Seeds from two variants of Chinese evergreen trees have been found to contain enough amino acids to meet the daily nutritional requirements of infants and adults, according to a recent study which recommends their use in the food industry.
Adding prebiotics and an antioxidant source to white chocolate can alter its taste and texture, but a new sensory analysis reported that consumers still ranked it highly, with researchers concluding it provides new product opportunities for industry.
China-based Jiangsu Aoxin Biotechnology wants to make sure all its ingredients, such as D-Glucosamine, chitosan and marine chitosan, are halal certified to boost its chances of success in South East Asia.
Australia and New Zealand are now among the OECD’s five most obese nations, while Japan and South Korea are the two least obese nations on the list, according to the OECD’s Obesity Update 2017.
The vast majority of new product development for functional foods featuring probiotics “remains in the dairy space”, but this may be more of a hindrance than a help for the sector’s growth prospects.
A trial on a novel infant formula appears to shows for the first time that a specific combination of ingredients can have a preventive effect on colic.
The eight finalists for the Future Food Asia Award have been announced, with the winner of the US$ 100,000 grant set to be announced in Singapore this week.
A new study has demonstrated how dietary interventions with omega-3, prebiotics and other nutrients can help improve motor functions and cognition after the onset of Parkinson's disease in mice.
Consumption of green tea supplements leads to weight loss in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but it is still uncertain if supplementation provides a direct anti-inflammatory effect against the condition.
The blurring of boundaries between sports nutrition and mainstream food and beverages is fuelling the sector’s growth, alongside new product development (NPD) tackling consumer needs according to their age, gender and lifestyle.
Daily consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa reduced arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women – therefore lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes, a study revealed.
The cost of testing and not having enough experts in the field are holding back the growth of nutrigenomics-based personalised nutrition in Asia-Pacific.
A botanical cognitive health product designed by a spin-off from the University of Oxford will launch across Asia Pacific with the backing of an innovation development company.
The crucial role of omega-3 in helping to tackle pre and post-natal depression has been underlined by a new meta-analysis, which also found such cases of depression were associated with a higher omega-6/omega-3 ratio.
Palm oil tocotrienol, touted as ‘super vitamin E’, could provide benefits for people with neurodegenerative and neuro-inflammatory diseases, a study has concluded.
Functional soups featuring botanical and herbal ingredients such as ginger, ginseng and cordyceps are ripe for new product development in Japan, with the ageing population a particularly lucrative target market.
Both zinc acetate and zinc gluconate lozenges are effective in shortening the duration of common colds, but zinc doses higher than 100mg don’t appear to provide an additional boost.
Cannabinoids can be safely used as a supplementary treatment for elderly people with Parkinson’s disease with evidence showing they help reduce tremors, rigidity and pain, a new review reports.
Regulators in Asia should not wait for new CODEX regulations for infant formula and act now to cut the amount of protein required in order to help reduce obesity, a leading expert in the region has argued.
Ginkgo biloba extract helped protect the brain from the toxic effects of aluminium chloride, exposure to which has been linked to diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Queen Elizabeth was reported to have sent out 300 birthday wishes to British centenarians in 1955, 1200 in 1970, and 7500 in 2014. Now it is estimated that there is somewhere in the vicinity of 300,000 centenarians worldwide, writes Karen Hocking from...
Blackmores is continuing to suffer from a slump in Australian sales to ‘daigou’ buyers, with overall net profits dropping by 42.8% year-on-year, according to figures for the first nine months of its financial year.
Cinnamic acid’s potential for diabetes management has been highlighted in a new review, but concerns over bioavailability are still hindering its use in nutraceuticals.
Tapping in to the UN’s Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) through fortification, functional products and reformulation can offer the food industry substantial growth opportunities – but more needs to be done to secure private sector financial investment.
Asia’s food and nutrition companies risk turning their backs on a vast potential market if they fail to innovate and reformulate to provide products to help fight the war on diabetes.
Algae can become the world’s first ‘real superfoood’ and, along with edible insect products, help feed the growing global population in a more sustainable and nutritious fashion.
Consumer understanding of the nutritional benefits of protein is soaring in Asia, according to research from NZMP, the ingredients brand of New Zealand-based dairy manufacturer Fonterra.
The Chinese herb Chuanmishen violaceum (CVPS) helped improve antioxidant activity and increased free radical scavenging capabilities in tests on ageing mice, revealing it’s suitability for anti-ageing products.
Saturated fat has been identified as a prime suspect in the onset of osteoarthritis after Australian scientists found it changed the composition of cartilage, but lauric acid from coconut oil has a protective effect.
The biggest challenge facing the probiotics sector is to spread the word of the potential gains “second generation” products can bring to a broader spectrum of health issues than just gut health.
As Asia's population rapidly ages, opportunities abound for the cognitive health sector, but consumers need to be educated that supplements should be considered before old age.
Alternative sources of protein and a greater focus on ‘food before supplements’ is shaping the sports nutrition practices of Singapore’s elite athletes.
Resveratrol is a potential candidate to help prevent bone-related complications in children during and after chemotherapy, a study carried out by Australian and Chinese academics claims.
The most effective way to boost nutrition through fortification is by targetting people as consumers, not merely recipients of a donation or a public policy programme.
While clinicians are increasingly aware of the evidence behind specific probiotic strains for a variety of conditions, restoring balance to a microbiome disrupted by diet, medications or illness often remains an area of confusion, writes Health World...
A new systematic review states there is no indication that vitamin A supplementation among babies at birth reduces mortality during the first six or 12 months of life.
Scientists in Singapore have managed to genetically alter some E. coli probiotic strains to sense and kill a harmful gut pathogen, which they say could be used to help protect against certain diseases.
Pharmacists in South East Asia need to play a pivotal role in guiding pregnant women to take the correct supplements and combat the widespread ‘misinformation’ that is available online.
There are more essential fatty acids in the lipids of two species of crickets and a grasshopper from Asia, compared with the yellow mealworm larvae, which is widely reared in Europe for human food.