Probiotics and beyond: Digestive health category buoyed by prebiotic growth and emerging ingredients - Watch

In the latest edition of our Nutrition Asia video series, we shine the spotlight on digestive health - one of the largest nutraceutical categories in the world.

Usually, it is probiotics and fermented food such as yogurt, kombucha etc that are associated with improvement in digestive health.

For instance, Bioglan and Medlab – two brands that are owned by Australia’s PharmaCare Laboratories, probiotics is the key ingredient for their digestive health portfolio.

One of Bioglan’s recent product launch is its Platinum Probiotic 100 Billion meant for digestive care.

Containing 20 bacteria strains across the genus of Bifidobacterium ​and Lactobacillus, ​the product claims to provide immune support and restore gut flora.

At the same time, prebiotics has been highlighted as an increasingly important ingredient for modulating the gut.

“I think the most exciting research is coming from prebiotics and not just the way they feed probiotics, but in the way they can be used to modulate the immune system,” ​said Brooke Benson Campbell, NPD and communications manager – Bioglan/Medlab at PharmaCare Laboratories.

Tait Labs, on the other hand, says that there is potential in food waste with functional benefits.

The Canada-based company is already selling its digestive health supplement made from mandarin orange peel in pharmacies, health foods stores, and grocery stores across Canada. It is planning to expand into Asia, in particular China and South East Asia in the next six months. 

The key ingredient used in its MS+ Mandarin Skin Plus​ product has undergone clinical studies, with results published in Food and Chemical Toxicology​​ and Food Chemistry​​.​

“Even though the company started on citrus and was very focused on Mandarin orange peel as the primary source of ingredient for our digestive health product, there are 130 other varieties of citrus and we are looking at those other sources.​

“Beyond citrus, there’s a lot of interesting opportunities in other overlooked sources of food waste, like pomegranate peel, green tea leaves, coffee grounds, things that consumers aren’t aware that could promote digestion quite effectively,” ​said Dr Andrew Tait, president and director at Tait Laboratories.

Watch the video for more.