The company developed SulfoMax after testing different delivery methods, including enteric capsules, and questioning how reliably glucoraphanin would convert to sulforaphane after ingestion.
Sulforaphane is formed when glucoraphanin, found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and kale, comes into contact with the enzyme myrosinase.
It has long challenged supplement formulation because sulforaphane is difficult to keep stable. A 2023 review published in Food Science and Biotechnology noted that the compound is easily degraded and that its formation can be affected by factors including pH and enzyme activity, and therefore, supplements can instead combine the more stable glucoraphanin with myrosinase and rely on the conversion to happen later.
Moving the reaction outside the gut
Speaking to NutraIngredients, Paul Eftang, CEO of Nootropics Depot, said the company initially explored ways of protecting glucoraphanin and myrosinase until they reached the right conditions in the digestive tract.
Enteric capsules were an obvious place to start, Eftang said, but the company’s testing found issues ranging from leakage to complete failures.
The development team also asked how the capsules would behave outside controlled testing conditions: how long they remained in the stomach, whether the consumer had eaten, and how differences in digestion could all affect when they opened, he added.
The team then tested glucoraphanin and myrosinase under simulated stomach and intestinal conditions and measured the sulforaphane formed.
“The more we did that work, the less attractive it became to depend on a capsule opening at exactly the right place and then asking an enzyme, a substrate and the surrounding GI environment to all cooperate,” Eftang said.
Nootropics Depot eventually decided to move the reaction outside the gut altogether.
SulfoMax combines black kale extract, a source of glucoraphanin, with myrosinase from white mustard seed. It also includes vitamin C and potassium bicarbonate to help create the right conditions for the reaction.
The powder is mixed with water and left for five minutes before drinking.
Measuring the end result
Previous human research supports the importance of myrosinase in how much sulforaphane becomes available.
In a 2015 Johns Hopkins University study, preparations containing glucoraphanin without active plant myrosinase produced mean urinary recovery of sulforaphane and its metabolites of around 10% of the dose, compared with approximately 35–40% when active myrosinase was present.
The researchers also tested preparations where the conversion took place before consumption and reported high bioavailability of the sulforaphane that had already formed.
The study involved small groups of volunteers and did not establish that all capsule formulations are less effective than pre-converted products. Active myrosinase also performed similarly when delivered in standard and acid-resistant capsules.
For Nootropics Depot, the development work was less about showing that conversion could happen and more about knowing what the finished product contained before it was consumed.
The company said laboratory testing measured 27 mg of sulforaphane per serving after the powder had been mixed with water for five minutes. The figure represents the amount measured in the prepared product, rather than a measurement of how much is absorbed by the body.
Rather than calculating that amount from the glucoraphanin used in the formula, the prepared product is tested for the sulforaphane that has actually formed.
Omnient Lab, Nootropics Depot’s sister laboratory in Tempe, Arizona, carried out the testing.
“There can be a pretty big gap between what theoretically should happen and what actually happens when you test it,” Eftang said.
He added that the development process would inform the company’s work on other formulations where the final result depends on factors such as enzymes, stability, pH or dissolution.
“We want to test the output, not just trust the inputs.”
