Vitafoods Europe

Booth D122
 
Monteloeder, a subsidiary of Suannutra, is participating in La Vera Campo Arañuelo Hub, a project that will bring cultivation and production of its flagship botanical, lemon verbena, to Cáceres, Spain. It will serve as a keystone ingredient for research and agricultural innovation, and will replace tobacco plants.
 
At Vitafoods Europe, Monteloeder will showcase lemon verbena as part of its portfolio of bioactive ingredients.
 
Lemon verbena is an aromatic plant native to South America. Its lemon fragrance is sought after for culinary applications and home remedies, and its traditional use dates back to ancient Inca culture, where it was used as a digestive aid and to treat bronchitis. It contains a rich profile of bioactive compounds including flavonoids, essential oils, triterpenes, vitamins, and minerals.
 
“Lemon verbena is naturally graced with a versatile spectrum of beneficial traits,” explains Maria Ángeles Gutiérrez, marketing director of Suannutra. “It possesses natural relaxing, digestive, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-support properties. This is the reason we’ve positioned it at the centre of our portfolio of botanical solutions, each tailored to address different health categories. Verbena fulfils a very specific and meaningful role in each one.”
 
Monteloeder is one of several companies participating in the La Vera Campo Arañuelo Hub agronomical research campaign. It has been allocated a space for growing lemon verbena in the hub’s 4 acres of land in the countryside of Cáceres. The space was transformed from tobacco fields into land devoted to cultivating herbs for the nutraceutical industry, and lemon verbena will grow alongside 14 other crops including sage, hops, and lemon balm.
 
“This project is designed to both revitalize this strip of Spanish countryside and to foster the transition from cultivating tobacco to more functional medicinal plants,” said Fran Cremades, technical and operations director of Monteloeder. “It also will boost the surrounding communities by driving economic and rural development. We will work closely with the local farmers and share our specialized methods for sustainably cultivating organic verbena.”
 
The hub was created to serve as a place for agro-botanical companies to join forces in advancing scientific research into the functional and medical properties of botanicals. Under this program ,Monteloeder will explore new agricultural techniques, like precision agriculture, to optimize cultivation practices. The company will deepen its understanding of factors like humidity, pH, soil quality, and irrigation levels to maximize yields. The company will also identify parameters impacting leaf active content to develop strategies for ensuring maximum potency of lemon verbena extracts.
 
“We have garnered more than twenty years of experience in nurturing lemon verbena to tease out its myriad benefits for personal well-being and determine the optimal methods for extracting its goodness and crafting novel applications,” said Cremades. “Lemon verbena is a central ingredient in most of our branded, science-backed nutrients. Its bright, citrusy notes also elevate the sensory experience of the supplements, making them more enjoyable to consume. This project will solidify our position as a leading force in bringing the best of this extolled botanical to our customers, and in the most sustainable way.”
 
The initiative will involve adopting environmentally responsible practices such as forgoing fertilizers and pesticides, optimizing water use, and enhancing soil health through carbon and mineral content recovery.
 
Monteloeder began to take interest in lemon verbena in the early 2000s during a research collaboration with a Spanish university. For two decades, the company has investigated its unique assets more closely, relying on raw material sourced from small farmers in South America. With the new cultivation source in Spain, the company will bring production closer to home.
 
Lemon verbena is used with other complementary botanicals in a number of the company’s ingredients, such as MovePLX for joint health, RelaxPLX for sleep and relaxation, Metabolaid for healthy metabolism, and Zeropollution for beauty from within.
 
The company uses a proprietary method of hydroalcoholic extraction of select lemon verbena leaves, to optimize concentrations of active compounds, which are further concentrated with microfiltration before they’re dried at low temperature.
 
Monteloeder recently adopted lemon verbena through the American Botanical Council’s Adopt-an-Herb program, supporting the association’s HerbMedPro database and keeping information on the botanical up to date.
 
“Our goal is to keep unlocking new attributes of lemon verbena,” said Ángeles Gutiérrez. “For example, we will explore its capabilities as a prebiotic, its contribution to glucose management, promotion of scalp health, mitigation of fatty liver, and more.”