Evidence Based Review: Why LactoSporin is the Best Postbiotic

Interview with Dr. Umar Jan, Resident Director,
Sabinsa Europe & Sabinsa Poland

Dr. Jan, Sabinsa Europe has been in Europe (Germany) since 2006. How has the market changed since the start of your business activity here? 

Sabinsa Europe was established to cater EU market locally with a quick and robust response to the needs of our clients. Our focus is to be very close to market and address its consumer and regulatory needs. This approach has helped us to develop products that are complaint to EU regulations and created demand. We have benchmarks for natural products of Ayurvedic origin. EU market has lot of opportunities for natural products and there is a huge awareness amongst the consumers, therefore driving this market. In recent times, there has been a high interest in our nutricosmetics portfolio and with our strong intellectual property of patents and trademarks in our nutraceutical offering, we see a greater overlap between these two sectors.

Sabinsa is well-known for its Ayurvedic and nutraceutical supplements. Can you tell us more on your latest R&D project for the cosmetic and personal care formulators?

Apart from natural and Ayurvedic ingredients, we are also focusing on the new and trending concept of microbiome cosmetics. The microbiome is a dynamic living shield which protects the gut and skin. While prebiotics are key ingredients which feed the probiotics and promote their growth, postbiotics are the byproducts of probiotics, which help to improve the composition of the skin’s beneficial bacteria. LactoSporin® is truly a novel ingredient in the cosmetic and personal care sector (INCI name: Bacillus Ferment Filtrate Extract). It is an extracellular metabolite, also termed as postbiotic. It is a proprietary, standardized non-living antimicrobial product obtained from the supernatant of the probiotic strain Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (LactoSpore®). Postbiotics are bioactive soluble, non-living microbial cell products, possessing several advantages over the probiotic itself, especially in skin care. They show biological activity in non-viable state, are easy to formulate, have favorable physiochemical properties and show improved inflammatory defense.

What are the intended properties of probiotics in cosmetics?

Probiotics have been around a long time, but we are still discovering their potential to make our gut and skin healthier. Apart from the connection between gut health and skin, probiotics can actually help the skin on topical application too. The bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus increases the production of ceramides in skin, which is helpful to reduce eczema. Presence of Bifidobacterium longum increases skins resistance to temperature and chemical aggressors. Thus, maintaining the skin microbiome balance is very essential for a healthy skin. Probiotics may also help reduce inflammation and inhibit the pathogenic bacteria like P.acne to grow, thus reducing acne and redness.

Does the presence of Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (LactoSpore) have an affect the product safety?

The beneficial bacteria of LactoSpore poses no product safety concerns. In fact, LactoSporin derived from Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856, promoted by Sabinsa for cosmetic use, but does not contain any viable bacteria. These so called postbiotics, are the latest entrants into the world of beauty and skin care. They offer attractive promises as they do not contain any live bacteria and any apprehension attached with live probiotic, such as safety and shelf-life limitations can be avoided. Postbiotics are also easy to formulate and are known to have better anti-inflammatory activity and can influence the microbiome composition. The challenges are mainly concerned with substantiating the efficacy claims in human volunteers and regulatory compliance. 

Customers want natural ingredients but also demand a sustainable and environmentally responsible sourcing. How does your company meet your customers’ demands?

Effective, but safe cosmetics and personal care products are the trend in the present era of cosmetic evolution. Consumers are also looking for sustainable and environmentally safe products that are socially responsible, this speaks to the ethics of our industry. LactoSporin is readily biodegradable and has no mutagenic potential and is safe for the environment as it is not ecotoxic. All the regulatory requirements for environment safety are carried out with LactoSporin to meet the customers’ demands. A dedicated fermentation factory is housed to ensure the safe and meticulous production of both the live bacteria, LactoSpore® and the extracellular metabolite LactoSporin®.  

For 2020 the main questions always revolved on the how companies are adjusting to the ‘new normal’. What was your experience?

Last year was challenging for all of us, personally and professionally. Sabinsa rolled out a comprehensive COVID-19 policy immediately to secure our employees safety, from office workers to factory workers, along with measurements in our supply chain to ensure little to no delays as possible. Our integrated world-wide supply chain helped us to quicky react and supply merchandize on time. Demand of our products also increased because we have portfolio of products that are clinically studied relevant to the current crisis.  We quickly adapted home office-based work for our employees and made sure that they stay safe!

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