|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Making nutra & supplements more palatable
|
|
Wednesday, 06 May, 2026, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
|
|
Jagadish S. Pai
|
Dietary guidelines, globally, have always been recommending well-balanced diet for healthy growth and maintenance. However, under certain circumstances including urban societies, lifestyle changes and some others, it becomes difficult to always have proper meals that are nutritionally balanced. This necessitates use of supplements to provide the missing nutrients. This also is the case when a person is recuperating from ailment or pregnant and lactating women, that their nutritional needs are not properly met with the diet.
In addition to nutrients, there are some substances called nutraceuticals that provide some health benefits, especially to reduce the risks of certain diseases such as cardio-vascular disorders and cancer. Both nutraceuticals and nutrient supplements have become very common and their markets are growing, globally, including in India.
The additional nutrients and supplements are commonly dispensed in the form of either liquid or powder or tablets/capsules. As these forms are normally not very palatable, there is a reluctance in readily taking them. Recently, a new format has appeared that has quickly become popular and that is gummies.
Gummies earlier made appearance as gelatine-based candy for kids. Later pectin and other gum-based confectioneries were developed with different flavours and colours. Their popularity grew beyond children and even adults liked them. This popularity sparked an idea among nutrient supplement makers to use this for a variety of supplements and nutraceuticals and even some medicines. This idea became instantly successful as not just children but adults and even seniors were drawn to it. While there are certainly a lot of benefits of this format of nutraceuticals, one must also keep in mind some of the problems of this.
Acceptability is the major benefit of this format. There is hardly anyone who dislikes this form of supplement. One can have all kinds of forms, shapes with attractive colours and flavours being used. Customers can always choose the one they like the most. This has replaced lozenges to a great extent because of its mouthfeel. While lozenges take a long time to consume, so although the pleasure sometimes may be longer-lasting, it is difficult to bite because of hardness and sometimes difficult to swallow whole.
Gummies, on the other hand, are chewable and could be enjoyed and swallowed easily. This is especially for those seniors who have difficulty in swallowing. Another big advantage of gummies is the greater bioavailability compared to tablets and capsules. Gummies spend more time in mouth where they start dissolving and interacting with oral mucosa. This allows them for buccal absorption especially for nutrients designed to work quickly or in small doses. Vitamins C, B12 and D get easily absorbed in buccal cavity. In a study with healthy participants received vitamin D3 as single dose gummies or tablets were tested. Vitamin D3 gummies had greater bioavailability than tablets, with higher vit D concentration over time. Thus, gummy format may work faster with higher efficiency.
Taste and texture are two parameters that are critical in these products. Texture depends on the gelling agent that provides not just desired consistency but also must be compatible with the active ingredients, nutraceuticals and/or supplements. Gelling agents commonly used may be gelatine, pectin or alginate. Gelatine may not be acceptable to vegetarians or vegans.
In order to make it palatable, there is sugar used for sweetness along with the various colours. As health professionals complained about these and also consumers wanted cleaner label, there have been gummies using natural colours and flavours with vegan options available. One of the main drawbacks was excess sugar through these gummies. However, as technologies allow microencapsulation and advanced gelling techniques, higher doses as well as use of sweeteners and other means or reducing sugar content, makes it possible to have less sugar consumed through gummies.
There is one difficulty with gummies about the stability of nutrients. Many vitamins and some nutraceuticals are less stable in gummies compared to tablets or capsules. So, the manufacturers tend to use higher amounts as overages and consumers may get variable amounts depending on the freshness of the product. Thus, standardisation is a problem. There are technological developments such as microencapsulation that may help stabilise some of the nutrients.
One more difficulty that is envisaged is that consumers, especially the younger ones, may like these so much because they are very much like candies. They may overconsume these and cause several problems like overdosing on some nutrients, having excessive calories, and also expose themselves to tooth decay in case these are not sugarless. Thus there should be strict control over this problem.
Overall, there are benefits for these delivery formats for nutraceuticals and nutrient supplements. However, it must be recognised that there are some drawbacks too. Therefore, strict and proper labelling should be prominently displayed in order to avoid the misuse of these.
In spite of difficulties, there has been a steady growth of gummies applications for nutraceuticals. The global nutraceutical gummies market is estimated to be about US$12.54 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach about US$37.22 billion in 10 years with a robust growth. There are certain segments of consumers especially seeking health benefits such as immune boosters, multivitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, and probiotics. These segments include people who are more aware of health and demand products to mitigate risks of diseases involved. Western population already has good markets for nutraceuticals gummies, especially on e-commerce platforms. Emerging markets include India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico.
In conclusion, there is a very good market for nutraceuticals and supplements gummies. Consumers’ ready acceptance of this form of delivery makes it easy for many who may shun use of nutraceuticals due to their sensory perception as well as difficulty for some segments. All these could be easily overcome by the appeal of the product itself being so appealingly presented. The excess appeal may cause some problems that must be recognised by marketing as well as regulators and proper labelling to caution consumers of complications of excess in some cases. Seeing the growth of this product format, the future is quite optimistic.
(The author is former head, Food Tech Dept, ICT Mumbai, and former executive director, Protein Foods & Nutrition Development Association of India)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|