The Rising Trend of Prebiotic Drinks
Functional Food & Beverage Market
The size of the worldwide functional Food & Beverage (F&B) market is estimated to $300 billion and is still expected to grow.
A focus is made on a dynamic area: the United States. According to a 2023 report from Nutrition Business Journal, the American functional F&B market represents $92 billion industry and has a high projection of growth: in 2026, it is estimated at $106.93 billion. But what type of products are we talking about? 74% of the American Functional Food & Beverage Market are made by Beverages. This market segment worths $68 billion! Functional soda, water and sport/energy drinks are the first category, followed far away by functional canned and bottled juice and RTDs and functional tea, coffee and cocoa drinks.
Functional ingredients and health & nutritional benefits
On this market of functional F&B, we could wonder which ingredients or benefits are expected by consumers. According to the 2023 report from Nutrition Business Journal, 67% of consumers are interested in Vitamin C, which is very well known by consumers and benefits from a positive perception. There is a rising awareness of the gut microbiome and of the link between digestive health and immunity. Ingredients linked to this area are gaining in popularity. Probiotics were the first to be recognized on the market. Nowadays, 28% of consumers are also interested in Prebiotics. The Global Prebiotic Association stated that 86% of functional F&B consumers have heard of prebiotics. And 75% of prebiotic consumers use them for Immunity and Digestion (GPA and FMCG Guru)
The consumer insight company, FMCG Gurus has run a survey in 2024 on the Top ten global trends. Here are the appealing health claims when seeking out functional F&B:
On top of health benefits, NBJ confirms that consumers are concerned about the ingredient’s quality (65%), the transparency on the ingredient sourcing (61%) and last but not least, the effectiveness or the benefits of the products (58%).
A specific consumer group, the Millennials, has driven the growing demand for, and development of, natural, functional beverages through their rising concerns for health & wellness.
Nexira’s solution for functional beverages
inavea™ PURE ACACIA is an all-natural, organic and Non-GMO Project Verified dietary fiber sourced from carefully selected acacia trees. inavea™ PURE ACACIA offers a carbon neutral footprint and the value of high digestive tolerance for fiber enrichment and prebiotic effect in a large array of applications, especially in functional beverages.
inavea™ PURE ACACIA allows fiber fortification and the use of package claims such as Source of Fiber or High in Fiber. It even enables beverages to be positioned as a Prebiotic Beverage or a Gut Booster.
According to Innova database, Acacia fiber is successfully used in different formulations of prebiotic drinks:
Short presentation of inavea™ Acacia fiber
High fiber content
Acacia gum is a dry exudate of the acacia tree. It is a very complex and highly branched polysaccharide. Nexira has high levels of quality in terms of sourcing and processing, resulting in fiber content greater than 90% on dry weight basis (AOAC 985.29).
Acacia gum is an approved dietary fiber by the FDA, for which the recommended declaration* is Acacia, Acacia fiber or Prebiotic acacia.
Product sustainability
The basement of inavea range lays on product sustainability. It means that all inavea™ ingredients are organic certified. And beyond, inavea™ is committed to offer the first Carbon Neutral range of ingredients.
inavea™ PURE ACACIA offers the value of a clean label in addition to the consumer appeal of 100% vegetable origin and fiber enrichment with a high tolerability (FODMAP-friendly certified). This pure acacia is the perfect clean label ingredient: organic, all-natural, Non-GMO Project Verified, sustainably sourced, minimally processed and providing health benefits. inavea™ PURE ACACIA has an excellent stability to extreme process (pH, heat treatment, yeast fermentation) and storage conditions.
Nutritional & Health benefits
High digestive tolerance
Acacia gum is a very complex and highly branched polysaccharide with a Gradual fermentation in the transverse colon (TC) and in the distal colon (DC) (Terpend et al., 2013).
Thanks to this progressive fermentation, Acacia fiber offers a High tolerability, up to 30g/day with no discomfort! Compared to other fibers, such as FOS and psyllium, Acacia fiber has demonstrated a higher digestive comfort. (Cherbut et al., 2003 – clinical evaluation ; Koecher, 2014 ; Suresh, 2021)
Proven prebiotic effect – Microbiota modulation
Very early in its history, Nexira began to focus its scientific research on the nutritional benefits of acacia as a native source of soluble dietary fiber*. Numerous studies have been performed since the late 1970’s and thanks to Nexira’s support, the acacia prebiotic effect has been largely demonstrated. More than 40 published studies confirming prebiotic activities of acacia.
The proven prebiotic effect was demonstrated during clinical trial on healthy volunteers, and have described significant activities from 10g/d (Cherbut et al., 2003 ; Calame et al. 2008).
Different studies converge on an increase of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli:
inavea™ pure acacia stimulates specific strains, beneficial to the gut microbiota (Duysburgh et al., 2023 (Triple Shime)):
- B. Longum (probiotic)
- Prevotellaceae & Lachnospiraceae (linked to SCFA production)
- F. Prausnitzii (linked to a reduction of inflammatory markers)
inavea™ pure acacia also acts in the other way, by inhibiting harmful bacteria (Duysburgh et al., 2023 (Triple Shime)):
- Clostridium histolyticum
- Klebsiella oxytoca
Proven prebiotic effect – SCFA production
Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) have beneficial effects such as:
- Colon acidification (beneficial bacteria selection)
- Support intestinal epithelium
- Improve intestinal motility
- Support liver and energy metabolism
- Support immunity
inavea™ pure acacia has demonstrated a high activity on SCFA production, higher than FOS. inavea™ pure acacia has demonstrated a microbiome modulation and an increase of SCFA production, proving its prebiotic effect.
Technological properties and Behavior in beverages
inavea™ PURE ACACIA is easy-to-use in liquid form thanks to the following characteristics:
- 100% soluble in cold and hot water
- Excellent dispersibility / solubility
- Tasteless, odorless, colorless grades
- Low viscosity / non-hygroscopic
- Low-carb / low caloric value
- Purified, free flowing and dust free white to cream colored powder
- Odorless, colorless and tasteless in solution
Used in your formulations, acacia will add mouthfeel to your beverage for a better consumer experience.
An important advantage of inavea™ pure acacia is its great stability to low pH and high temperature, compared to some other fibers on the market. It means that no over dosage is needed, the initial level of fiber will be maintained throughout the time.
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*According to local regulations
This communication is not intended to the final consumer. It provides scientific information for professionals only. Communications to the final consumer have to be checked according to local regulations in force, since the conditions of use are beyond our control. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
