In response to the increasing number of ingredients being launched, coupled with consumer demand for supplements that are in non-pill formats, Hyderabad, India-based nutraceutical company Zeus Hygia Lifesciences has launched its patent-pending BioSOLVE solubility technology.
 
“The fact that more ingredients are being introduced into the marketplace for novel product development is attractive, yet a fair number of those exhibit poor solubility and bioavailability, and eventually the end user, being consumers, get minimal therapeutic benefits,” Arunkanth Krishnakumar, Zeus Hygia co-founder and director of business development and strategies, said. “Our goal was to innovate a platform technology that overcomes these inherent deficiencies to allow them to be used effectively in a wide range of consumer-friendly product delivery forms including but not limited to tablets and capsules.”
 
BioSOLVE offers higher availability for active ingredients through the use of food-grade encapsulating excipients, Krishnakumar said. “Our novel platform for improving solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble actives offers not only a new technology, but one of the most advanced and scalable platform technologies to increase bio-efficacy, potency, and bioavailability,” he said.
 
The technology encapsulates water-insoluble actives in a food-grade water soluble matrix using novel phase coacervation techniques, the company said. This technology can help to deliver active ingredients in situ at a submicron range with increased water solubility and maximum efficacy. The carrier used in the encapsulation process is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) and widely used in food applications across the globe.
 
“So, as a major result, Zeus BioSOLVE Technology can be used to make food-grade encapsulation products with various bioactives to enhance the bioavailability, solubility, and stability of the products,” Shankaranarayanan Jeyakodi, Zeus Hygia co-founder and director of technical operations, said.
 
The company reports that the hydrophilic carrier system used in Zeus BioSOLVE Technology has unique emulsifying properties and forms adequate hydrophilic/lipophilic balance around the bioactive molecules, leading to an enhanced absorption by the gut wall. The improved bioavailability is due to several factors, including an increase in water solubility with better dissolution properties, as well as finer and uniform particles with a larger surface area. Additionally, the use of this technology allows for manufacturers to use less of an ingredient while still achieving the same efficacy because bioavailability is uncompromised.
 
“Consumers are quite sophisticated in their knowledge of how supplements work as well as why to take them, and they are equally passionate about obtaining benefits of supplementation in a variety of forms,” Jeyakodi said. “Zeus BioSOLVE Technology offers manufacturers an opportunity to develop truly innovative health-promoting products. In other words, we have removed the formulation limitations.”
 
The company has a number of flagship ingredients, including Gremin and Consolax. Gremin is a patent-pending formulation using a platform technology in which natural extracts are embedded into a core matrix to deliver an end product with enhanced physiochemical and in vivo characteristics. Consolax is a proprietary, patent-filed herbal formula of multiple active dietary fibers along with a natural fiber extract that studies have shown may carry inflammatory-modulating and immune support characteristics. Consolax may also regulate gut microbiota, stress response, and bowel movements, the company said.