SupplySide West Awards Ingredient Science

Pycnogenol, EpiCor, and DeltaGold were the three ingredients singled out this year by SupplySide West’s Scientific Excellence Awards. Awards were presented at the trade show last week.

Geneva-based Horphag Research was recognized for the 40 years of research, including more than 85 clinical studies, it has devoted to Pycnogenol, its French maritime pine bark ingredient linked to numerous health conditions. More than 230 scientific publications have featured Pycnogenol research, including a recent study in the June 2010 issue of Phytotherapy that associated Pycnogenol with a decrease in nasal and ocular irritation in those with allergies. In October, a study published in Panminerva Medica noted Pycnogenol as effective in relieving tinnitus symptoms by improving blood flow in the inner ear.

Embria Health Sciences’ (Ankeny, IA) EpiCor immune health ingredient was also honored for its significant scientific substantiation. Among the studies published this year alone was a clinical trial in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine that demonstrated that Epicor significantly reduced cold- and flu-like symptoms in non-vaccinated subjects, as well as a Urologic Nursing study that indicated Epicor reduced both the incidence and duration of cold and flu symptoms in vaccinated subjects. Another study published in Advances in Therapy linked EpiCor with reduced severity of allergy symptoms.

DeltaGold, a tocotrienol ingredient derived from annatto by American River Nutrition (Hadley, MA), also won an award. The ingredient, self-affirmed GRAS this past July, comprises 90% delta-tocotrienol and 10% gamma-tocotrienol and no tocopherol. This July, the company presented the results of a study of DeltaGold on pancreatic and melanoma cancer cells. A study on the cell death of prostate cancer cells was published last year in Nutrition and Cancer.