Micro-nutrient Supplement

The versatile micro-nutrient supplement developed at CPUT can be used in a variety of products such as biscuits, baby cereal, porridge, etc. All the ingredients are bio-available and contain natural vitamin E, pro-vitamin A, and other carotenes. Biscuits baked with this pre-mix were used in an intervention study on pre-school children attending informal crèches in Bethelsdorp, Eastern Cape. Consuming two biscuits per day showed definite improvements in the health and nutritional status of these children. These benefits disappeared when the biscuits were no longer provided. This is indicated by the blood levels of carotenes and vitamin E during supplementation and the return to pre-intervention very low levels three months after supplementation ended.

Benefits:

• It contains the micronutrients Iron, Copper, Selenium, Zinc, and Manganese as chelates, where the micronutrient is in the form of a complex with an amino acid, which is the natural form in which micronutrients are obtained from foods. It has also been shown that Iron, Zinc, and Copper are better absorbed in the chelated form than in the inorganic form, which means it is more bioavailable and effective for alleviating these deficiencies.
• It contains a natural plant extract concentrate which has a whole spectrum of 13 different carotenes with pro-vitamin A alpha and beta carotene as the major carotenes, and five different forms of vitamin E, with Tocotrienols as the major vitamin E component.

Offering:

We are seeking a licensing partner who would like to license and commercialise the product in other territories.