Naturex struts flagship turmeric ingredient at SupplySide West

Naturex showcased several botanical-based concepts, including Cereboost and Turmipure Gold. 

Santiago Vega, director of marketing at Naturex, described the company as plant-based and very much driven by science. He said Cereboost, a ginseng ingredient for brain health, is gaining momentum. 

Brain boost 

“If you take the first ingredient, Cereboost, we know that for consumers, cognitive health, relaxation, and focus is a primary area of concern or interest. We’re seeing a great amount of traction, because first and foremost, the science is very strong, the claims and effects are well-substantiated, it is a small dose, so it provides a lot of versatility and it works. It’s a very natural ingredient and checks the box of clean label, which is something consumers want today. So it does very well with where consumers are, what solutions they’re looking for, and what we can deliver.”

Naturex showcased Cereboost in the form of a granola bar at SupplySide West. The company said they anticipate cognitive health to become one of the hottest areas of the functional food, beverage and dietary supplement markets. 

Athletes are going for the gold   

Alexis Manfré, world product manager for health at Naturex, also spoke to NutraIngredients-USA about Turmipure Gold, their flagship turmeric ingredient that won “Botanical of the Year” at the NutraIngredient Awards 2019. 

“Turmeric is known for joint health and anti-inflammatory properties. But now we see it’s much more than that. It’s mobility, improving recovery, improving performance, and it’s become very trendy in the sports nutrition arena.”

“It’s our latest innovation. We came out with a new solution because we found out that even if turmeric has become the number one botanical on the supplement market, there is still a lot of space for growth and extending to new markets such as food and beverages. One thing was to achieve the best efficacy at the lowest dose, because when you look at all the ingredients on the market, we could still see improvements were needed. Because you have to use a high dose of extract to get the real benefits of turmeric,” said Manfré. 

The bioavailability factor 

Because curcumin is not easily absorbed by the body, the company was presented with a unique set of application challenges. After five years of research, Naturex developed Turmipure Gold, a bioequivalent turmeric at a low dose of 300mg. The company said that a 300mg dose of Turmipure Gold can deliver as many curcuminoids in the blood as 1922mg of standard turmeric 95% curcuminoids. 

“We introduced something that is very new to the market, what we think is the future of turmeric, which is bioequivalency. Bioequivalency means you can achieve at a low dose with the same amount curcuminoids in your blood, rather than a very high dose of turmeric, and basically we are getting the same amount of curcuminoids.”

Manfré said they created a clean label formulation that is certified organic, contains just four ingredients, which enhances the absorption of turmeric. “After designing this clean label formulation, we ran very robust clinical trials.”

Turmipure Gold comes in the form of shots, and is suitable for other applications, including capsules, tablets and gummies. It is sustainable, fully traceable, and cost-effective due to its efficacy at a low dose.

Keeping it real 

Turmeric is one of the most adulterated ingredients out there. To avoid a counterfeit product, Manfré said they run a full battery of tests to guarantee all of their products. “Because we see that there is more and more adulteration of turmeric, we really want to make sure turmeric remains safe and natural because consumers are looking for a natural source. So we are also adding carbon-14 testing, it’s the only test today that can guarantee whether it was adulterated or not.” 

Dan Souza, vice president of sales and marketing at Naturex, told NutraIngredients-USA, “All the ingredients we source are completely traceable, and the identity of the content is completely transparent, ensuring that’s there’s no adulteration.”

In addition to their transparency, Souza credits the success of Naturex to their tight-knit network:

“We really partner closely with the growers, farmers, and harvesters in the fields, regardless of where that is in the world. It could be Southern Africa, Asia, Latin America, so we really have a good network of partnerships and long-term contracts with growers. So sustainability and sourcing is number one.”