Omya has launched a functionalized mineral to support stability of probiotic formulations

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Omya (Oftringen, Switzerland) has developed a new mineral solution for the stability, performance, and survival rates of probiotics during formulation and delivery to the gut. Developed in collaboration with a leading contract research company called Nizo, the ingredient was found to be an effective stabilizing agent during spray drying, shelf-life, and in vitro digestion of microorganisms, outperforming maltodextrin. This is because of the mineral’s strong water-binding properties and significant buffering capacity.

To determine efficacy of the functionalized mineral, Nizo performed research on Lactobacillus Plantarum WCFS1 – one of the most studied probiotics. The probiotic cultures were mixed with either maltodextrin or Omya’s mineral solution, and spray dried to evaluate survival rates. In order to assess their stability during digestion and shelf-life, the powders were separately blended with skim milk powder or pressed into tablets using lactose as an excipient. Using an in vitro digestion model, Nizo found that Omya’s mineral solution outperformed maltodextrin in both delivery matrices, delivering up to 1000 times more probiotic bacteria.

“Public awareness of gut health and its importance for wellbeing and immune health is growing. Furthermore, interest in supporting the immune system has increased massively, particularly in light of the pandemic. More and more people want to support their intestinal flora with probiotics,” said Stefan Lander, vice president consumer goods, group sales & marketing at Omya, in a press release. “Our new functionalized mineral offers lots of possibilities for innovative probiotic formulations and positionings.”