Containing mainly beta-carotene and alpha-carotene, EVTene is a source of vitamin A and is used as a colouring agent in margarine, ghee, and juices.
The firm told us that some of the dietary supplement brands using the ingredient for oral UV protection included the US MLM firm Amway.
In China, the firm currently supplies the ingredient for the food additive businesses.
Now, it hopes to expand the ingredient’s oral UV-protection portfolio in China on the back of a promising clinical trial result, as well as addressing the market gap.
“A lot of the oral beauty products are for collagen, for elasticity, for anti-ageing wrinkles, and another focus is whitening, anti-pigmentation. These concerns are also common amongst Chinese and the other Asian markets.
“However, I don’t really see oral beauty products for UV protection, mainly because they are usually for topical use,” Bryan See, business development manager told NutraIngredients-Asia.
A recent clinical trial, which is said to be the first to prove carotenoids’ benefits on UV protection, was conducted on Amway’s Nutrilite Multi Carotene which also contains EVTene.
Results showed that consuming the supplement daily for 12 weeks could protect the skin against both UVB-induced erythema and UVA-induced pigmentation.
The researchers explained that the effect was due to the antioxidant properties of the carotenoids.
“It is worth to note that this RCT was carried out with healthy subjects who were not following any dietary restriction. Hence, the results from this study is relevant to the general population,” See said.
The mixed-carotene complex also offers benefits for both vision and immune health and the firm hopes to introduce such benefits to the China market as well.
He said that the mixed carotenoids could be combined with lutein and zeaxanthin – ingredients commonly seen in eye health supplements.
For immune health, the firm will focus on the kids’ health market, with gummies containing the mixed carotenoids as one of the plans.
APAC’s potential
The sun care market in APAC is set to grow at a CAGR of 7% from 2019 to 2021 according to Mintel.
“Beauty supplements continue to gain traction in the region and with this, we are seeing an uptake with oral sun care,” Suddhanya Gisbert, insight analyst Thailand at Mintel said.
Spanish ingredient supplier Monteloeder told us that its oral UV protection business in APAC had grown by 50% between year 2018 and 2019, led by growth in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.
