Euromed to launch eriocitrin ingredient at Vitafoods Europe

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Euromed (Mollet del Vallès, Spain) will be launching a new lemon-based eriocitrin ingredient called Wellemon at Vitafoods Europe, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland between October 5-7, 2021. A recent study published in Antioxidants found that the highly soluble ingredient yielded more bioavailable metabolites than the flavanone hesperidin, extracted from oranges.

In the randomized-crossover human pharmacokinetic study, 16 subjects were each given a hesperidin-rich orange extract and eriocitrin-rich lemon extract (Wellemon) during a testing phase that lasted one day of blood and urine collection, with a two-week washout period between each test phase. High-fat-high-sugar meals were consumed by the volunteers for lunch, 5.5 hours after consuming the citrus extracts. The primary endpoints evaluated were the time-course bioavailability and metabolism of the hersperidin and eriocitrin, and the secondary endpoints were post-prandial changes of several biomarkers dealing with metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress following the high-fat-high-sugar meals.

Results showed that consumption of the eriocitrin-rich lemon extract resulted in higher circulating concentrations of flavanones, and an 11-fold increase of herperetin-derived metabolites, compared to the orange extract. “Our results suggest that lemon extract could enhance hesperetin generation in the gut mainly via eriodictyol formation through eriocitrin intake,” wrote the researchers. “In this way, the low solubility of hesperidin that severely hampers its metabolism by microbial rhamnosidases could be overcome.”

“The Mediterranean diet, with a high intake of fruits and vegetables, stands out as particularly heart-friendly and health-promoting. Citrus fruits play an important role in that eating pattern, especially in the winter months due to their rich source of flavanones such as eriocitrin," said Andrea Zangara, head of scientific communications and marketing for Euromed, in a press release. "Our eriocitrin-standardised compound is obtained from sustainably sourced Spanish whole lemons, processed with our proprietary, water-only extraction technology, the Pure-Hydro Process. We’re looking forward to the official launch of Wellemon at Vitafoods, when we will be making it available for new and existing customers.”

Reference

Ávila-Gálvez, MA et al. “New insights into the metabolism of the flavanones eriocitrin and hesperidin: a comparative human pharmacokinetic study.” Antioxidant, vol. 10, no. 3 (2021): 435