Application of Synnovo? Microencapsulated Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) Enhanced by Vegan L-Leucine in Sports Nutrition
? Introduction
Regular exercise can not only improve athletic performance but also provide many health benefits.?With increasing awareness of the benefits of exercise, more and more people are participating in physical exercise.?However, for both athletes and sports lovers, regulating muscle is very important for performance and recovery during their daily training.
During intense or prolonged exercise, our bodies run out of energy and begin to break down muscle protein, converting its amino acids into glucose for energy production. In addition, muscle protein synthesis decreases. This net protein loss leads to muscle weakness and diminished exercise performance. Thus, it is important to increase protein synthesis during exercise to maintain muscle condition for faster recovery from damage and to return to a healthy state after exercise.
It is now generally recognized that increasing availability of plasma amino acids is a key factor in promoting muscle protein synthesis and anabolism. Increased plasma amino acids activate rapamycin-sensitive signals and Akt, leading to increased protein synthesis and decreased protein degradation.?Therefore, amino acid supplementation plays a crucial role in myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS).(1)
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are divided into essential and non-essential amino acids (EAAs).?EAAs, which cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from the diet, are required to make muscle protein. Among these, leucine is an especially important amino acid owing to its ability to initiate muscle protein synthesis.(2)
INNOBIO focuses on the research of nutritional ingredients in the field of sports nutrition, especially in the application of EAAs and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are widely popular in sports nutrition.?At present, there are different series of EAAs and BCAAs marketed worldwide.?After years of intensive research, the company has successfully developed Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine, a high-purity and low-odor leucine by fermentation. Recently, the product has been officially launched to the global market.
? Composition and Technical Specifications
Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine is fermented from corn starch using INNOBIO's unique biosynthesis and green chemistry technology.?The product complies with the standards of many countries. Under strict quality control system, Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine is of high purity and excellent sensory properties, contains no ethylene oxide (ETO) and allergens, and has been certified as Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher and Halal.?
Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine is characterized by a very low odor compared to similar products on the market.?Figure 1 showed that the level of volatile?constituents is significantly lower than other products measured by SPME-GC/MS method.?
The technical characteristics of Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine and Synnovo? Microencapsulated Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) are shown in Table 1&2.
? Mechanism of Action
One of the best-known regulators of muscle metabolism is the mTOR complex, which is involved in muscle protein anabolism through phosphorylation of the downstream targets p70S6K1. Leucine stimulates protein synthesis by activating the mTORC1 signaling pathway.(3)
According to our study(4), a significant increase of p-mTOR expression after endurance exercise was observed compared with the control group.?Leucine-enriched EAAs (LEAAs) and whey protein (WP) ingestion further increased p-mTOR /mTOR levels.?Further test results indicated that the phosphorylation level of p70S6K1 in EAA-EX（Exercise with LEAA supplement）group was significantly increased compared with con-EX （Exercise without extra EAA supplement）and WP-EX (Exercise with whey protein supplement) groups.
Fig. 2 Phosphorylation levels of mTOR and p70S6K1 after prolonged endurance exercise. Representative Western blot images (a) and analysis (b–c) of muscle p-mTOR, mTOR, p-p70S6K1, and p70S6K1 levels after 7-week loaded-swimming exercise (n=3). Values are expressed as mean±SEM (n=10). **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs Con-Ex group; #P<0.05, ##P<0.01 vs EAA-Ex group
??Efficacy
The role of leucine in promoting muscle protein synthesis, preventing muscle loss, and reducing fatigue during exercise has been proven in many experiments.?
The research of Stefan M Pasiakos et al. indicated MPS was 33% (P < 0.05) greater when increasing the concentration of leucine in an EAAs supplement consumed during recovery of exercise.(5)
In INNOBIO’s study(4), Leucine?enriched essential amino acids promote muscle protein synthesis and ameliorate exercise?induced exhaustion in prolonged endurance exercise in rats, it was found that the consumption of LEAAs and WP could significantly increase plasma leucine, isoleucine and valine levels, and the BCAAs level in EAA-EX group was higher than that in WP-EX group. The time to exhaustion of the EAA-EX group was significantly longer than that of other groups. These results collectively suggest that LEAAs ingestion can improve MPS and ameliorate exhaustion in rats after long-term exercise. Furthermore, LEAAS clearly outperformed WP in this study.
Figure 3. BCAAs levels in plasma after prolonged endurance exercise. The values of leucine (a), isoleucine (b), and valine (c) in plasma were tested after 7-week loaded-swimming. Values are expressed as mean±SEM (n=10). *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs Con-Ex group; #P<0.05, ##P<0.01 vs EAA-Ex group
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Figure 4. Time to exhaustion based on the loaded-swimming test. Meantime to exhaustion due to the loaded-swimming test was recorded at week 7 after the experimental period. Values are expressed as mean±SEM (n=10). ***P<0.001 vs Con group; ##P<0.01 vs Con-Ex group; &&P<0.01 vs EAA-Ex group
???Safety
L-Leucine, EAAs and BCAAs are widely used as nutrition supplements in the market and no adverse events have been reported. In some published studies, researchers suggested an upper intake of Leucine at 35 g/day for both healthy adult men and elderly men with a bodyweight of 70 kg.(6)?
??Applications and Use
L-Leucine is widely used as a nutritional supplement in the food, beverage, energy, sports nutrition, pharmaceutical and other industries. Synnovo? Vegan L-Leucine can be used in diversified product forms, such as beverages, RTD, gummies, tablets, hard capsules, and energy bars.
L-Leucine, EAAs and BCAAs, popular for sports nutrition, have unpleasant odor, poor water solubility, bitter taste and low bioavailability, which greatly limit their application.?
INNOBIO’s R&D team designed a complete solution from raw material to formulation in order to solve above mentioned challenges for applications.
The biosynthesis and green chemistry technology guarantee high quality raw material without unpleasant odors. Our patented microencapsulation technology can significantly increase hydrophilic performance, mask bitterness, and enhance bioavailability. To maximize the value of these nutrients, INNOBIO provides solutions with instantized, low bitterness, and micronized ingredients to tailor the performance requirements of different applications.?
??Nutshell
????INNOBIO Europe B.V
????Tel：+31(0)702390015
????Email：[email protected]
INNOBIO Corporation Limited is headquartered in Dalian, China. We have established branch offices around the world including Dalian (China), Shanghai (China), Europe, and North America since our inception in 2003.
We provide natural ingredients including functional lipids, carotenoids, essential amino acids, vitamins and micro encapsulated oil powders, which can be applied in healthy foods, beverages, and dietary supplements. Together with our customers we strive to improve health and wellness of each individual.
INNOBIO is committed to providing comprehensive solutions for each customer’s formulation requirements, especially for nutrients protection through our patented biosynthesis technologies and state of the art microencapsulation processing systems. Our customers look to us to provide them with more than just quality ingredients. We believe in partnering and building long term relationships with our customers.
??Bibliography
（1）Milan G, Romanello V, Pescatore F et al（2015）Regulation of autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome system by the FOXO transcriptional network during muscle atrophy. Nat Commun 6:6670.
（2）Katsanos CS, Kobayashi H, Shefeld-Moore M et al （2006） A high proportion of leucine is required for optimal stimulation of the rate of muscle protein synthesis by essential amino acids in the elderly. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 291:E381-387.
（3）Ge Y, Wu AL, Warnes C et al (2009). mTOR regulates skeletal muscle regeneration in vivo through kinase-dependent and kinase-independent mechanisms. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 297:C1434-1444.
（4）Jin?Wen, Chao?Fan, Ming?Liu, et al.(2022) Leucine?enriched essential amino acids promote muscle protein synthesis and?ameliorate exercise?induced exhaustion in?prolonged endurance exercise in?rats, Nutrire 47:7.
（5）Stefan M Pasiakos,?Holly L McClung,?James P McClung et al (2011) Leucine-enriched essential amino acid supplementation during moderate steady state exercise enhances postexercise muscle protein synthesis. Am J Clin Nutr?94(3):809-818.
（6）Betina Rasmussen,?Erin Gilbert,?Abrar Turki?et al (2016) Determination of the safety of leucine supplementation in healthy elderly men. Amino Acids, Jul;48(7):1707-16.?