Wecare Probiotics took home the title with its probiotic ingredient Weizmannia coagulans BC99.

This is a Bacillus coagulans strain that has been shown to support the absorption of protein.

The company was crowned the winner at the awards ceremony held in Barcelona on May 21.

The company was up against two other finalists for the Ingredient of the Year: Sports Nutrition title. They were Metabolaid by Suannutra and Nutralys S85 Plus by Roquette.

The winning ingredient BC99 was praised by the judges for its clinical trial evidence, as well as its improvements in areas beyond muscle quality.

“Supported by eight clinical trials showing enhanced protein absorption and muscle quality, and improvements for stress and anxiety, and backed up by impressive commercial success over the past three years, Weizmannia coagulans BC99 stood out in a competitive category as a strong ingredient with benefits for sports nutrition beyond,” said the judges.

A study published in Nutrients last November reported that the supplementation of BC99 has significantly increased the concentrations of branched chain amino acids and essential amino acids.

It has also been shown to improve strength performance, skeletal muscle mass, activity of pepsin and trypsin, with researchers concluding that it can be an important nutritional strategy to improving strength performance and protein digestion.

This is the first time that Wecare Probiotics has won a NutraIngredients award.

“This is our first time winning this award. We also saw that we are the only company represented by Asians, with the others mainly coming from the US and Europe, and have been in the industry for a longer period of time.

“Being able to represent Wecare in receiving this award is an honour,” said Caroline Jia, sales director at Wecare Probiotics.

Being a spore-forming probiotic, BC99 is heat-stable and can be applied to various product formats, including gummies, bakery, and chocolates.

With the win, the Jiangsu-based company is hoping to advance its presence in the Western markets with BC99.

Asked the markets with growth potential for BC99, Jia said that the US and European markets would be of interest to the firm, as they have a relatively higher understanding of Bacillus coagulan strains.

“Because it is a highly stable strain, it requires a stringent sterilisation of the production line used in the manufacturing process.

“The US and European markets, having a better understanding of such strains, would be in a better position [for unlocking further market potential].

“For instance, they would know that in order to manufacture BC99, they have to sterilise the factory very thoroughly or requiring a separate manufacturing line.

“However, for the other markets that have a comparatively less developed understanding of this type of probiotics, a huge amount of market education would be required,“ she said.

The company manufactures the BC99 ingredient in a standalone production line in China as part of its efforts in preventing cross-contamination, she said.

At the moment, BC99, when used as a sports nutrition ingredient, is added to protein powder to aid protein absorption.

Europe and the US are also already the main markets using this probiotic for sports nutrition.

Gut and liver protection

Aside from sports nutrition, Wecare Probiotics has also identified gut health and liver protection as its other two key uses and main focus for future research.

Clinical trial findings published in Nutrients in March reported that BC99 could improve liver and renal function in long-term alcohol drinkers.

This is seen in significant reduction in the levels of the enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in individuals supplemented with BC99.

This is a crucial finding as an elevated level of ALT can indicate liver issues.

Gut health is another area of interest for further research.

“As a probiotic, our BC99 also has the conventional benefits of modulating the gut microbiota.

“We will be conducting more research on BC99’s sports nutrition, gut health, and liver protection use.

“These are the three areas that we are focusing on, as we do not want to divert our attention too much,” she said.