Ensuring the stability of menaquinone ingredients can be as complex as the finished product formulations that brand owners are creating. Research shows that moisture and mineral salts are critical variables for degradation, driving the need for a protective technology to shelter the menaquinone molecules during their shelf-life.
Depending on the final formulation and application, expertise is required to ensure the correct ingredient solution is provided. With more complex mineral formulations, though, the question is: how to protect that molecule throughout its formulation and shelf-life?
To that end, Gnosis by Lesaffre has introduced an enhanced protective technology: Vitamin K2 Matrix. This latest innovation is the result of a proprietary technology that protects the particles of MK-7 with no coating, no additives and no additional ingredients, making it a true clean-label alternative for formulators.
Sweetening the deal, Gnosis just launched an award-winning protective technology with its premium clinically validated vitamin K2 as MK-7: MenaQ7. The company not only launched this novel new offer at SupplySide West 2022, but also showcased the versatility of MenaQ7 in some novel delivery formats that earned a lot of attention.
Stability issues addressed
According to Dr Sophie Legrain-Raspaud, Global Research and Applications Director with Gnosis by Lesaffre: “Stability is a constant issue facing commercial partners with the desire to create complex vitamin K2 formulations."
"Historically, our R&D team has been able to guide them through the process to ensure their products were stable. With Matrix, that process is now more efficient because the matrix carrier embeds the K2 as MK7 particles in the product, thus enabling to reach the market much faster.”
Vitamin K2 Matrix addresses the concern of moisture and mineral salts potentially degrading the stability of the menaquinone molecule, providing a less cumbersome and more predictable formulation process for complex K2 products. In addition, Vitamin K2 Matrix offers
- improved homogeneity of the powder, making it easier to handle and formulate
- best-in-class stability, especially with mineral complexes
- the ability for formulas to keep a short and unchanged list of ingredients with no additives.
“This is an important improvement that we are excited to share with our commercial partners and the global market,” adds Xavier Berger, Global Market Manager at Gnosis by Lesaffre. “Enhancing the protection of the MK-7 molecule is a crucial element for those seeking to explore complex formulations that will truly impact health.”
“Our team has worked extensively to ensure that our innovation was unique to the market and, most importantly, that it would have a tremendous impact on those with a vision for what the market needs.”
“Further, what we offer is not an adaptation of an existing technology previously utilised for other ingredients,” Berger adds: “Matrix was explicitly developed for vitamin K2.”
Matrix comes with no coating, no additive and no additional ingredient. It offers the shortest list of ingredients (limited to the active molecule and a carrier). The technology supports supplements in traditional formats, such as tablets and capsules, that combine K2 with complex minerals, as well as fostering the penetration of vitamin K2 in new delivery systems such as ready-to-drink applications including protein or milk powders.
“At its core, Matrix offers formulators versatility. Whether they are creating products based on synergistic combinations versus innovative complex formulations, or a traditional format versus a formulation that requires specific delivery technology, Matrix makes it easy to incorporate vitamin K2,” says Berger.
“At the heart of clean label is the demand to use ingredients with real nutritional benefits that are as close to their natural state as possible, such as those from natural sources, and to avoid highly processed ingredients, such as those from genetically modified organisms or chemical synthesis.”
Selecting the right vitamin K2
Contrary to widespread belief, not all vitamin K2s are the same. Only one vitamin K2 as MK-7 has been the source material in more than 22 human clinical trials published in respected peer-reviewed journals.
Those trials have been conducted in healthy and patient populations, involving children and adults, to confirm both bone and heart benefits for adults, and bone benefits for children. And only one K2 as MK-7 is patented for cardiovascular health, which is MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7.
“Gnosis by Lesaffre is a guarantor of quality in all that we do, which is why MenaQ7 is such an important piece of our portfolio. The MenaQ7 brand carries a stellar reputation built on an unprecedented body of clinical evidence and patents, produced to the highest quality standards,” says Marc Philouze, General Manager with Gnosis by Lesaffre.
“Applying the Matrix protective technology to MenaQ7 ensures a smoother process for formulators to bring any product concept they can bring to life. More importantly, it ensures that consumers receive the clinically validated benefits they rightfully expect.”
Novel delivery formats
Consumers are actively seeking combination formulas that deliver multiple health benefits in a wide range of delivery formats. MenaQ7 Matrix allows manufacturers to meet that demand, creating complex formulations that deliver the health benefits promised by vitamin K2 in traditional formats as well as more innovative ones that are on-trend.
Along with introducing MenaQ7 Matrix at SupplySide West 2022, Gnosis by Lesaffre also highlighted the potential of MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7 in novel delivery formats. The first was combining MenaQ7 K2 with vitamin D3 in a gummy format. Attendees enjoyed the sweet tang of a chewy vitamin that simultaneously supports bone and heart health.
“Vitamins K2 and D3 are at the heart of ‘better together’ formulations. Whereas D3 synthesises K-dependent proteins that support heart and bone health, K2 is required to activate those proteins,” explains Berger.
“By utilising this popular delivery format for MenaQ7 K2 and vitamin D3, manufacturers can strongly position finished products for both children and healthy ageing, with unmatched clinical support.”
Yet the company took things a step further. Working with a long-time partner, Gnosis was able to highlight the potential of this potent combination in a dissolvable oral strip. “The MenaQ7 K2 and D3 oral strips were very well received by the dietary supplement industry and the feedback was very positive,” adds Berger.
“Indeed, brands are looking for innovative ways to provide all benefits of vitamin K2 to young generations and enlightened consumers, who want to experience dietary supplements in a unique way. This existing delivery system is completely in line with consumer needs for on-the-go solutions as well as those wrestling with pill fatigue.”