Sabinsa Corp. USA brings to India the concept of complete well-being, by introducing globally successful nutraceuticals products with patented formulations. Increased incidence of lifestyle diseases the world over, decrease in life expectancy and inadequate nutrition due to current lifestyle choices, besides growing awareness of hazards in synthetic chemicals have continued to fuel the demand worldwide for natural products, in both the nutraceutical or dietary supplements and functional foods & beverages categories.

Global demand for organic products is expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 9.6 per cent from 2012 to 2018. The US has been the most mature and the largest consumer market, accounting for 35 per cent of the global consumption.

While the Indian market is still nascent and Indians have preferred traditional remedies vs formulations, increase in fast paced lifestyles has meant that it is slated to be among the fastest growing markets, at $5 billion by the year 2015 end.

To tap this globally potent nutraceutical market, the company has innovate the water soluble Curcumin uC3 Clear, bringing revolutionary curcumin content in turmeric in functional beverages to amplify health benefits of curcumin.

What is Water Soluble Curcumin? What is the opportunity for this product in Indian market?
The water soluble Curcumin uC3 Clear is an effort to bring curcumin or turmeric to the beverage front, where it had previously only a limited presence. With uC3 Clear, we are able to bring a quantitatively higher amount of curcuminoids in the beverage format. India, where the beverage industry is quite a large space and growing, where natural products like gooseberry, coconut are being used sparingly, there is still a dearth of health based beverage products, which brings a good opportunity to introduce uC3 Clear as a functional beverage.
   Turmeric is known for its multiple health benefits as per Indian traditional medicinal system, though, the Curcumin content in turmeric raw material is quite low. Its chronic consumption in Indian diet has been hailed as one of the reasons for low colon cancer incidences among the country’s population, and uC3 Clear in beverage is going to amplify that health benefits of Curcumin for Indian consumers, and of course for the global marketplace.

What made you conceptualise this product? How it will benefit Indian consumers?
The Curcumin market for Sabinsa/Sami in solid dosage has been very strong over the years. While catering the Curcumin in different markets globally, we found an increasing demand from our Japanese customers for creating a beverage grade version of curcuminoids. Japan is one of the biggest nutraceutical markets globally, and in many ways, leads the product formulation. Therefore, the concepts originating from the Japanese market have been carefully followed by the industry. Sabinsa, with its rich experience in catering the Japanese nutraceutical market, was able to identify the existing demand for curcumin in the beverage format.
    Though there are few options available, the amount of curcumin in such beverage formats is very low and limited to poor visual appeal, due to precipitation. uC3 Clear does not add to another option available for the turmeric beverage, but in fact it overcomes the drawbacks of the existing water soluble Curcumin in the market, and provides a next generation of beverage grade available for Curcumin.

How Curcumin health drinks may boost health of consumers? Are you in conversation with any leading beverages company to pronounce use of this exclusive technique to formulate a health drink?
Curcumin has multiple health benefits originating primarily from its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Today we recognize chronic inflammation as the root cause of all major chronic ailments. With rich clinical profile of our Curcumin C3 Complex, uC3 Clear takes the health benefits of Curcumin to next level in a visually appealing, good tasting healthy format of beverages. In the Indian market scenario where the storage conditions and shelf life condition scan vary, it was important to have a good stable product, which uC3 Clear provides. Yes the discussions are going on with a few beverage companies to introduce this product in the Indian market. It is important for us to choose a partner not in terms of its size but infact sharing the same vision for Curcumin as we do.

With growing awareness, consumers are taking up health drinks and beverages, still, Indian consumers are immature to adopt Water Soluble Curcumin based beverages. What would be your strategy to spread awareness and educate consumers about it?
It is true that the functional beverage market in USA, JAPAN and EUROPE are much more matured than Indian market. We are seeing the shift in the health preferences only recently for the Indian marketplace, where even diet cola is still uncommon. On the other hand, Indians have consumed traditionally several herbal based ingredients as part of theirculture. Indian Tea is one such beverage and it brings out several health benefits. Use of ginger and tulsi (basil) in such tea is often used for various health benefits. uC3 Clear needs to be introduced to the mass market, in a format, which is more adaptable to the Indian marketplace, and at same time, taste wise largely acceptable. One format could be a turmeric juice or tea.

With rising income and growing awareness, today's consumer look for bio-available ingredients that have the science to support their efficacy claims. What is the market potential of this space? What do you need to know when formulating finished products that include this amazing compound?
Certainly, with growing dispensable income and health awareness, people are looking for healthier options in beverages; therefore we see plenty of potential for such type of formulations.
Curcumin, a natural spice, is a promising compound with plenty of potential health benefits. However, in conventional commercial products there are several important things to consider when formulating herbal ingredients. These include taste, stability, storage conditions, and packaging, etc. Curcumin brings additional formulation challenges. It is a staining compound and stains instantly everything upon contact. Further its’ solubility is very limited in water which means beverages cannot be made out of regular Curcumin or turmeric. We took on the challenges of color stability, solubility of Curcumin, and staining before we introduced the uC3 Clear in the market, and won.

What is the role of Curcumin in role in healthy inflammation related to joint health, sports nutrition and eye health? How Sabina Corp. is planning to extend its incredible properties useful for a common man?
Curcumin is very effective against inflammation. Sabinsa’s Curcumin C3 Complex has been used in several human clinical studies on joint health. These studies have shown thatthe Curcumin can help reduce inflammation in the joints of patients suffering from osteoarthritis. These studies have also shown that joint mobility can be increased and the pain and stiffness in the joint can be reduced using Sabinsa’s Curcumin C3 Complex®. Curcumin also holds a lot of potential in the sports and eye health where it provides not only anti-inflammatory benefits but also antioxidant activity to reduce the oxidative stress.