Lipofoods, SLU, launches its palm-free LIPOPHYTOL® phytosterol system. This highly concentrated, water-dispersible source of plant sterols in an easy-to-use format is designed to support cardiovascular health. It will be introduced at Vitafoods, Geneva on May 9-11, booth No. F52.

Grand View Research, Inc., reports that the global phytosterols market is estimated to reach USD 989.8 million by 2020, growing at an expected CAGR of 7.2%0. Phytosterols are steroid compounds derived from plants. They are comparable to cholesterol in the structural behavior and functionality, and thus compete with cholesterol during absorption in the digestive system. This can help decrease cholesterol uptake and lower cholesterol in the blood.

While phytosterols have been shown to help lower total serum cholesterol, due to insolubility in water incorporating them into food and beverage formulations has been challenging.

“LIPOPHYTOL® provides an innovative delivery system with a demonstrated ability to increase phytosterol solubility in food and beverage matrices,” explains Isabel Gomez, marketing manager for Lipofoods. “It enables the easy incorporation of phytosterols into a range of food and beverage products. Processors can avoid preparing the emulsion and thus can improve the manufacturing processes in terms of time and costs.

LIPOPHYTOL® is a fine powder in a ready-to use formulation. “Just pour it into, and mix it into the food application”, note Gomez. “Sterol esters have to be emulsified, so manufacturers should increase the temperature of the formulations in order to add sterol esters appropriately.”

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has approved the following claims for a daily intake of 1.5-2.4 g of plant sterols: plant sterols have been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol; plant sterols/stanols contribute to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels.

LIPOPHYTOL® helps to reach the daily dosage of phytosterols with less product amount in comparison to sterol esters. “Sterol ester contains 60% of plant sterols while LIPOPHYTOL® contains 90% so less product can be added to final products to achieve the same results. Studies in vivo have shown that LIPOPHYTOL® is more effective than raw phytosterols in decreasing CVD-associated risk factors of a high fat diet. These results indicate that LIPOPHYTOL® decreases the levels of triglycerides more effectively than raw phytosterols in the long term. Altogether, the results suggest that LIPOPHYTOL® is more effective than raw phytosterols decreasing the hypertriglyceridemia and against atherogenesis under a high fat diet, demonstrating microencapsulation technology enhances the activity of phytosterols.

This new LIPOPHYTOL® formulation was developed without the use of palm-oil derivatives, based on growing consumer concerns over refined palm oil and awareness of the ecological impact of standard palm oil cultivation.

Lipofoods, a Lubrizol Company, specializes in the development and production of microencapsulated functional ingredients, providing nutritional and technical solutions for the food, beverage and dietary supplement industries.

Visit us at Vitafoods, Co Exhibitor with Denk Ingredients GmbH, Stand #F52