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Bayern Innovativ conceptualised and organised within the Network Life Science for the first time the cooperation forum 'Functional Plant-derived Ingredients – Food, Pharma, Cosmetics'. One focus was on hop ingredients. Therefore, the forum took place on 1 October 2009 at the German Hop Museum in Wolnzach. This town is in the middle of the Hallertau - a region generating more than one third of the worldwide hop production. With 210 participants from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this first forum was a resounding success. It was a meeting point for experts from companies and institutes along the value chain - plant breeding, plant production, processing and hightech analysis regarding the functionality and application of value-added products in food, pharma and cosmetics.
Functional ingredients derived from plants are increasingly demanded by food, pharma, and cosmetics industry. This trend is boosted on the one hand by consumers demanding natural and authentic products. On the other hand, the trend is supported by progress in the biosciences allowing ever more detailed understanding of modes of action, identification of novel substances as well as new herbal raw materials.
Based on a discussion of hop farmers with Bayern Innovativ about the possible application of the numerous hop ingredients beyond the traditional usage in beer, the cooperation forum was initiated. |
Hop - Potential for future markets |
 |  | | Stephan J. Barth, President, Deutscher Hopfenwirtschaftsverband e. V. | |
Whilst 98 % of hop production is currently used for the production of beer, research on further applications is of great interest for the hop trading companies, as Stephan J. Barth, President, Deutscher Hopfenwirtschaftsverband e. V. (Association of German Hop Companies) confirmed in his welcome address. He was excited by the conception and the spectrum of participants of the cooperation forum.
Currently, more than 500 hop components are known, many of which show very interesting characteristics, as Dr Martin Biendl, Head of Research & Development/Analytics, Hopsteiner Hallertauer Hopfenveredelungsgesellschaft mbH, Mainburg, described. Examples are 8-prenylnaringenin which has a high estrogene-like activity and is tested for usage in hormone substitution therapy, and xanthohumol, which has cancer-preventative potential. Current results from Japanese researchers indicate a potential benefit of iso-alpha-acids from hop in the therapy of early stages of diabetes. |
Food with health-promoting ingredients |
 | | | Prof Werner Klaffke, Director Global Discovery Platform Nutrition & Health, Unilever Discovery, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands | |
Innovative food products with a health benefit are constantly demanded. As a consequence, novel plants and functional components are constantly required, as Prof Werner Klaffke, Director Global Discovery Platform Nutrition & Health at Unilever Discovery in Vlaardingen, The Netherlands, explained in his presentation at the beginning of the forum. But as Prof Klaffke pointed out further, one novel ingredient alone is not sufficient for the success of a food product. To succeed at the market, consumers' nutritional habits and lifestyle in different regions and cultures have to be taken into account. Furthermore, a food product also has to fulfill expectations concerning functionality, taste and convenience. In addition, higher requirements as regards scientific substantiation of the functionality have to be met. A claimed effect not only has to be captured descriptively, but has preferably also to be understood mechanistically. This also ensures exclusivity of the products as well as it helps consumers trust.
European authorities released a strict regulation concerning the marketing of products with claims related to nutritional value and health. The safety and claimed effect of the functional food products has to be proofen. Dr Bernd Bonnländer, Martin Bauer Group, presented the difficulties with regards to the development and marketing of such products from the view of a tea manufacturer. As an example he talked about studies on the potential use of green tea and green roiboos in the sector 'beauty'. Dr. Bonnländer explained that corresponding extracts could be shown to stimulate, for example, cellular activity and thus possibly the renewal process in skin cells in vitro. However, human studies to confirm the effect are still missing, which makes marketing of such products difficult in consideration of the Health Claims Regulation and the as yet unclear legal situation. |
Functional agents from plants for pharmaceuticals |
|  | | Prof Jürgen Drewe, Head of Preclinical Research, Max Zeller Söhne AG, Romanshorn, Switzerland | |
The legal framework for the registration of herbal medicines was discussed by Dr Bernd Roether, Head Division Drug Regulatory Affairs, Bionorica AG, Neumarkt. He emphasised that there is an overlap concerning the application in medicine, nutritional supplements or food leading to certain problems.
Extracts, the basis for phytopharmaceuticals, are normally mixtures of substances. Rarely all of the ingredients defining the effect are known. Moreover, the concentration of single components as well as the relation of different agents is subject to genetic and environmental variation. Prof Jürgen Drewe, Head of Preclinical Research, Max Zeller Söhne AG, Romanshorn, Switzerland demands to minimize variation through the use of homogeneous plant material from controlled cultivation. With the help of bioassays and modern screening technologies, the components contributing to functionality can be analysed and the best species chosen. |
Participants, accompanying exhibition, excursion and partners |
 | | | Lively conversation in the fully booked exhibition | |
Participants were from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They represented companies along the value chain „Functional Plant-derived Ingredients“, among them the sectors chemistry (Evonik Degussa, Sigma Aldrich, Wacker Chemie), biotech (Anoxymer, Bicoll, B.R.A.I.N.), analytics and testing (Aurigon, BioTeSys, SGS Institut Fresenius) and application in food, pharma and cosmetics (Biologische Heilmittel Heel, DSM Nutritional Products, Finzelberg, Kneipp Werke, Martin Bauer, Molkerei Meggle, Pharmos Natur, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland) as well as research institutes and universities in Munich, Erlangen, Bayreuth, Dresden, Freiburg, Hohenheim, Jülich, Leipzig, Potsdam, Stuttgart, Trier and Vienna.
In the accompanying exhibition with 14 stands and ten posters, technologies, products and services in sectors such as plant breeding, processing, analytics, production of ingredients, as well as applications in food, pharma and cosmetics were presented.
On the preceding day, 50 participants used the opportunity to visit the Hop Research Center in Hüll and the “Busch-Farm” – a research hop farm of the world’s largest brewing company, Anheuser-Busch InBev. A small number of participants had the opportunity to learn more about the extraction of ingredients from plants during a visit of NateCO2 GmbH & Co. KG in Wolnzach.
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|  | | Partners of the Cooperation Forum (from left to right): Stephan J. Barth (Dt. Hopfenwirtschaftsverband), Prof Josef Nassauer (Bayern Innovativ), Dr Michael Lüdke (Food Cluster), Prof Werner Klaffke (Unilever), Dr Johann Pichlmaier (Verband dt. Hopfenpflanzer),
Dr Matthias Konrad (Bayern Innovativ).
(Copyright: Helga Gebendorfer) | |
Member companies of the 'Deutscher Hopfenwirtschaftsverband' were involved in the preparation of the forum. The forum was supported by the Bavarian Food Cluster and the HVG Hopfenverwertungsgenossenschaft e.G.
A more detailed review (in German only) can be found here.
An audio report (in German only) is also available. |
Contact Bayern Innovativ GmbH
Gewerbemuseumsplatz 2
90403 Nuremberg
GERMANY Telephone: + 49 911 20671 147 |
