DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences is debuting a new cultures line that contains its premium HOWARU probiotics which are specially designed for fermented plant-based products, keeping pace with key health, wellness, taste and texture trends. Digestive health remains top-of-mind for consumers while digestive wellness continues to be one of the top global trends for 2019. The growing demand for digestive health and functional products is, therefore, diversifying product development. DuPont’s new cultures lines is part of the on-going company strategy to invest and expand in probiotics.

The DuPont Danisco VEGE cultures range offers desired taste and texture profiles in non-dairy applications. 

New additions to this range – HOWARU Dophilus VG, which contains Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and HOWARU Bifido VG, which contains Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 – have highly documented, positive results in human studies for digestive health and well-being, according to DuPont.

This range is non-dairy, non-animal, non-allergen, non-GMO and suitable for vegan diets. Available in single-strain form, DuPont claims it’s also easy to integrate with existing cultures used in plant-based fermented food and beverage formulations.

“Digestive wellness is one of the top global trends for 2019. As consumers continue to make health and wellness part of their daily routines, they’re looking for benefit-focused options,” says Sonia Huppert, Global Product Leader, Plant-based Products at DuPont. 

“Digestive health is an area wher consumers can feel the benefits immediately. Symptoms like bloating and irregularity are treated with diet changes and with new products. Innovations in fermentation and probiotics can truly deliver solutions in this area,” she notes.

According to Innova Market Insights data, the use of probiotics increased by 9.5 percent in 2017 vs. 2016. The leading category for product launches tracked globally in 2017 was Dairy (60 percent). The leading probiotics used in all 2017 food & beverages launches tracked were Streptococcus Thermophilus (29 percent), Lactobacillus Acidophilus (26 percent) and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus (25 percent). The most featured health positionings with a positive growth from 2016 to 2017 were Probiotics (+27 percent), Gluten Free (+3.2 percent) and High/Source of Protein (+42 percent).

Validated by robust clinical trials, the HOWARU brand is a high activity, premium probiotic product with high performance, high stability and high functionality as its hallmark traits, notes DuPont. 

DuPont Danisco VEGE cultures were developed for a wide-ranging variety of plant-based raw materials, such as soy, peas, coconut, almond, nuts, oat, maize, rice, fruits and vegetables. This can satisfy consumer taste and texture expectations – from typical and appealing fresh, clean and mild flavors to new, pleasant unexpected flavors.

“We have the broadest portfolio for plant-based fermented foods and beverages and a deep passion to not only help deliver the food experience consumers desire, but also to bring the health benefits they’re continually seeking,” says Didier Carcano, Global Marketing Leader, Cultures, DuPont. 

“We aim to continue investing in this area, growing our probiotics expansion efforts and working with our customers to create essential health solutions for growth opportunities across the globe,” Carcano adds.

Last October, the DuPont Nutrition & Health team in South America introduced DuPont Danisco Lactobacillus Plus, which is the balanced combination of robust strains of L. paracasei, helveticus and acidophilus to produce fermented milk. The robust strains promote an excellent balance between flavor and acidity, in addition to optimizing the production process with a rapid time of fermentation, according to the company.