Responding to growth in demand for functional food and beverage products, SternVitamin has developed premixes for innovative products, including the so-called ‘love boost’ drinks that contain plant extracts such as damiana extract powder, which is claimed to have a stimulating effect.
The premix from the SternVit BV series includes versions for women and for men. The women’s mix contains extracts of ginseng and damiana plus L-arginine, magnesium and vitamins B6, B12 and C.
‘Stimulator’ for men contains damiana and guarana extract plus vitamins B1, B6, B12 and C.
“Plant extracts like damiana and ginseng give trend products a special appeal and increase their potential added value,” Dr Sabine Hildebrandt, head of R&D at SternVitamin, said. “In combination with our basic compounds for energy drinks, they make it possible to develop completely new product concepts.”
Guarana has long been known for its stimulating effect, while ginseng is considered a cure-all in Asia, where it originates. The root has also long been trusted as a tonic against fatigue and exhaustion.
On the other hand, damiana is still relatively unknown in many countries. It occurs naturally in the Americas, from the US to Argentina, and Mexican physicians and natives use it to treat respiratory cramps, nervous tension, exhaustion and sexual dysfunctions.
When implementing new product ideas, SternVitamin works closely with the customer’s development department, Hildebrandt said.
“While we do offer various standard premixes, as a rule each customer gets their own, customised product,” she said. “We look closely at their product parameters and processes. This lets us precisely calculate any losses in ingredient effectiveness during manufacture and storage, and compensate by adding more of those ingredients.”
For beverages, micronutrients must be readily soluble. To achieve this, SternVitamin uses modern technologies such as fluidised bed drying.
“Our fluidised bed dryer lets us turn poorly soluble powders into porous-structured agglomerates, which dissolve much better in water,” Hildebrandt said. “The machine can also do the drying, agglomeration and coating steps.”
Naturex Australia is expanding its activities in the local market to cover the nutraceutical and food supplement industries. The new offering includes a wide range of botanical extracts and branded ingredient concepts targeted at the nutrition and health market.
Although the French-owned company has worked in these areas for several years, it has until now only offered its standard food and beverage applications, such as natural antioxidants, colours, pectins and taste solutions.
“Our full nutrition and health portfolio is a result of our global sourcing capabilities coupled with our advanced extraction and production facilities,” Christine Giuliano, managing director of Naturex, said. “The Naturex operation in Australia allows local flexibility, thanks to its factory in Sydney and warehousing in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.”
Naturex’s nutrition and health portfolio includes two ranges. Its NAT activ range offers all the benefits of plants in the form of standardised and speciality extracts and has been recently strengthened by Naturex’ acquisition of Decas Botanical Synergies.
NAT life is a range of branded ingredient concepts backed by in-depth research and clinical studies. Naturex says these unique ingredients have a proven activity and address issues such as weight management, anti-stress/sleep disorders, urinary tract infections.
