Gencor eyes sports nutrition opportunity with fermented salidroside bioactive

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In its new role as the exclusive U.S. distributor for Gnosis by Lessafre's Landkind Pure Salidroside, Gencor is positioning the fermentation-derived ingredient as a clinically-backed performance enhancer in the sports nutrition category.

Salidroside a bioactive found in Rhodiola rosea, a perennial herb that mostly grows at high altitudes in arctic areas of Europe and Asia, with forms of the herb in trade including dry extracts in solid dosage forms such as capsules and tablets, liquid extracts, cut, dried rhizome and root, and powdered rhizome and root.

Speaking with NutraIngredients at the recent SupplySide West in Las Vegas, R.V. Venkatesh, co-founder and managing director at Gencor, said that the fermented salidroside bioactive “eliminates the sustainability issues,” noting that rhodiola was added to the Appendix II portion of the CITES list in 2022, which indicates a potential concern about the wild populations. Some of the ingredient in trade is sourced from cultivated plants

The traditional primary health uses of the herb include stress and depression management, reducing mental and physical fatigue and boosting energy.

In the sports nutrition space, Venkatesh told us that a new study with the ingredient is expected to be published in December. The study examined the potential sports nutrition benefits of the salidroside, with endpoints including performance, mood, clarity, fatigue and O2 uptake, when taken in combination with exercise.

“We are incredibly proud to add Gnosis’s sustainable, ethical and clinically backed rhodiola bioactive to our sports nutrition portfolio,” he said.

Landkind Pure Salidroside is suitable for capsules, tablets, powders and more. It is Halal-certified, vegan and gluten-free. 

“We selected Gencor as our partner because of their expertise, longevity and honorable reputation in the industry,” said Nicole Lemus, director of Americas at Gnosis by Lesaffre. “We are deeply passionate about preserving this botanical species and understand its great potential for human health. Through fermentation, we’ve ethically developed the most studied and main bioactive, salidroside, in a convenient, consistent nutraceutical for sports and active nutrition.”