Advancements in precision fermentation and NMN with Layn Natural Ingredients

Live from SupplySide Global 2025, Nutritional Outlook Associate Editor Erin McEvoy interviewed Jim Roza, chief scientific officer at Layn Natural Ingredients about the launch of its NMN ingredient and how it is different than others on the market. Roza also highlights additional ingredients made with precision fermentation, such as SteviUP M2, plus the advantages of precision fermentation.

Transcript

Erin McEvoy: Hello everyone. I'm here with Jim Roza at Lane Natural Ingredients, and thank you for joining us.

Jim Roza: It's my pleasure.

McEvoy: So what are you most excited to showcase with the launch of NMM at SupplySide Global?

Roza: Well, we're very proud to introduce our NMM because it has just recently been approved as a dietary supplement. And before that it was banned by FDA as being sold as a nutraceutical. And that's because of the fact that there was some research being done by a drug company. The industry was able to prove that it was actually sold as a supplement before any investigation of its use as a drug was being done. And so back in September of this year, FDA relented and said, okay, yes, it's approved as a dietary supplement. There is a lot of potential for healthy aging and longevity.

McEvoy: Excellent. So was NMN an ingredient that Layn Natural Ingredients was looking at prior to the FDA's decision?

Roza: Yes, definitely. This was something that we manufactured. We had basically purified and was ready to go. And what we did is we kept it on the back burner because of the fact that we were awaiting FDA's decision. So now that we got the green light to move forward with it, yes. We think this is going to be the, probably the most exciting new ingredient to come to the marketplace for 2025.

McEvoy: So what are some of the points of differentiation for this NMN compared to others on the market?

Roza: Right. You know, a lot of people are familiar with NAD, which NMN is a precursor to NAD, and NAD has gotten a lot of recognition because of the fact that it is really cellular energy, it propels the metabolism, and it is very effective in protecting DNA and chromosomes. And so a lot of people are familiar with NAD. One of the drawbacks with NAD is that when you ingest it orally, it's actually broken down to NMN. So what we've been able to show through scientific studies, that it is really more beneficial to take NMN, which actually is precursor to NAD, because taking as little as 250 milligrams of NMN a day will actually boost NAD levels two and a half times in blood serum.

So, NMN I think is a really more effective way of boosting NAD levels than taking it orally. It's been shown that if you really want to use NAD effectively, it needs to be administered intravenously and so one of the nice things about NMM, it's water soluble, it's self-stable. Ours is 99% pure and it's absorbed very rapidly. It has very low molecular weight and it, again, it really is very efficient in boosting NAD levels.

McEvoy: So what are some other innovations happening with Layn Natural Ingredients in terms of the precision fermentation and enzyme-based portfolio?

Roza: That would be our SteviUp M2, which is Reb-M. Most people when you speak of stevia are familiar with Reb-A. Reb-A of course, is the, probably the original stevia sweetener that came to the marketplace. One of the drawbacks of Reb-A, although it is a high intensity plant-based sweetener, it has a very bitter afternote. Reb-M, which is a minor glycoside, which is also found in the stevia leaf, has been shown to have a much better taste profile than Reb-A. It has a taste more akin to sucrose, very neutral flavor. It has very strong onset sweeteners, but there's no lingering aftertaste. One of the challenges with Reb-M though is that it's not very soluble. We have been able to produce a Reb-M SteviUp M2 using precision fermentation that is water soluble. So it's application for beverages, drinks, and food is enhanced because of its solubility. So that's one of the things that we're doing through fermentation that we think is really kind of the next generation stevia.

McEvoy: And what are some of the advantages of using precision fermentation from a product quality and supply chain standpoint?

Roza: From a product quality, with precision fermentation, you're able to really purify these ingredients to a level of 98, 99%. So really, it's almost quasi pharmaceutical in terms of its purity. So that's one of the advantages. When you're extracting something from a botanical, obviously there are other factors that you need to account for, like heavy metals, things of that nature. Other ingredients, for example, like resveratrol. One of the ingredients that's found in Japanese knotweed is emodin. And so, for example, if you're producing resveratrol from the Japanese knotweed, you have to be careful about the emodin level because it has a laxative effect. With precision fermentation, you don't have that. You can really just concentrate something and not worry about other factors that might have some adverse or negative effects.

The other thing is that you're not really dependent on biomass. You can use yeast or different bacteria to actually produce these high-grade ingredients and not have to worry about harvesting, product variability, being subject to the vicissitudes of mother nature in terms of its availability. The other reason is that it really has very high output and you can really produce things at a much lower cost.

McEvoy: Alright, thank you.

Roza: Alright, great.