Valensa International unveiled the availability of Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin in a powdered, water-soluble and flavorless form, creating opportunities to incorporate the powerful antioxidant into multiple natural food and beverage applications.
 
“This is a breakthrough for the industry. We’re bringing a water-dispersible and functional, enriched astaxanthin in a powder format that does not have the typical flavor profile, while achieving important commercial shelf life targets of up to 24 months,” said Umasudan C.P., Valensa CEO, who has 20 years in the natural products industry and mentioned he has seen a lack of innovation in new delivery formats for natural-sourced ingredients from botanicals to microalgae. “This is a game-changing innovation in providing convenient dosage forms that expand opportunities for this powerful antioxidant, that research continues to confirm plays an important role in healthy aging, especially for joint and eye health.”
 
In addition, the company said the new Zanthin powder preserves its nutritional profile while increasing overall bioavailability, so the body absorbs a high percentage of astaxanthin.
 
“Through the microencapsulation process, we’re able to make a water insoluble, non-polar carotenoid be absorbed easily so astaxanthin’s power can have affect throughout the body,” Umasudan C.P. said. “The result is a water-soluble, natural astaxanthin powder that is highly bioavailable, dissolves clear into beverages, and carries no objectionable odor or flavor.”
 
Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin is a key active component in many of Valensa’s formulations that mediate joint discomfort, help maintain good eye health, maintain healthy lipid profiles for cardiovascular health, and can cross the blood-brain barrier to support healthy aging. 
 
Astaxanthin has been studied extensively and has demonstrated benefits which derive from strong antioxidant activity enhanced by its ability to span the cell’s lipid bilayer and neutralize excess reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus reducing the amount of inflammation caused by ROS.
 
To obtain the powdered form of Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin, Valensa extracts astaxanthin using its patented Deep Extract Supercritical CO₂ technology and protects the concentrated lipid, an oleoresin, with the O2B stabilization process. Then, powered by Esolv, the proprietary technology for oil microencapsulation from Virun Nutra-Biosciences, the Zanthin oleoresin is transformed into powder, with 10-22 nm-sized micelles which can be easily dispersed in food and beverages and ideally-sized for bioavailability.
 
According to Philip Bromley, Virun CEO, “We take Valensa’s Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin and deodorize it through a natural bicarbonate process, and then encapsulate the oil into micelles that are spray-dried. By creating the micelle structure, we put the oil into a form that is water soluble, highly bioavailable, and can even dissolve clear into beverages, all-the-while maintaining no fishy taste. So far we have developed about successful, finished product prototypes with powdered Zanthin such as stick packs, pouches, bars, multi-serving smoothies, shots, beverages and more.”
 
According to Stephen Hill, Valensa vice president of product development and regulatory, the timing couldn’t be more perfect to introduce this innovation.
 
“We had just completed the pilot trials and were testing the waters for this concept with our customers,” said Hill, who has led many new products to the market during his 18 years at Valensa International. “Within days, we had to accelerate scale-up to deliver to the market demand. Valensa’s customers are excited to have this new format of Zanthin available.”