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TMR forecasts multifunctional ingredients market

28 Jun 2016

Transparency Market Research (TMR) has launched a report entitled “Multifunctional Food Ingredients Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 – 2024”.

Transparency Market Research (TMR) has launched a report entitled “Multifunctional Food Ingredients Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 – 2024”. The company defines multifunctional food ingredients as a range of ingredients used in food manufacturing in order to impart various qualities to food. These ingredients serve to replace ingredients such as gluten and fats, which can cause harm upon consumption and are thus being rejected by many consumers. Multifunctional food ingredients help food manufacturers bring about the physical qualities of the ingredients they are replacing while removing the threat they pose, TMR notes. This is the prime driver expected to propel the global multifunctional food ingredients market in the coming years.

Multifunctional food ingredients can also help increase the shelf life of perishable products. Replacing the ingredient responsible for oxidation or other decomposition processes with a multifunctional food ingredient is fast emerging as a highly effective way of making the product last longer. Multifunctional food ingredients can also replace ingredients that fall foul of food safety regulations, allowing food manufacturers to produce the food without including the ingredient. The rising awareness about such benefits is propelling the global multifunctional food ingredients market.

Of the major regional segments of the global multifunctional food ingredients market, North America and Europe emerged with the dominant shares in 2015, TMR says. The early adoption of advanced technologies in food manufacturing and the increasing awareness among consumers about food safety have driven the multifunctional food ingredients market in these regions. These two regions are expected to remain prominent in the global multifunctional food ingredients market in the coming years due to the presence of several industry giants and the increasing demand for safe food from consumers.

Based on the type of ingredient, TMR expects the global multifunctional food ingredients market to be dominated by the hydrocolloids and bulking agents segments in the coming years. Hydrocolloids are used to modulate the viscosity and texture of liquid products such as sauces. The increasing demand for sauces and other flavouring formulations is expected to drive the demand for hydrocolloids in the coming years. Bulking agents are expected to be the fastest growing segment of the global multifunctional food ingredients market in the coming years.

Recently, TMR notes, a method to artificially create diterpenoids was conceived through a concerted effort from Evolva, a Swiss biotechnology firm, and the University of Copenhagen.

Plant-derived diterpenoids are abundant in nature, but the technology to produce them artificially on an industrial scale has been lacking, TMR believes. Plant-derived diterpenoids are an important class of compounds, the company says, as illustrated by the fact that steviol glycoside, the compound responsible for the sweetness of stevia, is a plant-derived diterpenoid. Stevia is becoming increasingly popular due to its property to sweeten food without adding any extra calories. The ability to produce plant-derived diterpenoids on an industrial scale could be a huge step towards eliminating several problems related to high-calorie diets, TMR believes, such as diabetes and hypertension.

This and other expected advances in food tech in the coming years have the potential to disrupt and completely reconfigure the global multifunctional food ingredients market.