US-based natural products ingredients specialist DolCas Biotech has added a highly concentrated all-natural ginger root extract – branded as Ginfort – to its growing portfolio of better-for-you botanicals. The patented bioactive, formulated by Olene Life Sciences. in India, carries an approved digestive support claim and rounds out Dolcas’ strongbox of structural, functional health ingredients.
Ginfort’s proprietary extraction process is designed to solve common challenges formulators encounter in meeting the three key parameters of an effective nutraceutical ingredient: achieving low-dose actives, providing high clinical effectiveness, and maintaining stability. Its high-potency action is owed to a blend of food-grade inactives applied to a base material of solvent-free extracts of ginger oleoresins. CO2 is used to isolate and enrich the gingeroids and other ginger actives.
“The unique extraction process for Ginfort optimizes the functionality and potency of the oleoresin and other actives in ginger, bringing the millennia-long medicinal uses of ginger to the forefront of science and market development,” says Vivek A. Parachur, co-founder and CEO of Olene.
Ginger has been highly prized in ancient Chinese and Indian (Ayurveda) traditions not only for its culinary properties but as a powerful medicinal, especially as a prominent reliever of stomach distress. The underground rhizome of the ginger plant holds the bulk of its beneficial properties, most of which are attributed to the presence of volatile oils.
Gingerol is the most predominant bioactive compound of ginger and is responsible for its characteristic pungent flavor, and the 6-gingerol form is, the most prominent gingeroid. It also is acclaimed for its spasmolytic activity on the gut wall and its capacity to normalize gut motility. The phenolic compound also is noted for its anti-inflammatory and protective role over gastrointestinal membranes and other tissue types.
The digestive health-supporting nonvolatile oil components of ginger — gingerols and shogaols — make up less than 3% of fresh ginger. In dried extracts these actives have till now only been successfully enriched by 5% to 10%, with higher concentrates raising concerns for stability as exposure to heat and lengthy processing methods irreversibly convert gingerols and shogaols, into lesser active paradols.
Ginfort’s patented production process concentrates the highly lipophilic gingeroids to 26% standard and simultaneously stabilizes them in their respective concentrations without compromising on the free-flowing material. Of the 26% standard, more than half of it is maintained as 6-gingerol.
Ginfort has been thoroughly evaluated for safety per OECD guidelines, and a new study endorsing its beneficial role on dyspepsia is set to be published in the coming months. “This upcoming study on digestive health will be among many studies trials to be performed on Ginfort, as the clinical possibilities are endless,” adds K.G.Rao, DolCas President and CEO. “An internal commitment to keep our brands commercially relevant through expanding and evolving science portfolios are key elements of our mission, but foundationally it begins with pioneering collaborations — such as we have developed with Olene.
Ginfort can be applied to powder fills, soft gels and liquid capsules. The possibility of integrating it into lozenges is also being assessed. It is Halal-certified and is in the process of securing Kosher certification.
