Exploring Alternative Delivery Systems

Exploring Alternative Delivery Systems

Even as consumers become more interested in the beneficialproperties of nutraceuticals, theyre looking for easier ways to consume them.Beyond just simple tablets and capsules, manufacturers are exploring newdelivery methods to ensure bioavailability of efficacious quantities of thedesired nutrients.

Micro- and Nano-Encapsulation

With the development of functional food and beverageapplications, suppliers are exploring ways to better deliver nutrients in bothwet and dry applications. Microencapsulation produces a dry product, or beadlet,that is suitable for cloudy and dry applications; Nano-encapsulation is a liquid designed for clear beveragesand has a smaller particle size.

In nano-encapsulation, products can be reduced to a size of 30nanometers and are encapsulated in food compounds; the process is essentiallyself-assembly once the base encapsulation material is finalized. Nanotechnologyprovides improved activity level and solubilized ingredients for clear beveragesthat previously could not be used. It further enhances the stability of the products, generallyto a pH of 2, allowing pasteurization (thereby achieving thermodynamicstability), control of reaction rates and reduced browning reaction impact. Among the products that have been developed using thistechnology are coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), vitamin E, isoflavones, docosahexaenoicacid (DHA), lutein and phytosterols.

The NutraLease nano-encapsulation delivery system permitsincreased shelf-life due to improved stability and reduced interaction withother ingredients. In addition, the technology can be used to make watersolubleingredients fat soluble, and vice versa. An interesting facet of this technology is that both thesoluble and insoluble fractions are encapsulated, meaning the full ingredientsactivity is encapsulated through formation of a micelle and made soluble.Concentration amounts vary due to the nature of the ingredient. Customization isperformed upon request and the encapsulated product can be wet-plated ontoa dry mix or used directly without the need for further processing.

Microencapsulation, meanwhile, can be used to mask odor andtaste of minerals, prevent ingredient cross interaction, increase shelf life,and make products heat and oxidative stable. The resultant ingredients provide avehicle to introduce vitamins and minerals into flavor-sensitive products suchas cloudy beverages, confectionery, chocolate, dairy and bakery products.

Biodar has worked with customers to develop specific, uniquesolutions to fortification challenges that resulted in a host of benefits. Forexample, fortification of a breakfast cereal using the microencapsulationtechnology reduced the overage of vitamin B1 from 300 percent to 120 percent ofthe label claim, and also permitted fortification with zinc, copper and ironwithout ingredient cross- interactions.For another customer making a confectionery item, microencapsulation allowed theaddition of vitamins B1 and C without taste impact, as well as ironfortification without discoloration due to oxidation, improving the shelf lifeof the product.

Information was submitted by Rodger Jonas, national businessdevelopment manager with P.L. Thomas & Co., the U.S. exclusive distributorfor NutraLease and Biodar.

Controlled Release Technology

Controlled release technology can help a wide variety ofnutritional supplements deliver their payloads more effectively whileheightening produce resale frequency for brands and retailers. The products canbe formulated to target extended or sitespecific release of ingredients, rangingfrom glucosamine and chondroitin to vitamins, minerals, isoflavones and more.Extended release offers the consumer the benefits of improved bioavailabilityand simplified dosing while the brand/retailer benefits from improved customersatisfaction, loyalty and dose compliance, resulting in more frequent repeatpurchases.

For these benefits to be realized, nutraceutical controlledrelease technologies must routinely perform as well as pharmaceutical controlledrelease technologies do. However, to be a viable solution for nutritionalsupplements, they must do so at a significantly lower price point than theirpharmaceutical counterparts.

Nutraceutix manufactures proven controlled release products atsuitable costs for the nutritional supplement industry. The company hasleveraged years of pharmaceutical drug delivery technology experience, gainedduring a 20-year track record of probiotic and nutraceutical research,development and manufacturing, to develop delivery technologies specifically fornutritional supplements. The flexibility of controlled release technology allowsfor custom formulations and custom release characteristics suitable to a varietyof applications and allows the brand and retailer to present an entire line ofproducts with a consistent, proven delivery technology and a consistent,effective marketing message.

The company also developed a patent-pending gastric acidbypass technology for biologicals, which it has used to produce probioticformulations that are designed to deliver more viable organisms past the harshenvironment of the stomach into the digestive tract. The BIO-tract technology is probiotic strain independent and issuitable for a variety of other acid-sensitive payloads including enzymes andproteins.

Information was contributed by Tim Gamble, vice president ofsales and marketing with Redmond, Wash.-based Nutraceutix (www.nutraceutix.com),a provider of controlled delivery technologies and specialty probioticsproducts.