Nutraceuticals – By: Dr. John Kyndt ( Head Scientist of the Renewable Energy Program at Advanced Energy Independence Lab) and Dr. Aecio D’Silva.
As we pointed out in previous posts and in our recent e-book (Algae Color the Future Green, 2012) Nutraceuticals are a huge market that has a tremendous growth potential.
The industry is going to stay consumer-driven as more and more people are become health conscious. Market growth is expected both during global recession and in emerging markets.
As people are trying to save money, it is cheaper to incorporate healthy food or supplements in their diet than have expensive medical bills in the long run.
Emerging markets for nutraceuticals are in Asia and Latin America and Middle East.
The beauty industry is a major growth driver for nutraceuticals as individuals continue to search for ways to maintain healthy skin and body through the products they buy.
All this exponential growth is not going unnoticed and the nutraceuticals market is highly competitive and driven by price, safety, packaging and branding, etc. It’s expected that the next level of differentiation will come through increasingly more scientifically sound research.
Performing in-depth research will:
- Show effectiveness and value (not just loose claims of a vitamin mix)
- Provide safety (study the source and potential contaminants)
- Comply with stricter regulatory standards
As we have pointed out before, “big Pharma” is shifting its resources away from hard-core R&D, which creates opportunities for smaller companies to penetrate the market with solid researched products.
Similar in the nutraceutical market, the most successful scenario seems to be where basic R&D and proof-of-concept is performed by smaller start-up companies, while larger established companies could provide the expertise and budget to take the promising products through expensive clinical trials and eventually to market.
Forming the right partnerships at the right time appears to be the key to success for smaller life science startup companies.
Nutraceuticals – Scalable Nutraceutical Production: Algae Are the Answer!
As algae cultivation expands there is no doubt that the importance of algae in nutraceutical production will increase exponentially.
Most economic models presented to date for algal biofuel production include the use of nutraceuticals in their projection to render their operations economically viable.
The most prominent products currently extracted from algae are carotenoids (e.g. astaxanthin) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), however there is growing potential in a wide variety of algae derived products.
At present, PUFAs are mainly being produced from oily fish, however if you wonder where fish get these fatty acids, the omega3 PUFA in fish oils is actually derived from algae (via the food chain from zooplankton consuming omega3 PUFA-synthesizing microalgae).
Algae are known to produce ?-3 PUFA such as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, C20:5, n3) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, C22:6, n3) in high concentrations, e.g. Schizochytrium (DHA), Crypthecodinium (DHA) and Phaeodactylum (EPA).
The biochemicals that are typically enriched in nutraceuticals usually consist of:
- Vitamins
- Amino acids (essential and non-essential)
- Lycopenes
- Isoflavones (e.g. Sterols, probiotics)
- PUFA’s
- Fibers
Algae can be selected, adapted, induced or manipulated to produce larger amount of these.
Increasing concerns regarding the accumulation of pollutants in fish, especially toxins like PCBs and heavy metals, as well as the continued exploitation of fish stocks in order to meet the demands for an expanding market, are drawing the attention to other resources.
We are capable of cultivating microalgae to high density and with high quality in controlled photobioreactors,
We believe this could provide a healthy, safer alternative for the fast growing production needs to feed the insatiable hunger for healthier and more beautiful lifestyles.
In fact I see a lot of EU Algae companies focusing on high value ingredients for the food industries, rather than trying to make fuel from algae these days… There definitely is a market demand.