PLT Health Solutions will be highlighting its portfolio of beverage-friendly ingredients that can provide a range of clinically-evidenced benefits for functional beverages. PLT markets more than a dozen water-dispersible and water-soluble solutions, most of which are botanical ingredients.
 
At IFT First in Chicago, at Booth 4760, IFT will focus on three major health and wellness segments: energy, active nutrition, and mood/stress management. In the past eight months, PLT launched water-soluble and dispersible ingredients including Zynamite S for mental energy, RipFACTOR for muscle strength and endurance, and a water-soluble version of the adaptogen Rhodiolife Rhodiola rosea.
 
PLT has been working to create or modify ingredients to make them formulation-friendly in new delivery systems, noted Steve Fink, vice president of marketing for PLT Health Solutions.
 
“For a variety of reasons, beverages present a range of challenges when it comes to consumer sensory and experience. This is especially true when it comes to plant-based and botanical ingredients. In approaching this development work, we’ve focused on things beverage producers want: uniform particle size and density, good water dispersibility/solubility, neutral taste and color and stability. At the same time, our beverage-friendly ingredients maintain features that every product developer wants: they are fast-acting to the point of being experiential, they are low dose and maybe most importantly, they are backed by quality clinical science.”
 
When it comes to energy ingredients, PLT offers both stimulant and non-stimulant energy ingredients with its zumXR Targeted Release Caffeine and Zynamite.
 
As part of its sports/active nutrition portfolio, beverage-friendly ingredients include MegaNatural-BP grape seed extract for enhanced blood flow and endurance; RipFACTOR Muscle Accelerator, which is clinically-evidenced to support muscle strength and endurance; and Slendacor Weight Management Complex, which offers non-stimulant calorie burning and weight loss benefits. Both MegaNatural-BP and Slendacor are also clinically-evidenced to improve markers of cardiometabolic health.
 
In the stress, mood, and cognitive health category, PLT will be showcasing Rhodiolife Rhodiola rosea, a popular adaptogen ingredient, and Zembrin Sceletium tortuosum, which is clinically-studied to improve measures of stress and mood within two hours of ingestion.
 
“When it comes to functional beverages, ubiquitous ingredients like protein, vitamins and minerals are a great starting point, but today’s consumers are looking for more impactful, and innovative health benefits. They want more functionality in their functioinal beverages,” Fink said. “The clinical science behind these PLT ingredients and the front-of-pack messaging they can support will help consumer products companies create a great deal of excitement in the market.”