New Stability Data on Unique Encapsulated Vitamin K2

Growing awareness of vitamin K2’s benefits for bone and heart health is pushing new product activity in dietary supplements, functional foods, and beverages. But vitamin K2, especially when combined with minerals and also with multivitamins and nutritional oils like krill oil, can present stability problems, says vitamin K2 supplier Kappa Biosciences AS (Oslo, Norway). As such, the company recently completed a year-long stability study demonstrating that its recently launched K2Vital Delta microencapsulated ingredient maintains its potency.

The company introduced K2Vital Delta vitamink K2 MK-7 last May during the Vitafoods Europe trade show. Kappa Biosciences CEO Egil Greve explains that K2Vital Delta’s “double microencapsulated” beadlet technology is the “only one of its kind” and helps keep the ingredient stable when mixed in multivitamin and mineral formulations.

“The double coating is with gum arabic and starch, but the real benefit of the technology developed by a leading international life sciences company is the trapped air in these beadlets, which ensures unique stability,” he tells Nutritional Outlook.

In the recently concluded year-long shelf-life stability study, K2Vital Delta was tested at 25°C and lost less than 4% of its original activity, even when combined with minerals, the company says. It attributes this “strong stability” to the ingredient’s microencapsulation; by contrast, non-microencapsulated fat-soluble ingredients may find stability more challenging. For instance, the company says in its press materials, “The porous structure of calcium can have a detrimental effect on unprotected nutrients. One of the most common sources is calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is an alkaline compound and holds one of the highest concentrations of elemental calcium. Calcium carbonate is available in different quality levels, which have varying degrees of influence on MK-7 stability.”

Greve says that K2Vital Delta’s demonstrated stability “provides a unique freedom” to product developers, who can use the ingredient in a wide range of product formulas. It also may result in cost savings, Greve adds, because there is less loss of ingredient activity and thus less overage required during formulation in order to meet end-label claims.

All of Kappa Biosciences’ K2Vital vitamin K2 MK-7 ingredients are nature-identical. “The source material for all K2Vital products are of plant origin, followed by an organic synthesis, which is the only way to enable a nature-identical molecule to the vitamin found in nature,” Greve says.

The company cites K2Vital Delta as the fastest-growing ingredient its K2Vital line, with sales increasing over 500% since last April.

Greve points to high-growth and “enormous increased interest” in the vitamin K2 market in general. The company itself estimates that the vitamin K2 retail market will see a CAGR of 50% over the next five years. Greve adds, “I think this also goes for other K2 manufacturers, but due to the still-young industry segment, [there] are no general industry growth figures available.”

“Vitamin K2 is the link between calcium and vitamin D3, helping to ensure optimal absorption and binding of calcium into the bone matrix,” the company says. “Vitamin D3 increase the uptake of calcium from the intestine, and vitamin K2 helps incorporate calcium into the bone structure. These three-calcium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D3-could in fact be called the tri-essentials of bone health.”

Also read:

Vitamin K2 for Bone, Heart Health: Just the Tip of the Research Iceberg?

“Breakthrough” Vitamin K2 MK-7 Study Confirms Heart Benefits

Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine
jennifer.grebow@ubm.com

Photo © iStockphoto.com/Tolimir