Five minutes at FI Europe  with … 

Oliver Wolf
Head of B2B Marketing (global)

Agro Food Industry Hi-Tech: What are the health benefits that you are focusing on?

Oliver Wolf: We have different collagen peptides targeting different parts of the body. We offer for example a product of collagen peptides named BODYBALANCE^® that increases muscle mass and body toning, improving the muscle-fat balance when practicing resistance exercise. We did randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled studies of people doing resistance training with or without BODYBALANCE^®. A supplementation of 15 grams per day of BODYBALANCE^® shows a significant impact on the training effects.

AF: Does it target only sportspeople?
OW: It targets physically active population, of course, but it is also an asset against sarcopenia. Elderly people tend to eat protein-poor diets and lose muscle mass while aging, as a part of the normal aging process. We studied how resistance exercise slows down muscle loss in elders and we found that BODYBALANCE® strengthens significantly the effect of the exercise. This can be part of interventions helping the aging population to maintain a good quality of life. I believe that the healthy aging is one of the most important trends that GELITA aims to follow, along with sports nutrition.

AF: This is interesting because several collagen-based products target joins or bones, and as such it seems to complement nicely.
OW: Exactly. Our portfolio wants to integrate products in a complete set for physical health. We have a line of Bioactive Collagen Peptides® to stimulate joint, ligament, bone health by helping cells producing more collagen – in particular our FORTIGEL® is meant to improve the action of chondrocytes to increase the metabolism of extracellular matrix in the joint cartilage. In this range we also offer collagen peptides working in the field of cosmeceuticals, or “beauty from within”. VERISOL® is working in a similar way. It stimulates the fibroblasts in the dermis to produce more collagen and elastin. The effect is clear: more collagen means more moisture in the skin, improved elasticity, wrinkle reduction and minimizing the signs of cellulite.

AF: What about the bioavailability of these peptides?
OW: Our studies show that the peptides are indeed highly bioavailable. They are easily absorbed through the intestinal wall into the blood stream then accumulate in the target organs where they do their ‘magic’. The secret for obtaining the different collagen peptides differing in size and structure – optimized for the desired application area – is having a specific production process enabling a defined and controlled hydrolysis of the native collagen. The tricky part is to find the right enzymes and the right production process to have the desired peptide size range. In this way we get the individual peptides stimulating the respective cells in the joint cartilage, skin bone or muscle to increase their metabolic activity.

AF: Is taste a problem with collagen peptides, as it is for some other protein hydrolisates?

OW: Not at all, remarkably. They have no flavour, no odour, they are practically completely neutral. In comparison to whey proteins, for example, that tend to be bitter, this is a huge advantage. You can put them in drinks, bars or other foods without any effect on flavour. For example here at FIE we show a concept based on a protein bar. Bars are a growing, very important staple of sport nutrition, and they are a very interesting market, not only for sport professionals but in general for active people. However it is hard to concentrate more than a certain amount of protein into a bar. With collagen you can pack bars with up to 60% protein, while retaining a reasonable texture allowing you to chew the bar, for example.

AF: What is going to happen in the future of GELITA?
OW: One new innovation will be launched next year: we have studies running on a product geared towards tendons and ligaments, in the same fashion of other products of our line targeting the skin, the joints or bones. The studies are still to be published, so I cannot anticipate much, but they are definitely promising. The peptides called TENDOFORTE® will be important for sports people: they will be able to train harder, recover faster and avoiding ligament strain.