Comvita Limited announced that its Lepteridine Mānuka Honey for Digestive Health research programme has been honoured as a finalist at the 2024 NutraIngredients-ASIA Awards.
The 2024 NutraIngredients-ASIA Awards finals will take place in Bangkok in September. This prestigious category rewards the best game-changing nutrition research projects that push the boundaries of nutritional science.
The judges for this category consider how the research has addressed a genuine consumer demand, the quality of the research methodology, and the potential for commercial applications or wide-sweeping changes in the industry at the back of the research.
“We believe that the discovery of Lepteridine and the findings from our Digestive Health research represents the most important advance in Mānuka Honey science in 30 years since its unique antibacterial activity and wound healing properties were discovered,” said Dr Jackie Evans, Comvita’s Chief Science Officer.
“We are hugely excited about the opportunity it provides us to deliver innovative, scientifically proven, natural Lepteridine Mānuka Honey products to consumers worldwide to support their digestive health.”
Dr Evans thanked all the world-leading research collaborators who have worked through the years to achieve this success. This discovery could help millions worldwide suffering from common digestive health ailments, many of which have no effective conventional medicinal treatments.
Comvita, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Auckland, initially discovered Lepteridine, a naturally occurring compound uniquely found in Manuka honey. They established that it inhibited biological pathways associated with various digestive inflammatory conditions that lead to mucosal damage and ulceration.
Further research, in collaboration with the Riddet Institute, established that Lepteridine, unlike some other compounds found in Manuka honey, including MGO, was highly stable in Mānuka Honey and simulated gastrointestinal tract conditions, making it ideal for targeting digestive inflammation. It is also heat-stable in a wide range of processing conditions.
This research programme has led to three papers being published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, Comvita patenting its novel formulations of Lepteridine Mānuka Honey and the commencement of its first Clinical Trial, SOOTHE, undertaken by the University of Otago and its partners, The Riddet Institute and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, and jointly funded by High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga, National Science Challenge.
Preliminary results from the SOOTHE trial were presented earlier this year, showing that more people treated with Lepteridine Mānuka honey experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in their digestive symptoms compared with placebo.
More here
