The company said today that it has developed a 10 per cent purity product based on the same technology as its 20 per cent version, introduced in Europe in May during the Vitafoods show.
The BetaCote 20VB was launched in the US last year but Biodar has found that European customers prefer to use a lower concentration.
Udi Alroy, marketing director at Biodar, said that BetaCote 10VB was developed within 30 days to meet customer demand for a 10 per cent variant of the vegetarian beadlet.
The nature-identical beta-carotene is encapsulated in a novel beadlet made using gelatine-free and GMO-free ingredients that protects the ingredient until it reaches the intestine.
Like the 20 per cent product, the beadlets are said to be exceptionally stable, easily resisting up to 10 tons cm2 tableting pressure without any beta-carotene leakage.
A powerful antioxidant, beta-carotene delivers provitamin A nutrients to the body, which are converted into an active vitamin only when needed, reducing the risk of too much vitamin A consumption.
Research has linked beta-carotene to prevention of heart disease and certain cancers as well as eye and skin health. A growing body of evidence also points to its immune-system boosting properties.
A spokesperson for Biodar told NutraIngredients.com in May that the market potential for its vegetarian beadlet exceeded 100 tons a year.
Market analysts Frost & Sullivan have forecast Europe's beta-carotene market to grow from $141 million in 2004 to $160.5 million in 2010.
Leading carotenoid maker DSM also offers vegetarian beta-carotene beadlets in 7.5 per cent concentration derived from the micro-organism Blakeslea trispora.