The company, a biotech subsidiary of the Natra group, is the world's biggest manufacturer of purified caffeine and the botanical Prunus Africana. Recent R&D work has focused on offering products with health benefits and it now owns five patents related to nutraceutical compounds, based mainly on raw materials from the Mediterranean region.
Last year's patents included the AD-11 ingredient, designed to add fibre and polyphenols to food products.
The new applications cover a compound called IN-16, developed in cooperation with the University of Salford in the UK. The manufacturing technology used produces a reaction obtaining a chocolate aroma and flavour, without the need to go through the laborious conching process, says the company. This also means the compound comes direct from the raw materials (cocoa) and is fat-free.
Natraceutical said it is currently designing the manufacturing facility needed to carry out this process and is aiming to launch it on the market this year.
It has also patented a compound called IN-15, currently being evaluated by clients in the United States and Europe. Industrial manufacturing of the cocoa-derived ingredient, to be available in both liquid and powder formats, will begin in next month.
The process involves extraction of molecules using water-solvents derived from cocoa and conched chocolate to produce a natural product. The new method leads to greater extraction of molecules than in synthetic processes without using additives, according to Natraceutical.