DSM develops compressible CoQ10 for supplements
Coenzyme Q10, which it says will enable supplement manufacturers to
incorporate the naturally occurring compound in tablet
formulations.
Called all-Q CoQ10 10 per cent TG/P, the beadlets - produced from chicken gelatine using a patented process - were unveiled to the market last week at Expo West/Supply Expo in Anaheim.
CoQ10 is believed to help cells convert oxygen into energy and function efficiently. Recent studies indicating that it could aid cardiovascular health and help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease have triggered a huge surge in demand.
Lynda Doyle, DSM's director of business development, said all-Q "enables supplement developers to address the growing demand for CoQ10" by expanding the delivery options. It facilitates the coenzyme's use in supplements such as multivitamin and single-entity tablets, antioxidant tablets and two-piece hard shell gelatin tablets.
Doyle explained to NutraIngredients-USA.com that, until now, compressing COQ10 into tablet form had proved problematic. She said that competing brands experienced 100 percent extrusion loss, compared with just 1.9 percent for all-Q.
As well as this superior stability, all-Q's bioavailability is said to be equivalent to that of market leading CoQ10 for use in beverages - an important factor for formulators since high bioavailability means they do not need to use so much.
At the beginning of this year the price of CoQ10 was reported to have reached a record high of between $3,000 and $4,000 per kg. The effects of the high demand and a trend amongst consumers to take higher doses were compounded by the coenzyme's recent reclassification from a drug to a food in Japan, where most of the world's supply originates.
In January Soft Gel Technologies announced that it had developed a completely solubilized form of CoQ10 and carried out a small trial that suggested it to be more 2.5 percent more bioavailable than traditional CoQ10 softgels.
The heat produced during commercial production of CoQ10 results in the formation of crystals, which have a reduced surface area and solubility. Soft Gel said its patent-pending technology, which requires no synthetic surfactants, involves dissolving the crystals and preventing them from reforming. This means that the product is completely soluble at room temperature and therefore more readily absorbed by the body.
