03.01.05
Orafti Active Food Ingredients: Growing and Expanding
Five years ago Orafti Active Food Ingredients, Tienen, Belgium, had representation in 35 countries around the globe. Today the company has doubled that number to 70 and continues to lead the market with its strong focus on the nutritional value of its chicory-derived products, more specifically inulin and oligofructose (which is obtained by partial enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin). While inulin has been used widely as a technically functional ingredient in food applications, its nutritional use has been hogging most of the spotlight for the last several years.
According to John Martin, project leader, Orafti Active Food Ingredients, Malvern, PA, a major part of the company’s business comes from inulin’s functional capabilities, however, a fast-growing segment of the business is related to its nutritional value. “Inulin is unique as it provides both functional and nutritional properties to a variety of foods without sacrificing the quality of the food,” said Mr. Martin, who expects continued rapid growth in the nutritional area as the company continues to promote the awareness of inulin as a nutritional ingredient.
The company has two specific product groups, Raftiline inulin and Raftilose oligofructose, which are relevant to the nutraceuticals market. “There is a wide range of health benefits associated with inulin,” Mr. Martin said. “It can help increase the body’s absorption of calcium, and it is good for diabetes because it does not cause an insulin spike.” He continued, “It has also been singled out for its role in aiding digestion because it is classified as a dietary fiber.”
Substantiating a health benefit for inulin requires research, and this is an area where Orafti excels. At any given time, Mr. Martin pointed out, the company has between 20-25 nutrition studies going on worldwide. He discussed two of the more recent studies that have been completed. “A recently conducted study showed the ability of our inulin products to promote the vitality of probiotic bacteria, specifically Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus casei,” he said. The study tested yogurts containing one of the two strains of bacteria, along with 3% Raftilose P95 or Raftilose Synergy 1. Samples of the yogurt were pulled at intervals up to 10 weeks to test the viability of the probiotic cultures over shelf life and to get an indication of the vitality of the probiotics after consumption by using a model in vitro digestive system. At 10 weeks, both types of Raftilose (added at 3%) were shown to protect probiotic bacteria over shelf life with no change in viability. The yogurt with L. casei cultures showed a 5% decrease in culture vitality with Raftilose, while the control yogurt without added Raftilose suffered a 19% decrease in cell counts after simulated digestion.
Mr. Martin discussed another study, which examined the protective effect of inulin against colon cancer. “This study was carried out in 80 human volunteers, who had intestinal polyps,” he said. “It showed that inulin had a protective effect against the polyps.”
Internationally the growth for inulin depends on the market and the products being introduced. The European market, Mr. Martin said, is geared toward the dairy sector, yogurts and desserts, as well as bakery applications. In this region of the world inulin has a strong reputation as a digestive aid and its nutritional positioning continues to grow. The other side of the Atlantic, however, is a different story. Mr. Martin claims that inulin is used in everything in the U.S., from baked goods to yogurts to beverages to confectionary products. While the food products that use inulin are similar to Europe, the market in the U.S. is just emerging for nutritional ingredients that promote good digestive health. Mr. Martin believes this will be a strong growth area for the future. “Due to its ease of use in formulations, inulin will continue to be a popular ingredient in the healthy foods arena,” he said. “Additionally, we will continue to use nutritional research to pave the way to inulin’s positive future.”—R.W.
Orafti Active Food Ingredients
101 Lindenwood Drive
Suite 100
Malvern, PA 19355
Telelphone: 610-889-9828
Fax: 610-889-9821
E-mail: jmartin@orafti-us.com
Website: www.orafti.com