Growing the next generation of European probiotics
20 Jul 2021 | Probiotical
With decades of experience in probiotic R&D, Italy-based Probiotical discusses how the European market has changed in recent years. Speaking with NutritionInsight, company CEO Vera Mogna talks about research challenges, new strains and the potential of probiotics to “fight some of the most concerning issues facing humanity.”
This is Louis Gre Langton for CNS Media.
Joining me today is Vera Mugna, CEO of Probioticical, an Italian probiotics producer.
Probioticle has been working in the probiotics industry for decades.
Can you explain how the industry in Europe has changed during this time?
Yes, of course, and thank you.
Probioticical was established in 1985 as an innovative, unique technical, scientific unit and the first company in the world to be specific.
Created and set up for the research on development and production of probiotic microorganisms.
Therefore, probiotic is one of the few, really few producers in the world of probiotic active ingredients.
Moreover, probiotics is one of the few companies in the world able to produce probiotics, managing the entire production cycle.
It means that we are starting from the isolation of strains to the production of finished product.
In general, the probiotic world has achieved an exponential growth in knowledge of human microbiota, and the potential of modulation method has increased.
The application of probiotics is going to cover a larger number of therapeutic areas, especially in the last 2 or 3 years, and the global probiotics industry has seen the build of new players, active segmented competencies complementary to probiotic strain production.
Brilliant.
And can you give some examples of what you're working on currently and the challenges that you're facing?
Yes, of course.
First of all, I would like to, to tell you just a, a smaller concept that the probioticical likes to define itself as a research center that supports itself through production, a strategy that ensures the continued innovation resulting in competitive advantage.
Research is constantly.
I'm the select selecting and studying new probiotic microorganisms.
As you asked me, some examples of the, you know, the most innovative strain that we can promote today, propose today, sorry, are strains acting, for example, the gut-brain axis.
So it means that we study so, so much the connection between brain and gut with a lot of good results.
Then of course we, we studied a lot of other different applications like the weight management, the detoxification, and the antioxidant activity that is very, very interesting, especially in this new world of the beauty from within, you know, so the, the cosmetic area but from inside.
About our challenge, of course, we never stop our research and in probioticical scientific investigation is a path along which every discovery is not a destination, but we are very focused.
We want to go through new Strains and new applications, maybe also new areas and why not also particular pathologies that maybe are not so common and we want to go also through this this kind of of new strains and new possibilities.
And what are the difficulties in researching new strains?
The difficulty for the research of new strains is, , of course, the principal difficulty is that maybe new strains are not the coup in the coupia list of EFSA.
So it's very difficult for us because maybe we found out that there is a bacteria that is maybe amazing for a particular application, but maybe it is a new bacteria that is not included in the CPS list, so it's very difficult from a.
Point of view, and we hope that it will be less difficult for the future.
That's the point.
Then new strains that are inside in the list, of course, the difficulty is more or less to find out, find out a new application for maybe this bacteria that we already know, but we are really focused on our research and we continue to see new characteristics of our bacteria, maybe bacteria that.
We already have, but we continue to find out new, new applications, for example, or new characteristics that we didn't have, we didn't know.
For example, we have, we found that during the COVID period that one of our historic strains has a particular capability, with the interferon alpha activity.
So for the immune defenses, for example, and we didn't know that, we found out.
So it's a, it's a, it is really Really wonderful to tell you the truth because the science said the research never stopped also on the strengths that we already have in production, for example.
Brilliant.
And with this new research and new applications, what do you think the future holds for the probiotics industry in Europe at large?
Yes, it does indeed hold the potential to provide us with the tools to fight some of the most concerning issues facing humanity.
We, to tell you the truth expect available information and higher awareness of the wide range of probiotics to drive the market together with the recognition of the potential of probiotics.
To improve people's health and to really improve the quality of life.
That is our really first point of action.
We believe it's a really good moment to remember the power of microorganisms, and we must always remember that microorganisms are really a huge quantity in our bodies, so we must take care of them.
Brilliant.
Vera, thanks for joining Nutrition Insight.
Thank you.
