‘Stability and flexibility benefits’: Gnosis discusses first prebiotics derived from yeast at Asia expo

Gnosis by Lesaffre is the human health business unit of Lesaffre.

The company pointed out the above during Vitafoods Asia held in Bangkok between October 5 and 7.

Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia, ​Marc Philouze, general manager at Gnosis by Lesaffre, outlined the growing interest between prebiotics and gut health as the rationale for developing its first yeast-based patented prebiotic marketed as Lynside Immunity Prebiotic.

“People are becoming more interested in prebiotics which is also more stable as compared to probiotics. ​

“As it is more stable, prebiotics can be incorporated into various product formats,” ​Philouze said.

In simpler terms, prebiotics are ‘foods’ for probiotics – which are live beneficial bacteria.

As live bacteria, probiotics can be destroyed under high temperature and low pH levels and rendered ineffective. This could limit the types of dosage formats in which probiotics could be made into since they could not undergo high temperature processing. In some cases, the products might also need to be kept chilled. 

In particular, Lynside Immunity Prebiotic can be incorporated into dosage formats such as capsules and powder sticks.

Philouze added that the prebiotic, developed using two to three years, could provide benefits for the immune health.

“Interest in immunity has increased during the pandemic but for us, this was work in progress even before the pandemic.” ​

According to the firm, the probiotic consists of yeast cell walls extracted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae ​and has a composition of about 25 per cent beta-1,3 / 1,6 glucan fibers and 25 per cent mannans.

Through in vitro studies, it was found that the prebiotic may promote a balanced microbiota for different enterotypes and increase the concentration of the short-chain fatty acid propionate. 

“There is a growing understanding of health through the gut…We have utilised our expertise in yeast to develop prebiotics.​

“It is also an alternative to other prebiotics such as inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS),” ​he said.

Prior to the launch of Lynside Immunity Prebiotic, the company already has probiotics that are both bacteria and yeast-derived in its portfolio.

They are marketed under the names LifeinU BSCU 1 – a patented strain of Bacillus subtilis ​and Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii (S. boulardii) ​marketed under the names Biootic and Lynside Pro SCB.