Nutraceuticals World (NW): What opportunities do you see in a market that has gotten so much attention in recent years?

Brian Zapp, Director of Marketing, Applied Food Sciences: I love how brands are finding fun ways to cross over Indian spices and immune health. Many of these Ayurvedic herbs can offer on-trend flavor with added functional health benefits. According to Mintel, consumers associate Indian spices, like ginger and turmeric, as comforting and functional, making them ideal for expansion into food, supplement, and beverage applications.

Turmeric can brighten the consumer’s experience with vibrant golden-orange color and an earthy aromatic flavor. Meanwhile, ginger remains a trusted, supportive herb that provides a comforting warming spice. These flavors pair perfectly with fruits and floral essences to bring over-the-top notes back down to earth and add complexity to any sensory profile.

NW: What are consumers looking for as they evaluate natural immune health products today?

Zapp: When we think of natural immunity boosters, we tend to think of orange juice, grapefruits, and many other fruits or vegetables with high levels of vitamin C.  Yet, despite all of these natural vitamin C sources, it may come as a surprise that most commercially available vitamins are synthetic. Strange considering the heights that U.S. organic sales are ascending to year over year, surpassing $62 billion in sales in 2020, according to the Organic Trade Association. It appears that vitamins are one of the last ingredient segments to align with this trend, even though more than 70 fruits and vegetables contain nutritious levels of vitamin C that can contribute to a healthy diet.

But here is the problem: The recommended value of vitamin C for adults is 90 mg daily. Unfortunately, many natural sources are not potent or stable enough to reach those levels in many consumer-friendly applications (e.g., beverages, supplements, stick packs, water enhancers, etc.). But thanks to ongoing efforts in ingredient discovery and new extraction techniques, companies like ours have been developing vitamin C extracts that are highly concentrated, fully water-soluble, and derived from nature.

NW: What ingredients does AFS offer for the immune health market? What points of differentiation do they offer?

Zapp: Our top solution is PurC^® organic vitamin C. PurC^® is a water-soluble acerola extract standardized to 25% vitamin C (ascorbic acid). For those unfamiliar with acerola, it is one of the highest concentrations of natural vitamin C on the planet, containing 70 times more vitamin C than other fruits and vegetables by weight (Morton, Fruits of Warm Climates, 1987). Meaning a little of our PurC® extract can pack a healthy punch in almost any application. This innovative ingredient adds a deliciously light, tart flavor with a hint of sweetness to beverages, gummies, foods, and supplements. Plus, it is available in both natural (conventional) and organic.

To help complement our solutions for organic immunity boosters, AFS provides organic PurTurmeric^® and PurGinger^®. We design our ingredients with the formulator in mind. The well-known issues in working with ginger and turmeric are that the respective active compounds (gingerols and curcuminoids) are hydrophobic, meaning they don’t dissolve in water.

Additionally, many liquid concentrates are expensive, difficult to source, and difficult to store because they are highly perishable. PurGinger^® and PurTurmeric^® on the other hand, utilize a unique extraction process that significantly improves the ingredients’ solubility without using additional carriers or emulsification agents. Therefore, formulators can add immune function, bold flavors, and vibrant colors to a wide range of product applications. Another appealing benefit is our powdered extracts are shelf-stable with a 2-year shelf life, allowing more flexibility for manufacturers trying to stay on top of their supply chain management during these uncertain times.