Lonza positions new phytoplankton-derived ingredient for performance nutrition market
The ingredient is made from the marine phytoplankton Tetraselmis chuii.
“It is very minimally processed,” June Lin, global head of marketing and senior director at Lonza Consumer Health & Nutrition, told us at the show.
“It sits in the sun, it dries, it goes through a very simple process, and then we extract the powder. It’s a very clean, very sustainable process. It’s raw, it’s vegan, so it meets that need for something that is very natural and very clean.”
In addition to the antioxidant enzymes, the finished product also contains essential fatty acids, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals.
Because of its relatively high superoxide dismutase (or SOD) content compared to other antioxidant ingredients sold on the market, the company is targeting sports nutrition product formulators, said Tyler White, head of global customer solutions innovation at Lonza’s consumer health division.
“It’s kind of a new positioning for an old ingredient,” he said. “It helps to reduce the oxidative stress, which helps to improve your performance and recovery as well.”
A still unpublished open-label pilot study on soccer players found a link between Oceanix supplementation to a reduction of oxidative stress (as measured by vitamin E lavels), decreased heart rate during activity, and increase in the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity during activity.
Another outcome researchers in this study found was a decrease in body fat mass after 30 days of supplementing with 25 mg Oceanix per day.
“So there’s potential for weight management too,” Lin said.
The ingredient is available for formulators in the US as well as Canada, where it is recognized as a novel food ingredient by Health Canada.
Formulating using Oceanix
Because of its high SOD content, only a small amount of Oceanix (25 mg) is needed to formulate efficacious products, Lin said.
“For our customers, it makes it easy for them because they can add it to existing products,” she said.
“It’s very easy to formulate with. It’s also flexible because you can put it in different formats—you can put it into a gummy, you can put it into a drink. It gives both our customer and their end consumer in terms of flexible end delivery.”
