Orafti courts digestive health with Raftilose
inulin to take advantage of growing interest in the digestive
health market in the US, reports Jess Halliday.
Although clinical studies have pointed to the benefits of Synergy1 for several other health and diet concerns (such as bone health through better calcium absorption, diabetes, cancer risk and fiber intake), food and nutrition scientist Hilary Hursh told NutraIngredients-USA.com that the company sees its functional future in the burgeoning prebiotics market.
"US consumers don't understand the benefits of prebiotics for digestive health just yet," said Hursh, "but we believe it is something people will be looking for on the grocery shelf."
She added that a lot of ingredient suppliers are discussing the prebiotics market at the moment, but that it is not a terribly competitive area just yet - and may not be for another couple of years.
Rather than stirring demand amongst consumers, as some ingredients companies are trying to do, Belgian Orafti is concentrating its awareness-building on functional food manufacturers.
At the recent IFT show in New Orleans the company was also promoting the bone health benefits of the ingredient range, following the completion of a new study on bone mineral density.
The study, conducted at Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, involved 100 male and female adolescents aged nine to 13 years, who were given either 8g of Raftilose Synergy1 or a placebo with their breakfast each day for a year. Calcium intake was maintained at around 900 mg/day.
At the end of the study, the researchers found that those taking the supplement had 15 percent greater calcium retention and accretion in their bones.
Calcium consumption is particularly important in early adolescence in order to achieve an optimal peak bone mass.
According to the company, this is the first study of its kind proving a calcium absorption and accretion effect for any prebiotic ingredient.
The effect is attributed to the ingredient's selective fermentation process: the oligofructose part changes the flora in the proximal part of the colon, which is fuelled and kept metabolically active by the more slowly fermented inulin. This process results in the production of short chain fatty acids that decrease the pH of the colon and improve the solubility of the calcium present.
Hursh said that the interest in Raftilose from mainstream nutritionally-orientated companies is mainly for its calcium absorption properties, as well as its use as an easy-to-incorporate fiber that is undetectable in the finished product.
