US food ingredients company Applied Food Sciences announced last week that it has begun shipments of its green coffee bean extract product - Green Coffee Antioxidant (GCA) - to customers.
GCA contains a number of polyphenols called hydroxycinnamic acids, with the two most prominent being cholorogenic and caffeic acid. The company claims that chlorogenic acid has been shown in scientific research to have a protective effect against LDL oxidation as much as 14 times greater than that of green tea.
"Our objectives were met when we developed GCA, a potent antioxidant, that is both a highly bioavailable and cost-effective ingredient for adding increased functionality to nutrition-based products," said Chris Fields, AFS technical director. "Providing a neutral taste profile, high solubility and high activity level, GCA is an ideal ingredient for functional foods and beverages as well as bars, chews and dietary supplements."
Boasting the benefits of its product, the company added that on a gramme equivalent basis, 'GCA provides the most cost-effective activity level compared with any other antioxidant on the market'. Adding that in comparison with other types of naturally extracted compounds - green tea, grape seeds or pine bark - the polyphenols 'found in green coffee beans have been shown to have a much higher "quality" of activity once ingested and absorbed within the body'.
AFS chief executive officer Loretta Zapp added : "GCA was developed with the intention of creating an ingredient that provides a high level of antioxidant activity within the human physiology.
We understand there are many antioxidants on the market today of which formulators can choose, from vitamins to plant extracts, however, many with even the highest level of polyphenols or flavonoids per gramme still are only partially absorbed within the human digestive system. Research not only supports the antioxidant activity within the human physiology but also the absorption of GCA's polyphenols."