Effervescent curcumin for improved bioavailability unveiled

25 Jun 2020 --- Effervescent curcumin will now be available to consumers in the form of Holland & Barrett’s Vitaboost Turmeric. The product contains Pharmako Biotechnologies’ HydroCurc for joint health, as well as vitamin C for immunity-boosting health benefits. This novel format is produced with LipiSperse, which addresses curcumin’s lipophilic nature and aids bioavailability. Vitaboost Turmeric taps into the trend for diversifying delivery formats.

“Solid particles usually attract each other. LipiSperse is the patented dispersion technology developed by Pharmako Biotechnologies to solve a similar challenge for a European customer, who wished to include curcumin in a ready-to-mix powder for exercise recovery. The technical challenges with dispersion were creating a technology that kept the active ingredient as a powder, but also enabled it to disperse – or not agglomerate – in water,” Eric Meppem, Co-Founder of Pharmako Biotechnologies, tells NutritionInsight.

Curcumin can create major difficulties in this space, because in addition to being lipophilic, it is hydrophobic, meaning it hates water. Therefore, it agglomerates – also known as flocculation – when added to water, rather than dispersing. This means that the particles move to each other and glue together again when particle-particle repulsion is insufficient. 

In order to address this, the R&D team manipulated the contact angle of the water surrounding the particle once wet to allow the water to surround the particle. LipiSperse allows curcumin particles to freely disperse in aqueous environments such as the watery gastrointestinal tract or various drink applications, thus improving absorption and possible formats. 

This process enables a minimal use of excipients, thus tapping into the clean label trend. This technology is also being used in Gencor’s palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) ingredient, called Levagen+, which demonstrated “almost double absorption potential” when administered with LipiSperse. 

While the Vitaboost Turmeric is currently available at Holland & Barrett, Meppem notes that Pharmako and Gencor – its sister company – have already received queries from customers in other markets about this application. Additionally, trial batches of similar products have been made in the US and South Africa. 

The launch targets several groups of consumers, including gym-goers.Targeting different consumers
HydroCurc can be incorporated into a wider range of innovative formats such as effervescents, ready-to-drink products and gels. This provides an alternative to capsules and tablets, which some consumers are turning away from as they face pill fatigue. This range of delivery formats was evident at Nutraceuticals Europe in March. 

According to Innova Market Insights, traditional tablets and capsules continue to be the preferred supplement dosage forms for EMEA consumers, but functional food and beverages are now in second and third place. Meanwhile, 7 percent of EMEA consumers prefer gummies. 

Meppem details that this launch also taps into the trend of convenience, and is thus targeting several groups of consumers. “Some examples include people sipping water throughout the day or athletes such as cyclists who can refill a bottle and add the Vitaboost Turmeric. Other potential consumers are gym-goers or older active nutrition customers who are also experiencing joint aches and pains.”

He continues that curcumin is recognized as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, while vitamin C has a range of well-known benefits. “There would be some synergy, but we suspect that vitamin C is included as it assists from a codified claim perspective with EFSA. The benefits from an anti-inflammatory and recovery perspective arising from the HydroCurc are shown in published studies.” 

Indeed, a published pharmacokinetic study demonstrates the superior absorption of HydroCurc compared to standard curcumin with 807 nmol per ml seen in blood after a single dose. The company says this is the highest absorption seen in industry to date.

By Katherine Durrell