KEY INTERVIEW: DSM's New Olive-Based Antioxidant Ingredient

04 Jun 2014 --- At the popular trade show event Vitafoods Europe, which took place last month in Geneva, health and nutrition specialist DSM announced it was introducing a new olive-based antioxidant ingredient to the market. FoodIngredientsFirst speaks to the company’s global marketing manager, Ruedi Duss, about what this innovation can offer to food manufacturers:

ElaVida, which is available in both a liquid and powder form, is described by DSM as a ‘superior polyphenol preparation made from olive fruits’. Essentially the product has high levels of the key antioxidant ingredient found in extra virgin olive oil (hydroxtyrosol), which is thought to support heart-health, as well as having beneficial effects in joint, eye and brain health. But where are we likely to see this innovation being applied in the future, and why can’t manufacturers just use olive oil itself?

“The Mediterranean diet is associated with a number of benefits and so consumers are now fully aware of the benefits of olive oil, but often they don’t know about the amount of calories you consume with this,” explains DSM’s global marketing manager, Ruedi Duss. “With this product manufacturers can question whether it is easier to add 20g of olive oil to try to tap into these benefits, or 33mg of elaVida. Now if you wanted to add these benefits to a drink then naturally you would not be able to add the olive oil and you would have to think about something else, which is one way that elaVida can play a role.”

According to DSM, elaVida complements the activity of vitamin E and C by activating the body’s own antioxidant system. The antioxidant hydroxtyrosol supports heart health through the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress.

Duss explains that in order to gain the antioxidant benefit of olive oil then you only need to add 5mg of elaVida, “which is very little in order to reach the recommended daily amount”, he says. “It has excellent handling characteristics and in a liquid form it has no taste, flavour of colour impact, since you need to add so little. I think there are a lot of applications that can be developed using this product, and we are able to offer it for liquid formats as well as in supplements and to go into various types of food.”

The global heart health market is flourishing with worldwide sales projected to reach $15bn by 2018, according to DSM. ElaVida is expected to be a popular ingredient among manufacturers looking to compete in this market, particularly as olive polyphenols are the only non-vitamin and non-mineral ingredient with a granted EU health claim for antioxidant function.

Duss notes that the first applications for this product are likely to be supplements, in both capsule and tablet form. “But then it is also likely to be used within drinks, spreads and biscuits – these are the most relevant applications in my opinion. We had a lot of interest at Vitafoods because there are many sources out there with very limited application knowledge and this is another important thing that we can offer. In addition, our product is supported by our own safety package and our own clinical data.”

At present DSM is unable to make any other health claims in Europe but Duss explains that there is a lot of talk at the moment about the joint-health benefits of olive oil. “In Europe though there is still more work that has to be done to get those particular types of claims proved,” he explains. “In North America however, then quite a bit can be communicated in relation to polyphenols.”

While additional health claims are limited at present, Duss is confident that elaVida will fit in very well with DSM’s reputation for products embedded with health-benefit solutions. The company has a wide portfolio of naturally-sourced nutritional solutions, backed by strong science.

“We can offer things around anti-oxidants, health-health, joint health and energy benefits and elaVida fits very nicely into this. In Europe we feel that out of all of these health platforms the anti-oxidant benefits are the ones of most interest, initially. There is still some more work to be done to communicate areas such as the energy benefits of this product.”

Another exciting area of development that customers can expect to see in the future from DSM is the use of elaVida combined with other areas of the company’s expertise, such as a blend of its nutritionals with its Mediterranean positioning. “We have products in our portfolio, for example Fruitflow, which also relates to polyphenols, and we have ones which fit well with dietary fibre, such as OatWell.”

Duss notes that there is also the potential to combine elaVida with things such as Omega 3, or other fat and oil-derived products. “The platform allows us to offer ready solutions other than just as a single ingredient,” he explains.

DSM also introduced life’sOmega 60 at Vitafoods Europe, which is a higher potency form of life’sOmega sourced from algae. It will be marketed as a 60% total omega-3 product for dietary supplements, and the new form is a high concentrate of vegetarian omega-3 that is allergen and GMO-free.

By Sonya Hook & Robin Wyers