NutraIngredients-USA Global Round-up: Sports and the microbiome, folic acid fortification in the UK, and more
1. Roquette eyes potential of high-protein pea ingredients
First up this week is news from Europe that Roquette is working on a range of new protein ingredients using the high-protein pea variety developed by Equinom, which uses a proprietary software-based breeding program to develop seeds with improved traits through non-GMO techniques.
The pea variety that Roquette will scale up has 50% more protein than commercially available alternatives.
Pascal Leroy, vice president of Roquette’s pea and new protein business, said the investment and partnership would enable Roquette to position itself as “a pioneer” in the plant protein value chain by producing “responsible and sustainable” high-protein peas.
Equinom is also in the process of developing new varieties of mungbean, fava and lentils, and has already brought to market a split-proof sesame seed variety that allows for automatic, rather than manual, harvesting.
2. UK edges closer to mandatory folic acid fortification
While it’s been mandatary in the US for a couple of decades, the UK has long resisted calls to fortify flour with folic acid. However, according to The Guardian, British ministers are “considering expert advice and will respond in due course” and policy could to be introduced in a matter of weeks.
The new plan would bring the UK in line with fortification guidelines in the EU that prevent birth defects, such as spina bifida.
The UK is thought to have the highest rate of Neural Tube Defects (NTD) recorded in Europe with one study noting its prevalence from 1991 to 2012 to be 1.28 (95% CI 1.24 to 1.31) per 1000 total births (19% live births, 81% terminations and 0.5% stillbirths and fetal deaths less than 20 weeks’ gestation).
The news was welcomed by British Dietetic Association (BDA), which hailed it as “… fantastic news, [we are] very pleased that government has finally accepted the strong evidence for this policy”, the organization tweeted.
“If this is officially confirmed, the UK would be taking an important step in preventive medicine, and helping to avoid disability or termination of pregnancy,” said Nicholas Wald, professor of environmental and preventative medicine at Queen Mary University of London.
“Fortification of flour with folic acid provides a safety net; it does not mean that women no longer need to take a folic acid supplement and this should be 5 milligrams (mg) a day, to obtain the full level of protection.”
3. The enduring link between exercise and the gut microbiota
Our last news pick for this week focuses on a new study from Finland that reported the positive influence of endurance training on gut microbiota composition.
Data published in Frontiers in Microbiology (DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02323) indicated that six-weeks of exercise was associated with decreases in microbes linked to inflammation, coupled with an increase in bacteria linked to enhanced metabolism in findings that closely correlate to similar studies.
Commenting on how the Akkermansia bacterium boosts the host’s metabolism, co-author and research fellow Satu Pekkala said, “A few other cross-sectional studies have shown that microbes belonging to the Akkermansia genus are more abundant among physically active subjects than they are among inactive ones.
“Akkermansia has been a target of intense research recently, and some researchers believe that it may prevent obesity and diabetes.
“However, more studies are needed to prove that Akkermansia might mediate some of the health benefits of exercise,” she added.
Commenting independently on the study’s findings, Dr Orla O’Sullivan, a senior computational biologist at Ireland’s Teagasc Food Research Centre and APC Microbiome, said: “What we have seen is trends. For example we demonstrated that elite rugby players had increased numbers of Akkermansia which has been associated with a lean phenotype.
“In general, any bacteria that’s beneficial to host health will be beneficial to athlete health.”
Sports and the microbiome
The topic of sports nutrition and the microbiome will take center stage at the upcoming NutraIngredients-USA Sports Nutrition Summit, January 23-24 in San Diego, with a presentation by Jonathan Scheiman, co-founder and CEO of FitBiomics (a start-up spun out of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard).
For more information and to register, please click HERE.
