Sami-Sabinsa Group Presents on Nutraceuticals in the Era of Bioeconomy at the Odisha Biotech Startup Summit

New Delhi, October 03, 2022: The Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, organised a two-day Odisha Biotech Startup Summit on 28 & 29^th September 2022, that was inaugurated by Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister of Science and Technology, Government of Odisha.

The summit, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the entity Startup Odisha, served as a platform to share innovations, opportunities, and challenges faced by the biotech industry in Eastern Odisha. The event brought together innovators, R&D professionals, industry experts, startups and other stakeholders across sectors such as agriculture, health care, food processing, industrial biotech and biopharma to interact and engage for mutual benefit.

Dr. Arvind Saklani, V.P., Agri-Biotechnology, Sami-Sabinsa Group Limited, Bangalore, presented on the role of “Nutraceuticals in the Era of Bioeconomy: opportunities and challenges”.

Opportunities for the Nutraceutical Industry:

Speaking at the Summit, Dr. Saklani noted that after the pandemic situation, people are now focussing more on wellness than illness, and they have well understood the answer to good health lies in nature and natural products. India is fortunately endowed with a wealth of biodiversity across its geographical expanses. This wealth, paired with a strong associated traditional knowledge base, gives us a significant opportunity for innovations and value additions in the nutraceutical sector to boost our bioeconomy. This industry, which was started in India three decades ago in 1991, has now grown to USD 6 billion. Today we have over 200 players in the nutraceutical industry under the MSME category in India. In addition to fostering economic development, the sector also supports the livelihoods of thousands of families, right from growers, forest dwellers, traders, manufacturers, and other supply chain partners. Our global nutraceutical market is expected to be more than USD 720 billion by 2027, whereas India’s nutraceutical export is only at USD 1.7 billion today, which underlines the opportunity for India globally. Dr Saklani highlighted that turmeric, ashwagandha, and guduchi-based nutraceutical products were in high demand during the pandemic period, and the demand for them is still growing. With sales of 97 million USD, turmeric was the 4^th best-selling herbal supplement in the US mainstream multioutlet channel in the year 2020. Similarly, sales of ashwagandha grew by 185% and stood at 32 million USD during this period. The nutraceutical industry adds great value to bioresources. For instance, from 5 tons of fresh turmeric rhizomes, about 20–22 kg of the standardised final product is obtained, resulting in a 250 % value addition.

Through R&D initiatives and innovations, Sami-Sabinsa Group, an Indian multinational health-science company, has introduced novel alternative crops to farmers, adding value to our bioeconomy. Wild plants like Coleus forskohlii, which improve lean body mass, were brought to commercial cultivation by Sami-Sabinsa Group. Furthermore, the herb was incorporated into the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) priority list that ensured subsidy of farmers and conservation and sustainability of this species.

Challenges for the Nutraceutical Industry:

While Indian manufacturers follow the best practises to maintain the globally accepted quality of standardised nutraceutical products, there are many challenges facing the industry. The consistent supply of a critical volume of quality raw materials with the desired content at a competitive price is the key to competing in international markets. Secondly, with a view to reducing pressure on wild resources, it is critical to cultivate medicinal plants for healthcare applications, whereas the agriculture sector is witnessing a dearth of labourers as the new generation is reluctant to work on agricultural farms and prefers to relocate from rural to urban areas to find employment. Thirdly, the nutraceutical market is a regulated one and the exporters have to comply with the stringent requirements of the customers in the importing countries. Along with other challenges, the herbal industry is facing the heat from biodiversity regulations. Hopefully, the forthcoming Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2022 will address the issues that the nutraceutical industry has brought up in numerous discussions over the past few years. We wish for a win-win scenario for all the stakeholders involved in the medicinal plant sector.

The nutraceutical sector, which plays an important role in strengthening our bioeconomy, is primarily based on R&D, innovations, and value additions to bioresources. The sector promotes commercial cultivation and helps conservation and sustainability of medicinal plants, which supports the subsistence of forest dwellers and increases farmers income.

An expo was also organised as part of this Summit, featuring biopharma, ayurvedic and nutraceutical products, drug discovery, industrial biotechnology, waste management techniques, and med-tech devices.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)