LBiome delivers gut health and immunity benefits

More and more consumers are aware that gut health influences overall health and wellbeing. This trend is supported by mounting scientific evidence that links a healthy microbiome to a strong immune response. Recent findings have also made clear that an imbalance in the microbiome can lead to chronic disorders like inflammatory bowel disease and mental health issues.

Taken together, this growing awareness and interest in gut health, along with clinical evidence, is driving consumer demand for microbiome-supporting products.

Biotics – including pre, pro, and post-biotics - have established themselves as mainstream solutions to maintaining a healthy microbiome and are found in a range of products that consumers feel confident using. At Vitafoods 2023, ADARE BIOME will demonstrate the functionalities of its postbiotic ingredient LBiome and explain how formulators can communicate the benefits of postbiotics to consumers.

Highlighting the functional benefits of LBiome

LBiome is a natural, stable, and safe postbiotic ingredient. It can be used across a range of functional food and beverages, supplements, and pet food. Critically, LBiome can be mixed with other ingredients, enabling formulators to tap into the growing demand for complex formulas that deliver a range of functionalities. LBiome is backed by almost 50 published studies, with clinical evidence supporting its effectiveness in shielding the gut from undesirable bacteria and enabling beneficial gut bacteria to flourish.

“LBiome is a combination of two human-origin strains: L. fermentum and L. delbrueckii, along with a fermented culture medium enriched with active substances," explains R&D director Erik Eckhardt.

“Both our proprietary strains are stored at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. With more than 100 years of research and optimisation, LBiome is the pioneer postbiotic. We have decades of published research demonstrating quick and effective maintenance of digestive health in both adult and paediatric populations."

In addition, LBiome is produced using the company's unique ECHO process, which enriches, concentrates, and heat-treats micro-organisms. “With this treatment, LBiome is fully stabilised,” says Eckhardt. “This process, along with our high-quality standards, enable the large-scale [Current Good Manufacturing Practice] CGMP production of our ingredient.”

Role of postbiotics in healthy nutrition

While products associated with prebiotics and probiotics are most common on the market, interest in postbiotics is increasing dramatically. Postbiotics – preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components - have been shown to have health benefits.

For example, postbiotics – including organic acids, bacteriocins, carbonic substances, and enzymes - can support the immune system, help prevent or treat diarrhea, and even reduce the severity of some allergies. Postbiotics also contain antimicrobial properties and can help to lower blood sugar levels. This has led to a clear scientific consensus that a balanced diet that includes postbiotics can significantly contribute to maintaining and improving health.

Adare Biome sees an opportunity to communicate to consumers how pre, pro, and postbiotics can provide more holistic gut protection.

“Although the definition of 'postbiotics' is relatively new, our activities date back more than a century,” explains ADARE president Ludger Roedder. “The solutions we offer today were created at the beginning of the 20th century by French physician Dr. Boucard.”

In 1907, Dr. Boucard isolated microorganisms from stools of human origin with positive effects on digestive health. To deepen his research, he decided to heat-treat these microorganisms to improve their stability and their safety, and to study those microorganisms after heat treatment. The outcome was groundbreaking: the inactivated microorganisms proved to have positive effects on patients with diarrhea. Postbiotics had just been discovered.

“Dr. Boucard went on to develop a pioneering anti-diarrheal drug: an iconic product, Lacteol, Adare Biome's historical product, was born,” continues Roedder. “Our business is a direct legacy of these historical discoveries that we build upon and continue to evolve.”

Increasing popularity of postbiotics

The term ‘postbiotics’ is becoming more widespread these days, especially in the field of research. ‘Postbiotics’ covers heat-killed or non-viable microorganisms, which deliver beneficial effects. Indeed, the term is becoming trendy, especially since the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) published a consensus statement regarding the definition and scope of this term.

Postbiotics are referred to here as a ‘preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host'. If prebiotics are the substrate for the culture and probiotics the seed, then postbiotics are the harvest.

“As a pioneer in postbiotics, we have thoroughly explored and continue to study the benefits of our ingredient,” says Roedder. “LBiome is the ultimate postbiotic, containing not only intact inactivated cell bodies but also supernatant with active molecules and metabolites produced during the fermentation stage; all these components participate in the effectiveness of LBiome. We are excited to meet participants at Vitafoods 2023 and to introduce them to LBiome in detail and talk about the exciting world of postbiotics. You can find our team at booth O54.”