The company licensed the fermentation manufacturing process earlier this year from University of Buffalo and plans to have scaled up manufacturing to commercial levels by the end of 2010 with the help of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.
According to the company, anthocyanins, which have strong antioxidant properties as well as being used as natural pigments to color food, will become one of the next ‘super’ classes of phytochemical compounds.
Growing market for phytochemicals
There is a growing market for novel phytochemicals for the cosmetic and functional foods markets, Chromadex claims, and anthocyanins have many properties that make them interesting ingredients for these sectors.
Primarily they have strong antioxidant potential that could lead to anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and even anti cancer applications and the company also notes weight loss and fat burning properties. However, getting the pure extract from natural biomass is complicated and expensive, it claims.
Chromadex says the fermentation procedure is a more cost effective production method and could produce isolated compounds rather than combinations of the compounds extracted from the plant.
Furthermore, the company claims it is a more sustainable and green method of producing the compounds.
The first compound schedules for commercial production is Cyanidin-3-O-Glucoside (C-3-G) which can be used in both food and cosmetics applications as a color and antioxidant, explained Chromadex CEO Frank Jaksch.
“C-3-G will also have health benefits which will cover areas such as weight loss, and anti-aging,” he added.
In addition, he told CosmeticsDesign how being able to produce more material could kickstart research efforts into other potential applications.
“As the pure material becomes available it should also facilitate further research and clinical studies to cover other areas of activity as well,” he said.