GNC chief innovation officer Guru Ramanathan presented Shrikhande, who recently stepped down after 22 years at Polyphenolics, a division of Constellation Brands, with the Career Award for Excellence in Innovation. Shrikhande was instrumental in developing MegaNatural BP, a standardized grape seed extract, during his career at the company. It’s a story common to the dietary ingredient industry, where a high value product is developed from low value leftover material. In the case of Constellation Brands, there was plenty of material available for Shrikhande’s efforts as the company is the world’s largest wine producer with brands such as Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois and Franciscan Estates.
During the presentation, Ramanathan described his admiration of Shrikhande’s concept of developing a premium grape seed extract product to help maintain normal blood pressure. The result was Polyphenolics’ MegaNatural-BP. Calling this concept “exceptional”, Ramanathan credited Shrikhande with “contributing to innovation in the nutritional space.” GNC went on to recognize other potential uses for this unique ingredient over the years and has included MegaNatural-BP not only in formulations to support blood pressure maintenance, but also in several sports nutrition supplements, and a male performance product as well.
MegaNatural-BP premium grape seed extract has shown in three clinical studies to support healthy blood pressure within the normal range with no adverse side effects. It has four US patents and numerous patents issued worldwide.