Colostrum is an important ingredient in immune support because colostrum is the mother’s first milk. Babies drink that mother’s milk for the first 5 days, and are imparted with immunomodulatory nutrients that help babies survive right out of the womb. Industrially, in cowmilk operations, colostrum is not used. You will not find colostrum in your local gallon of milk. It is a waste-stream ingredient. And like so many things in the nutrition world, this is where nutritional ingredient suppliers come in, to harvest that otherwise-discarded material for use in human nutrition.
Maya Ashkenazi, CEO and co-founder of Maolac, an Israeli functional ingredient innovator that takes colostrum from bovine operations that would otherwise be discarded and does something different—Maolac develops what it calls impact nutrition.
First, using proteonomics, Maolac has identified 1,500 proteins from colostrum—nearly double the amount previously known.
Then, using A.I., Maolac has been able to sift through the published literature and match specific proteins with specific health effects.
After isolating these proteins, Maolac found that some create a healthy inflammation response, some target the anti-inflammatory response for resolution, and some control the switch to decide which is which.
The first range of these proteins are focusing on adult sports nutrition (i.e., recovery), an anti-inflammation product to help athletes reduce muscle strain, and support active living and improved mobility of the elderly, gut health, and pet health.
And that's just the beginning. Watch this interview with Natural Products Insider content director Todd Runestad to see what the tantalizing future holds for nutritional ingredient new product development.
For more on healthy immune support—from the state of the market to nutrition science assessments and new product innovations, go to the Natural Products Insider digital magazine home page.