High-potency ginger and high-bioavailability curcumin are the “next big things” for OmniActive at SupplySide West 2021

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A high-potency ginger extract and one of its highest-bioavailability curcumin ingredients yet were the two main focuses for OmniActive Health Technologies (Morristown, NJ) at October’s SupplySide West trade show.

Gingever

Ginger is gaining presence in the digestive health market. In Gingever, OmniActive's high-potency, standardized ginger extract, the company is hoping to serve the market with a reliable ingredient.

Gingever’s high potency is achieved via supercritical extraction. The high potency is attractive to natural product consumers seeking a fast-acting supplement for digestive support.

“One of the things that makes Gingever unique is the fact that it’s high potency, because when you think about it, when you’re having issues with your digestive system, the last thing you want to do is take multiple, huge pills to get all the benefits you would need from a ginger,” explained Sara Zoet, senior expert, global communications, OmniActive Health Technologies, at SupplySide West. With Gingever, she said, “in a very small dose, with just one little tiny softgel, you can pack in the same benefits as you would with maybe 1000 mg of regular ginger, [which would require] maybe four much bigger pills. So that’s one of its big claims to fame.”

Gingever is also proposed for pregnant individuals suffering nausea or morning sickness. For those people, Zoet added, the ability to take just one small pill is advantageous. OmniActive also recently achieved an independent conclusion of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for Gingever.

Said Zoet: “Although we don’t have clinical trials on ginger right now, Gingever ginger comes with a huge breadth of general research, so for us, being able to provide a clean ginger product that’s high potency has been something people are really interested in.”

Curcuwin Ultra+

This September, OmniActive launched Curcuwin Ultra+, which the company says a clinical study showed to be 144-times more bioavailable than standard curcumin thanks to the company’s Ultrasol technology.

Like Gingever, Curcuwin Ultra+ gives consumers the benefits of being able to take a lower dose since the ingredient is more bioavailable. “This is one of the highest-bioavailable curcumins that we offer, at 144 times over standard curcumin,” said Zoet, “so what that actually translates into is that you get all the benefits of Curcuwin Ultra+ in one pill as you would with 30 pills of standard curcumin. That’s a big leap.” It’s also lower-cost-in-use for both manufacturer and end-use customer, she added.

Curcuwin Ultra+ also offers taste benefits. “One of the great things about Curcuwin and actually all of our curcumin products is that they have a great organoleptic profile,” Zoet said. “Sometimes, with some of the other ingredients that have additives that help with bioavailability, there are organoleptic issues. Ours tastes great. This one in particular formulates really well in beverages, gummies, and juice. These are all the deliveries that consumers are now demanding, going beyond capsules and tablets into different, more delicious on-the-go options.”

Following curcumin’s “meteoric rise” with consumers five or six years ago, Zoet said curcumin sales still “seem to be holding true. Consumers know it across the board. It’s not that big sell anymore to consumers where you need to educate them too much,” she said. “They know that, even holistically, that it’s just good for us…so we think that it’s going to stay the course.”