Embracing natural ingredients: Spotlight on health benefits and sustainable practices

18 Jul 2024 --- Industry experts expect that consumer and brand interest in natural ingredients will continue to grow, driven by their associated health and sustainability benefits. We meet up with Lycored, Ayana Bio, Pharmactive and CarobWay to explore this expanding market, the importance of sustainable sourcing practices and the potential of new technologies to overcome supply issues. 

“Across the food and beverage and supplement industries, the focus on health and wellness continues to increase. Consumers are avoiding artificial ingredients and seeking out products they view as more wholesome and desirable — those with nature-based ingredients,” Caroline Schroeder, global head of marketing at Lycored, tells Nutrition Insight. 

She expects more F&B and supplement companies to shift ingredients to meet these consumer demands. “Companies who don’t adapt to these demands risk limiting market reach, alienating consumers and turning them on to alternative products that have embraced the more natural trend.”

Frank Jaksch, CEO of Ayana Bio, adds that the growing interest in natural ingredients with health-beneficial properties offers significant opportunities and challenges. 

“The health-beneficial bioactives found in plant or botanical ingredients are stress-induced compounds designed to protect the plant. However, producing these bioactives consistently is challenging in agriculture under the best conditions. Climate change reduces arable land due to desertification and extreme weather conditions, leading to more frequent crop failures and a lack of supply.” 

“These challenges put pressure on food and supplement production and availability, leading to adulteration. These factors highlight the need for sustainable, reliable and cost-effective ways of delivering the health benefits of bioactives to consumers who need them.”

Power of tomatoes 
Schroeder highlights that Lycored offers a diverse and vast portfolio of tomato-based ingredient solutions, including colorants and taste and texture enhancers. Moreover, the company’s offer includes bioactives that deliver nutrition, health and wellness benefits “perfectly suited for brands looking for more natural solutions to offer their consumers.” 

“Lycored’s ingredients are sourced from our proprietary breed of tomatoes through a holistic, zero-waste production process. Our accurate, automated planting uses an advanced drip irrigation system that minimizes nutrient loss and improves water efficiency. Every part of the tomato is utilized either directly in our ingredients or for other agriculture or final product purposes.” 

Lycored’s tomato-based taste enhancers can reduce the need for added sodium and sugar without sacrificing flavor.“We’re seeing a lot of interest in nature-based colors for foods and beverages, supplements and health and wellness products, especially as more US states move to restricted use or complete bans of certain artificial colors such as Red 3. Companies proactively replace artificial with nature-based colorants to ensure products meet regulations and consumer demands.”

In addition, Shroeder notes that the company’s tomato-based taste enhancers, SANTE and CTC, can reduce the need for added sodium and sugar without sacrificing flavor. 

“Our LycoFibers, which are natural tomato fibers, can also help reduce the need for tomato paste in a recipe, which may reduce carbohydrates in a product — another reason consumers are looking closely at nutrition labels.”

Sustainable practices 
One of the drivers of natural ingredients is a growing consumer demand for sustainable products. Schroeder illustrates that Lycored’s production process focuses on sustainability through “100% utilization of our harvested tomatoes, which results in zero tomato waste.” 

“Tomatoes begin as seeds in a greenhouse to guarantee a strong and healthy start on their journey before they are brought to the fields as plants. Once they reach their full potential, they are ready to harvest, where nutrients are extracted for our beauty-from-within and health portfolios. Color, taste and fiber components are utilized for our food and beverage portfolio offerings. The remaining seeds, stems, skins and vines are all repurposed for other agriculture industries.”

Carlos Rodriguez, communication manager at Pharmactive, underscores the importance of sustainable agricultural practices that emphasize preserving biodiversity and minimizing ecological impact.

“Overall, using natural ingredients supports a cycle of sustainability that benefits both the environment and local communities, aligning with global efforts to promote environmental responsibility and ethical business practices.”

He details that companies can significantly reduce their transportation emissions and overall carbon footprint by prioritizing local and regional sourcing. Moreover, many companies adopt energy-efficient extraction methods and strive to reduce waste to conserve resources and minimize environmental pollution. 

“Supporting local economies is a crucial aspect of sustainable practices,” adds Rodriguez. “By partnering with local farmers and suppliers, companies help ensure that agricultural practices remain sustainable and ethical, fostering community development and resilience.” 

“Our production process utilizes gentle extraction methods, such as low-temperature and solvent-free extractions, to preserve the plant’s active compounds. This approach ensures that our plant extracts are potent, high-quality, effective and safe.”

Sustainable agriculture and sourcing practices are key in the development of natural ingredients.Natural health benefits 
Rodriguez points to several benefits of natural ingredients, such as their bioavailability, lower incidence of side effects and reduced environmental impact, which are crucial for consumers seeking effective and safe health solutions. “These ingredients, rich in bioactive compounds, cater to the growing demand for holistic health benefits and multifunctional supplements.”

For example, Pharmactive’s saffron extract, Affron, is standardized to ensure high quality and consistency. Clinical research supports its benefits, including effective improvement of mood, reduction of occasional anxiety and improvement in sleep quality.

“Eco-friendly and sustainable, it aligns with modern consumer demands for products that are effective and planet-friendly,” he continues. “Affron exemplifies our commitment to pioneering natural ingredients that meet the dual needs of health and sustainability.” 

Jaksch from Ayana Bio underscores that the health benefits associated with supplements based on natural ingredients drive consumer interest in these products, adding that research in natural ingredients has “advanced tremendously” in recent years. 

“Technological advancements have also provided researchers with tools to decipher how natural ingredients and their bioactives can benefit human health. Research into nutrigenomics has also expanded our understanding of how natural ingredients might be tailored for individual genetic profiles to optimize health.” 

Plant cell cultivation 
Jaksch illustrates how technology can address challenges in the botanical supply chain. Ayana Bio bypasses traditional agriculture and extraction methods by cultivating plant cells in bioreactors. This technology offers solutions to climate change impacts, contamination risks and inconsistent ingredient quality. 

He explains: “Climate change and extreme weather events are wreaking havoc on the botanical supply chain, which can lead to variations in plant bioactives and adulteration. Through plant cell culture, botanicals can be standardized to produce high-quality bioactives free from contamination and not impacted by environmental conditions.” 

Ayana Bio cultivates plant cells in bioreactors to address climate change, contamination and quality inconsistencies (Image credit: Ayana Bio).Cultivating healthful bioactives in controlled bioreactors recreates their complete phytocomplex. “This approach not only enhances supply resilience but complements traditional agriculture and wildcrafting, mitigating strains on the botanical supply chain and ensuring sustainable production of high-quality natural ingredients.” 

“This sustainable non-GMO approach is considered natural, ensuring cost-effective, bioactive containing ingredients of consistent quality and potency,” continues Jaksch. “The controlled environment eliminates contamination risks and provides nutrient-dense, plant-derived bioactives, and this process is scalable to keep up with changes in demand.” 

Regenerating carob fruit 
Udi Alroy, co-founder and CEO of CarobWay, highlights the company’s sustainable practices in producing its bioactive well-being ingredients based on the whole carob fruit. CarobWay sources natural ingredients with minimal processing, focusing on the source’s environmental, social and governance effects and its cultivation. 

The company selects trees endemic to Israel with a superior nutritional profile and increased yields. Alroy adds: “We apply automated fertilization and irrigation systems to optimize growth using minimal equipment. Carobs are highly nutritious and very resilient species of trees that flourish in arid climates.”

The company actively regenerates carob orchards, uses precision agriculture technologies, sensors and drip irrigation, plants orchards on non-arable land, and uses recycled or partly salted underground water. 

“We use very little water and little labor, follow IPM (Integrated Pest Management) for pest control, and use local owls to fight rodents, which provides us with a biological solution in most cases,” he details. 

“On the production side, we look into highly efficient processes and technologies to minimize the overall effect. We use water and steam, green energy sourcing and reuse the heat from one part of the process to other stages to conserve energy.” 

CarobWay is currently introducing low GI sugars to the market, says Alroy. “In most events, people who are prediabetic are using carob as a source of low GI sugar. Our product carries a high percentage of D-Pinitol, the highest source in nature for this active ingredient. D-Pinitol is noted for its positive effects on insulin sensitivity, blood sugar levels and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.” 

By Jolanda van Hal, with additional reporting by William Bradford Nichols