DSM intros vegetarian beta-carotene for tablets

Recognizing a need from the market and consumers for vegetarian ingredients, the Dutch company first introduced a gelatin-free beta-carotene supplement last May, called CaroCare, derived from the naturally occurring Blakeslea trispora microorganism and containing 7.5 per cent natural beta-carotene.

However the new, highly stable BetaTab 20% S is nature-identical - that is, based on a synthetic process. Both can be used for direct compression in the multivitamin tablet industry.

The company also has a core BetaTab 20% using animal gelatin.

DSM's animal-free ingredients line-up also includes vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin D3, Coenzyme Q10 (ALL-Q), lutein, and zeaxantin (Optisharp).

However DSM is not the only company to have developed synthetic vegetarian beta-carotene. Last May LycoRed subsidiary Biodar said it was launching its animal derivative-free BetaCote 20VB synthetic beta carotene beadlets in Europe. BASF announced a vegetarian 10% beta carotene in September which uses a modified starch commonly found in food products (E1450) to replace the porcine gelatine.

But DSM's global product manager for beta-carotene Lukas Christian told NutraIngredients.com: "We believe we are the first one to actually come to market." A spokesperson for Biodar told NutraIngredients.com at the time that the market potential for that product exceeds 100 tons a year.