From fermented soy to synbiotics: Lallemand Bio-Ingredients talks plant-based innovation

Lallemand Bio-Ingredients harnesses fermentation technology to enhance the digestibility of nutrients while maintaining the naturalness of ingredients. However, formulating fermented plant-based ingredients into health products often faces challenges, such as standardizing active molecules and identifying specific metabolites. 

Nutrition Insight speaks with the fermentation company’s scientific affairs manager, Dr. Annie Tremblay, to learn how Lallemand tackles these challenges through science while exploring trending ingredients and how food regulations may impact ingredient development.

What are the challenges in formulating plant-based ingredients that perform well in nutrition products? 
Tremblay: It can be difficult to standardize the concentration of active molecules in whole-food plant-based ingredients, and sometimes the precise active molecules remain unknown. In our Gastro-AD fermented soy product, we have been able to identify individual metabolites that are responsible for its ability to reduce symptoms of acid reflux and gastric upset while reducing inflammation in the gut.

The product has been around for decades, and it has taken some relatively new technology for us to be able to identify these metabolites. So, while the effect of an ingredient may be well known, understanding the mechanism may require the use of new testing methods.

Regarding plant-based ingredients, they usually come with inherent flavors that are natural but not the most pleasant to consume. Having an ingredient whose flavor is not easy to mask provides extra challenges. Luckily, many of our fermented yeast ingredients can be formulated into capsules or tablets for delivery.

How are you improving the nutrition of plant-based ingredients while keeping them natural?
Tremblay: We’re a fermentation company at Lallemand and have extensive experience with fermentation technology. The process of fermentation can transform some nutrients into more digestible or more easily absorbed components. Fermentation is a natural process, so the resulting products are also natural.

Fermentation with Lallemand Bio-Ingredients’ proprietary bacterial strain promotes the biotransformation of plants, making them more absorbable.For example, our Gastro-AD product is based on non-GMO soy. While soy naturally contains isoflavones, the fermentation step with our proprietary bacterial strain (Lactobacillus delbrueckii R0187) promotes the biotransformation of the isoflavones into their more absorbable and more bioactive aglycone forms. This biotransformation typically occurs in the intestine by our microbiomes, but since Gastro-AD targets the stomach, the fermentation by R0187 improves its beneficial effects at the intended target site.

What new plant-based ingredients are in high demand for nutrition products?
Tremblay: Fermented ingredients have been trending recently as consumers remember that this ancient way of preserving food provides additional health benefits. Fermented greens and proteins are commonly found in beverage mixes. Fermented vitamins are considered “pre-digested” and easier on the gut. Fermented fruit supplements are said to have lower amounts of simple carbohydrates and, therefore, don’t raise blood sugar. Fermented garlic improves its flavor and transforms nutrients into more easily absorbed molecules. Overall, fermentation is known for its capacity to transform plant-based ingredients into more digestible products.

How are changing food regulations affecting plant-based ingredient development?
Tremblay: Food regulations are essential for protecting the consumer and ensuring a safe food supply. The challenge exists regarding innovation. Ingredient innovations are expected by consumers who demand an ever-greater variety of precisely active ingredients that are also scientifically substantiated to work. However, clinical studies are expensive and take time. While consumers may want “new ingredients quickly,” they should understand that it’s in their best interest to rely on ingredients that have been proven time and again to work in a safe and reliable manner.

Lallemand in headlines

Earlier this month, Lallemand Health Solutions’ Rosell Institute for Microbiome and Probiotics published findings from a women’s and infant health study supporting its latest probiotic formulation, Prenatis. The formula containing two proprietary strains exhibited maternal health benefits during pregnancy while aiding the development of a healthy infant microbiome through breastfeeding.

Lallemand Health Solutions’ Expert’Biome CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) and Ostia Sciences partnered last month to advance a novel oral probiotic into clinical trials. The ingredient, Streptococcus salivarius SALI-10, is a proprietary probiotic strain designed to support oral microbiome health.

The company also recently entered a distribution partnership with Kirin Holdings for Immuse, dubbed one of the most documented postbiotics for immune support, backed by patent-protected research. In another collaboration with FrieslandCampina Ingredients, the fermentation specialist entered a new phase in developing the synbiotic concept, Natural PRO-Digest, designed to boost the synergistic power of probiotics and prebiotics.