We are happy to see you again at Vitafoods Europe 2023. We will feature our latest innovations: Novel Application: a range of ingredients with fewer or no additives, AstaBead, highly concentrated astaxanthin beadlets, CaroNat, for natural coloration of foods and beverages, Vitamin D3 500 SD, our high potency vitamin D3, and much more.
Novel Application: “Free-from” ingredient range
Consumer demand has continued to evolve in recent years towards products containing as few additives as possible. To help our customers meet this need, we have developed a high quality free-from ingredient range called Novel Application. These ingredients contain no sugar, no synthetic antioxidants and are formulated without the addition of silicon dioxide.
Processing aids like silicon dioxide are widely used in the production of spray-dried products to increase their flowability. We have used our expertise in chemical synthesis and formulation to adjust certain parameters, so as to produce silicon dioxide-free spray-dried products with the same performance and flow characteristics as conventional spray-dried products. We are thus able to offer a selection of ingredients without nanoparticles. They allow our customers to respond to the growing concerns of consumers regarding the potential safety problems of nanoparticles on health.
Sucrose is used as a carrier in many formulations due to its technical characteristics such as good processability and high solubility. Our Novel Application product forms contain no added sugar, while maintaining excellent stability and texture. In addition, because palm oil has bad press both for its ecological impact and its effects on health, our Novel Application product range does not contain any palm oil. Finally, to respond to the trend that is always moving towards more naturalness, we offer a Vitamin D3 solution that does not contain any synthetic antioxidant, displaying however very good stability in applications.
Divi’s Novel Application carotenoids and vitamins can be used either in supplements or to fortify or colour a variety of liquid and dry foods and beverages. We are constantly expanding our ingredient portfolio to adapt to market demand and will soon add new products to our Novel Application portfolio: a new beta-carotene form for use as a yellow-orange colouring agent in beverages, food and supplements, and a new vitamin D3 form for fortification of foods and beverages and use in tablets and liquid supplements.
AstaBead: Natural and sustainable antioxidant power
With today’s hectic lifestyle, more people are exposed to stress, environmental damage, unhealthy eating habits and sleep deprivation, impacting their psychological and physiological health, particularly as they age. Astaxanthin is known to be one of the most powerful antioxidants, with health benefits supported by a compelling body of scientific studies. Astaxanthin belongs to the carotenoid family known as xanthophylls and is a red pigment found in algae, yeast, bacteria and fungi. Astaxanthin is naturally occurring in foods such as salmon; unfortunately, the levels in the diet are not comparable to dose levels recommended to experience the most health benefits, which are related to supplementation and food fortification.
Divi’s and Algalif have joined their expertise to develop AstaBead, highly concentrated beadlets of sustainable natural astaxanthin. Algalif’s indoor production, located in Iceland, uses renewable geothermal energy and provides highly concentrated premium astaxanthin oleoresin from microalgae. Thanks to its expertise in the formulation of fat-soluble ingredients and its state-of-the-art production facilities, Divi’s transforms this oleoresin into exclusive AstaBead beadlets for easy handling and excellent performance in applications.
The AstaBead range includes directly compressible beadlets that can be used in tablets, but also for the fortification of foods such as nutritional bars. They contain 5% astaxanthin – the highest concentration on the market – allowing smaller tablets and hard-shell capsules that are more attractive to consumers. AstaBead beadlets also show performance in applications such as excellent stability, avoiding colour bleeding during tableting.
The AstaBead range also offers a fast-dispersing form of astaxanthin benefiting from Divi’s innovative CaroQuik formulation technology. Growing demand for fortified powders from athletes and fitness enthusiasts is expected to boost the market in the coming years. Powdered supplements and beverages – whether presented in bulk or in sachets – are convenient, readily available and offer a large variety of tastes. The active ingredients remain stable, and powders can be stored for a relatively long time. The technical requirements of fortified powders include the quick and complete dissolution to release the full benefit of the ingredients. The final beverage should look appealing in terms of colour, aspect and taste. Divi’s unique CaroQuik AstaBead beadlets are designed to enhance the rapid, cold-water dispersion of fortified powders. They offer fortification features for application in today’s popular stick packs, dispersion caps and powder canister packaging.
The CaroQuik technology is also available for other carotenoids such as beta-carotene and lutein. They offer a wide range of colours, associated with nutritional benefits, helping powdered drink and supplement producers meet growing consumer demand for healthy, clean-label beverage solutions with added functional benefits. Divi’s uses a similar process for vitamins – VitaQuik – allowing a rapid and complete dissolution of vitamin E in water.
Vitamin D3 500 SD: Strengthen your products with Divi’s vitamin D
Our high potency vitamin D3, Vitamin D3 500 SD, is a spray-dried powder providing 500,000 IU per g. Spray-drying is a gentle process that preserves both the integrity and the nutritional value of the product. During this process, vitamin D3 is micronised into very small particles, leading to an easy-to-handle powder. The final product exhibits excellent flowability and does not generate any dust during use. Divi’s technology ensures constant particle size distribution and an optimised concentration, resulting in excellent content uniformity in applications such as premixes. A silicon-dioxide free option is also available. Both forms benefit from a reliable supply thanks to stable, scalable production at a state-of-the-art plant in Germany.
Divi’s Vitamin D3 500 SD shows excellent performance in a variety of applications. Thanks to its high potency, only small amounts are sufficient to strengthen end products, resulting for example in smaller tablets and capsules. In addition, since Vitamin D3 500 SD is very stable in applications, there is no need to add high overdosage to guarantee the label claim. Vitamin D3 500 SD shows good tableting performance and is therefore suitable for direct compression of chewable and coated tablets. It can also be used to fortify foods and drinks, as it is fully dispersible in water, fruit juices, milk and other liquids.
Vitamin D health benefits attract increasing consumers’ interest, and the market is expected to continue to grow rapidly over the next years. Given its importance, the FDA requires Vitamin D content on all nutrition facts labels since the beginning of 2021. To help our customers answer the rising demand for Vitamin D supplementation and fortification, we offer a comprehensive and unique portfolio of vitamin D2 and D3 forms in different concentrations and forms.
Our broad vitamin D portfolio consists of spray-dried powders, microencapsulated beadlets and oil solutions, for use in both liquid and dry applications, whether supplements (tablets, effervescent tablets, hard-shell capsules, softgels, powders, sachets), fortified foods (dairy, cereals, bread) or beverages (fruit juices, clear drinks). Our range also includes silicon dioxide-free product forms.
Our vitamin D2 and D3 are also available as mini beadlets. Divi’s exclusive micro-encapsulation process provides excellent stability and grants outstanding uniformity due to the fine particle size of the mini beadlets, about 30% finer than our regular beadlets. Our MiniBeads cutting-edge technology generates products which are designed for application in fine powders where uniformity is a key performance parameter. Vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 MiniBeads show excellent stability in applications and are suitable for a variety of products. Besides hard-gelatin capsules and tablets, they can also be used to fortify foods and drinks, as they are fully dispersible in liquids such as water, fruit juices and milk.
CaroNat: Naturally sourced coloration for clean labels
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the health effects of artificial colorants. They are seeking more natural options, boosting the demand for additive-free foods and beverages. At the same time, aspect and colour still play a key role in food selection and purchasing decision. Made only from natural ingredients and delivering the desirable appearance of the final product, CaroNat allows food marketers to respond to this growing trend.
CaroNat is made of plant-sourced ingredients only and helps food marketers in their transition to clean labels. CaroNat is a naturally sourced food ingredient made of carrot juice concentrate. It inherently contains beta-carotene and is used for dark yellow to orange coloration of a variety of foods and beverages. Divi’s innovative production process provides the stabilisation of this natural ingredient in a powder form for easy handling and excellent stability in applications.
CaroNat provides superior performance in a wide range of applications such as beverages, instant drinks, yoghurt, gummy candies, cakes, puddings, frozen desserts and many more. Thanks to the equalisation of the beta-carotene content, CaroNat dispenses uniform, natural coloration to food preparations. It shows excellent stability during food processes such as pasteurisation, cooking, etc. and good dispersibility in beverage applications. CaroNat is available all year round thanks to a production process that compensates seasonal variations.
Consisting only of ingredients of natural origin and manufactured without the addition of silicon dioxide, CaroNat supports brands in their transition to clean labels. CaroNat contains only plant-based ingredients and allows claims such as: “No artificial colour” “No artificial ingredient”, “Vegetarian” or “Vegan”.
Tailor-made solutions for specific needs
At Divi’s Nutraceuticals, we listen to our customers and understand their needs. We offer versatile and personalised solutions to help them achieve their objectives in terms of innovation and product development. In addition to our extensive product portfolio, we can adapt our product formulations and solution concentrations to fit the individual needs of our customers. Our application labs on three continents are equipped to meet our customers’ needs in fortification and coloration. Divi’s technical and application experts will support you at each stage of your project, from the conception to the realisation.
For more information, please contact us or visit us at Vitafoods 2023, stand J49.
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