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Emerging Natural Ingredients for Immunity Enhancement
Food and Nutrition
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Consumers are seeking ways to enhance their immunity to prevent infection contributing to individual wellbeing. Industry stakeholders explore emerging functional ingredients that result in elevated immune responses and help reduce the psychological stress due to the current pandemic situation. Overall, the article’s context is to enlist the naturally available functional ingredients that can help improve immune response with proven benefits.
Introduction
Research demonstrated that nutrition plays a vital role in preventing acute infections and chronic diseases related to diet. There has been extensive ongoing research on naturally occurring foods – functional foods such as fruits and vegetables that, upon consumption, help boost the immune system. The commonly known ingredients that improve overall mental and physical well-being contributing to prevent and reduce the risk for several diseases include probiotics, vitamins such as vitamin D and B, trace elements such as iron and zinc, among others.
Research is ongoing to identify new ingredients that help strengthen the immunocompetence of an individual. Enlisted below are a few emerging natural ingredients that show immunomodulatory properties:
Lactoferrin
Lactoferrin is a multifunctional, iron-binding glycol protein present naturally found in milk, nasal secretions, tears, and saliva. It is linked to play a vital role in regulating innate immune responses. The features of Lactoferrin include:
- A cell-secreted mediator that links both the adaptive and innate immune responses
- Synthesized by the mucosal lining and neutrophils
- Released due to inflammatory stimuli
- Perceived to demonstrate antimicrobial properties
- Investigated to have a first-line host defense mechanism against the invading pathogens and works against microbial infections
Studies have suggested that Lactoferrin also prevents systemic inflammation. Lactoferrin binds and sequesters lipopolysaccharides, protecting the pro-inflammatory pathway activation, tissue damages, and sepsis formations. Lactoferrin helps regulate the absorption of iron in the intestine and the delivery of iron to the cells. Apart from bacterial infections, Lactoferrin shows a positive impact against viral and fungal infections.
The European Food Safety Authority has granted a novel food ingredient, bovine Lactoferrin, to be safe to be used in food and supplements after assessing the in-vitro data and trials on animals. It has applications in infant formula, dietetic foods, yogurt and products, dairy products, and chewing gums.
Galactooligosaccharides and Fructooligosaccharide (GOS/FOS)
Human milk contains many compounds with immunomodulatory functions. Oligosaccharides are one of the prime components found in milk that help enhance immune responses, including:
- Immunomodulatory impact
- Prebiotic effects on the gut microbiota
GOS/FOS is similar to human-milk oligosaccharides showing a prebiotic impact. The immune-modulating effects of GOS/FOS are likely assisted through altered intestinal microbiota or microbiota-independent mechanism by direct interaction on immune cells or both.
Studies have shown that a specific mixture of short-chain galactooligosaccharides and long-chain fructooligosaccharides demonstrate beneficial immunoglobulin profiles among infants at high risk for allergies.
GOS/FOS is promising, with several studies confirming their immunity-modulating features. Human milk is rich in these components and is now adopted in infant formula to enhance the properties.
Lycopene
Lycopene is a carotenoid present naturally in fruit and vegetable – papaya watermelons, pink grapefruit, and tomatoes showing the critical properties that include:
- Potent antioxidant properties
- Protects the body from damage caused by free radicals – research has suggested links between the presence of lycopene with balanced levels of free radicals in the body
- Effective protection against oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA
Giovannucci published a comprehensive review of the epidemiological literature linking tomato consumption with cancer management. The study showed that among 72 studies, 57 reported inverse associations between tomato intake or blood lycopene level and the risk of cancer at a defined anatomic site.
Fuhrman et al. reported that tomato lycopene could inhibit LDL oxidation as a single ingredient or combined with other natural antioxidants.
Products with lycopene include:
- Tomato juice, tomato soup, ketchup, and sauces are everyday tomato-based
- Lycopene can also be consumed as supplements. However, studies show that lycopene has a more substantial effect when consumed as food rather than supplements.
Polyphenols
Polyphenols are the most abundantly present antioxidants in our diets. There are more than eight thousand polyphenols, including flavonoids, quercetin, capsaicinoids, and resveratrol.
- Polyphenols help in promoting immunity and act against foreign pathogens via various pathways
- Different immune cells express multiple types of polyphenol receptors that recognize and allow cellular uptake of polyphenols
- Polyphenols curcumin and epigallocatechin gallate are studied to induce epigenetic changes in cells
- Polyphenols help regulate allergic diseases, intestinal mucosal immune responses, and anti-cancerous immunity
- Studies have shown evidence suggesting that polyphenols prevent immunity-related diseases
Red wine contains polyphenols which significantly increase the quantity of interleukin-21 (IL-21) and decrease the release of IL-1β and IL-6. Several clinical studies have supported the prophylactic effects of polyphenols against these pathogens through antioxidant-mediated immune modulation mechanisms.
Products with polyphenols include:
- Supplements
- Berries, cloves, cocoa powder, plum, and apples are rich in polyphenols
References
- Lactoferrin (LF): a natural antimicrobial protein
- Lactoferrin safe in foods and supplements: EFSA
- Lactoferrin as a Natural Immune Modulator
- Clinical studies on GOS and FOS
- Mechanisms underlying immune effects of dietary oligosaccharides
- The Functions of Tomato Lycopene and Its Role in Human Health
- Lycopene affects the immune responses of finishing pigs
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