics - individual and different responses to prebiotics and untargeted effects. We aim at designing targeted and broadly applicable prebiotic products with clear health benefits.”
The collaboration meets the growing consumer demand for biotics, with an Innova market insights report estimating a 17.4% growth in new product launches (2018-2022) with prebiotic claims suggesting a rapidly growing market.
Dr. Laetitia Guérin-Deremaux, Head of Nutrition and Health R&D at Roquette, commented: “This project with PharmaBiome will allow Roquette to offer new microbiome-targeted fibers with scientifically proven health benefits. We are very pleased by the results of this continued collaboration which reinforces our commitment to delivering plant-based innovative ingredients to the food, nutrition, and health sectors.”
Fibre deficiencies
It is noted that there are widespread fibre deficiencies in the modern world, with the “fibre gap” highlighting that the majority only consume around 10g of fibre in the diet each day compared to the 30g that is recommended.
Yet, due to its essential role in digestive health, acting as a prebiotic to maintain a healthy microbiome, deficiencies can vastly increase the risk of developing chronic diseases following its benefits to blood sugar levels and weight management.
Following this, there has been an increased interest in improving consumer consumption of fibre in efficient and convenient ways.
Paired with this, Guérin-Deremaux adds: “According to the FMCG Gurus Prebiotic report (January 2022); 54% of global consumers are aware of prebiotics.
“Among them, 30% bought prebiotics past 12 months and 57% of those latest find prebiotics effective or very effective on their health,” she adds, highlighting the strong consumer demand for such products.
Closing the gap
Roquette highlights how this advanced technology will enable people to close this “fibre gap” with ingredients able to easily compliment consumers' daily diets, through product enrichment or supplementation.
Wouters explains the subsequent associated health benefits following targeted metabolite production within the microbiome: “As the main products of fiber fermentation in the gut, short chain fatty acids are the most important metabolites that have extensively been linked to the health benefits of a prebiotic. There are thousands of scientific publications explaining both the health benefits as well as the mechanisms behind them.”
"This project is an important milestone in our long-term collaboration with Roquette taking the leap from understanding the effect of fibers to using our insights to develop and optimize fiber products. Our long-standing collaboration with Roquette is a great validation of the biological relevance of our NicheMap technology, expanding our understanding of the microbiome and its use in the field of prebiotics,” he adds.
