The study, conducted by the University of Queensland’s School of Medicine, found that patients who took freeze-dried New Zealand mussel powder over an 8-week trial period saw knee joint pain reduced by 59%.
Aroma NZ, a Christchurch-based family firm that developed the mussel powder, now expects to benefit significantly from the study, published in the UK'sInflammopharmacology Journal.
Ben S Winters, director of Aroma NZ, told FoodNavigator-Asia that the study would help generate credibility and in turn increase sales.
“This successful study gives our green lipped mussel extract scientific credibility in the joint care market and will increase the global demand for our extract,” Winters said.
Aroma NZ manufactures two products - GlycOmega green shell (or green-lipped) mussel powder and SCP-Active Shark cartilage powder – both rich in chondroitin sulphates and glycosaminoglycans.
Both products focus on specific health areas such as joint support, connective tissue functions and cartilage repair, the company said.
Green shell mussels contain an abundance of vitamins, minerals, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, protein, iron, and glucosamine B12 and therefore deserves “its classification as a Super Food,” Winters said.
“We are so encouraged by the study being published that we are now looking to carry out larger human clinical trials… with placebo [which] will carry more weight when pitching to pharmaceutical companies,’’ he said.
Established in 1961, Aroma NZ recently opened a new, larger factory where it extracts omega-3 fatty acids and high quality lipids from marine and botanical ingredients using super-critical fluid extraction.