Brightseed expands microbiome discovery program
The expanded microbiome programs include the identification of microbially-derived bioactives and their associated health benefits when fermented ingredients or other prebiotic material interact with gut bacteria.
The California-based company is collecting and analyzing fermented sources from around the globe with the help of global industry partners such as Korean food company CJ Foods to launch this effort.
“Our microbiome programs, which also include synbiotic product development, are tailored for companies who are deeply vested in bringing novel and clinically validated products into their food and consumer health portfolios,” said David Brown, vice president of business development at Brightseed.
“The global market size for probiotics is valued at $58 billion, and synbiotics provide more robust benefits to consumers than probiotics alone. Forager allows us to predict bioactives resulting from the interaction between bacterial strains and natural ingredients, which is an exciting application of AI in microbiome research and innovation.”
Forager
Created by Lee Chae, PhD, Brightseed’s co-founder and CTO, the Forager platform systematically identifies natural bioactives and maps their connection to human health benefits. To date, Forager has mapped more than seven million compounds from plants, fungi and bacterial strains across 23 human health areas.
Brightseed has already established notable partnerships with the likes of ADM, Danone, Pharmavite, Ocean Spray and ofi (olam food ingredients).
The presentation at the IPA World Congress + Probiota Americas 2024 will also cover the company’s rapid profiling capabilities. According to Brightseed, the company is now able to deliver actionable insights into phytochemical and bioactive composition of their ingredients or supply chain in just six to eight weeks, giving companies an accelerated roadmap for clinical validation and commercialization.
“Brightseed’s innovation programs and our dedicated pipeline of bioactive ingredients are designed to empower the nutrition industry with differentiated and efficacious solutions that target key consumer health areas including gut health, metabolic health and cognition,” Brown said.
“With rapid profiling and our expanded microbiome capacity, we are delivering innovative health products at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional discovery and development approaches. This enables our partners to expand into new health areas and diversify the ways in which they can investigate bioactives in their existing products, supply chains, side streams and waste streams.”
IPA World Congress + Probiota Americas
Brightseed’s presentation in Salt Lake City is titled “How AI is Decoding the Microbiome” and is featured during the Tech Advances session on Wednesday June 12, 12 p.m. (MDT). The session also features presentations from Dr. Leo Grady, founder and CEO of Jona, and Dr. Nikos Kyrpides, head of microbiome data science at the Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The three-day event will also feature sessions covering Microbiome Modulation to Support Women’s Health, Prebiotics, Healthcare Practitioners, Retailer Insights, Companion Animals, the Gut-Brain Axis and much more.
For more information and to register, click HERE.
Speakers are affiliated with: The University of California, Kroger, Whole Foods Market, iHerb, Nouri, Maiome, SuperGut, Nestlé Health Science, Yakult, FTC, FDA, Health Canada, University of Milan, Georgetown University, International Probiotics Association, Beneficial Microbes Consultancy, SPINS, Seventure Partners, National Animal Supplement Council, Örebro University, Novonesis, IFF, ADM, EpiCor/ Cargill, Kaneka Probiotics, BioGrowing, Solnul, CanBiocin, Swift Strategy Group, Morinaga, Jona, Preebio, HelloBiome, BioMilq, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and many more.
Bio Gut Fiber
In addition to partner programs, Brightseed is working on its own product launches. As previously reported by NutraIngredients-USA, Forager’s discovery of two bioactives found in hemp hulls led to the formulation of its first ingredient in the company’s pipeline, Bio Gut Fiber, a prebiotic dietary fiber for functional food and beverage.
Brightseed partnered with Manitoba Harvest to co-launch Organic Bioactive Fiber, a multi-benefit, bioactive-rich fiber solution available nationwide at Whole Foods Markets and on Amazon.
The company will also present new research on Bio Gut Fiber’s impact on the microbiome in a poster session at the 2024 American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Microbe Conference in Atlanta on June 14.
