The science behind the extract ApplePhenon and the antioxidant AstaZine astaxanthin

Live from SupplySide Global 2025, Nutritional Outlook Associate Editor Erin McEvoy interviews Lixin Ding, chief scientific officer at BGG, discussing the upcycled apple extract ApplePhenon and the antioxidant AstaZine astaxanthin. Ding highlights the health benefits of the extract, including cardiovascular support, blood sugar reduction, and weight management, plus the skin health benefits from the microalgae-derived AstaZine astaxanthin.

Erin McEvoy: Hello everyone. I'm here at BGG with Lixin. Thank you for joining us. Could you tell us more about the ApplePhenon extract and the research surrounding it?

Lixin Ding: Yeah, sure. ApplePhenon is naturally derived ingredient that is produced from upcycling apples, more specifically unripe apples that are normally singled out during cultivation. So basically, is this example of upcycling agriculture side products and turning it into something valuable, and it is a patented and highly concentrated polymeric procyanidins, which plays a very important role in its biological capabilities because of the improved synergistic effect caused by this special structure. The ApplePhenon has been very well studied, backed by over 50, I would say, 50 scientific research and 17, human critical validations. So in terms of weight management or metabolic syndromes, it supports the benefits from three pillar aspect, which is the cardiovascular support and blood sugar reduction and the weight management. We have four human studies supporting the weight management and metabolic health through these three key pillars.

McEvoy: And how about the antioxidant AstaZine and beverage formulations?

Ding: AstaZine astaxanthin is a natural carotenoid derived from a microalgae called Haematococcus pluvialisis. It is so far found to be the strongest natural antioxidant in the world. It has benefits span from cardiovascular, skin health, anti-allergy, joint health. So it has a broad range of health benefits. So in terms of the skin health we have, our focus is on its anti UV properties. So basically is to protect your skin cells from the UV radiation.

McEvoy: So what kind of innovations are you going to expect to see with these two extracts?

Ding: You mean like the application, delivery doses, things like that? ApplePhenon itself is a very easy material to play with because it is very soluble in water, also it's acid, heat, and light stable, and the water solubility is very good. So that gives us a big, I would say a broad range of delivery performance forms, from beverages, gummies, tablets, even the cosmetic and personal care products. So AstaZine astaxanthin, we developed what we call micro encapsulated technology to convert the astaxanthin oil, which is not soluble in water, into a photo form, which can be dispersed in water, forming homogeneous dispersion, which actually benefits its application in beverage formats.

McEvoy: All right. Thank you.

Ding: Thank you.