New Study Reveals Potential for Additional Health Benefits of Precision Prebiotic Benicaros

A new study shows how Benicaros®, an innovative precision prebiotic made from upcycled carrot pomace, can significantly increase the production of a health-beneficial compound in the body called indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). The findings, which were published in “The Roles of Diet, Gut Microbiome and Microbial Metabolome in Precision Nutrition” - a special edition of the journal Metabolites, demonstrate how this complex polysaccharide fiber can steer the metabolic output of the gut microbiota.

The Role of IPA in Health

IPA is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule that helps protect the gut and other parts of the body from damage. Scientific studies have linked IPA to improved gut, immune, cardiovascular, brain, and metabolic health. By increasing IPA levels, Benicaros has the potential to support not only gut and immune health but also broader areas like brain function and heart health.

A Better Understanding of Benicaros’ Gut-Microbiota Modulating Effects

The study focuses on the microbiome modulatory effects of Benicaros, a complex mixture of carrot rhamnogalacturonan-I (cRG-I) molecules, and in particular the microbial production of different metabolites. Researchers found that Benicaros promotes the growth of a beneficial gut bacteria, including Bifidobacterium longum, which in turn helps convert a nutrient called tryptophan into IPA. This discovery builds on previous studies showing that Benicaros can also support gut health by increasing production of other beneficial compounds, such as short-chain fatty acids.

“The promotion of IPA by Benicaros through gut microbiome modulation is remarkably consistent,” said Dr. Pieter Van den Abbeele, co-author and CSO of Cryptobiotix. “We identified Bifidobacterium longum as a key intermediary in this process, a finding corroborated by published animal and human clinical studies. This underscores the predictive potential of our ex vivo SIFR® technology and how it helps to decipher the complexities of the gut microbiome.”

“This study demonstrates that cRG-I (Benicaros) promotes tryptophan conversion into IPA via gut microbiome modulation, thus conferring benefits via amino acid derived metabolites. It broadens our knowledge beyond benefits previously reported for short chain fatty acids (SCFA) that result from carbohydrate fermentation,” said Annick Mercenier, Ph.D., first author of the study.

“Benicaros consistently modulates the gut microbiome, delivering reliable results regardless of individual differences in gut microbiome composition,” said the CEO of NutriLeads, Joana Carneiro-Wakefield, Ph.D. “We are very excited about these new results, as they suggest that Benicaros could offer health benefits beyond gut and immune health, potentially supporting the gut-brain connection as well

Study highlights include:

• Benicaros is a precision prebiotic. The paper highlights consistent effects across all donors.
• Benicaros modulates the production of health-related microbial metabolites beyond SCFAs.
• Benicaros reduced the production of harmful metabolites.
• Benicaros stimulated IPA production strongly correlated with increased abundance of Bifidobacterium longum.