The president of UCAM, José Luis Mendoza, and the General Director of Capsa Food, José Armando Tellado, signed an agreement at the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), through San Antonio Technologies, an organisation specialized in giving scientific-technological support to the food industry by doing clinical investigation research that enable to complete proposals, at both public and private levels.

The signing of this agreement generated the creation of a new company, San Antonio Biotics, where the final goal is investigating new probiotic strains especially designed for different clinical situations, preventive and therapeutic, that are related with microbiota and microbiome. Furthermore, as the probiotics will be proportioned to the Central Institute of Asturian Dairy for Personalized Nutrition, which allows the development of new targets.

The project will be directed by highly qualified researchers, selected on base of their scientific and technical knowledge on microorganisms, and their positive qualities (probiotics). Furthermore, they will study their application on nutrition, human and animal health, where they will contribute greatly to the knowledge there is on these bacterias, as well as technological development, invention patents and successful technological transferences to the socio-productive sector.

All of the bacterias will be thoroughly investigated and carefully selected for their efficiency, security and compatibility, so that the selected strains can form an efficient formulation.

UCAM’s experience with clinical research assures the scientific and clinical evidence of the probiotics, guaranteeing the efficiency and security. Furthermore, UCAM will also be supporting Capsa Food to take their product to the market, supporting them in what they need.

Through this agreement, Capsa Food continues betting on new businesses, in this case associated to biotechnical innovation, with the goal to offer solutions and services that improve the health of the consumers. In the beginning of this year, the Central Institute of Asturian Dairy for Specialized Nutrition was started, with the two first projects being the launch of “39ytu”, based on precise nutritional recommendations through carrying out an microbiome test, and the project “Spanish Microbiome”, in which case the results will help determine the existence of central human microbiome and detail its relation with different diseases and health problems. Furthermore, a new product for diabetics was launched recently thanks to the agreement signed with Cantabria Labs, the goal of the agreement being the development and commercialization of new nutritional formulations.

The benefits of probiotics

The probiotics are microorganisms, as bacterias and yeasts, that are of benefit to humans and animals as they maintain the microbial balance of the intestines. According to FAO, the probiotics are live microorganisms that, when consumed in appropriate amounts, benefit the health of humans.

As beneficial bacteria, they balance the intestinal flora, restore the bacterial balance after the use of antibiotics, facilitate digestive health and the absorption of nutrients, reduce the risk of infections and dental caries, as well as being useful for infections on skin, diarrea, in maintaining the ideal weight and in reducing the chronicle pathological risk like hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Capsa Food (Central Asturian Dairy, Larsa, ATO, Vega de Oro e Innova Food Ingredients) is the market leader in Spanish milk products, with the aim to give future to the partner farmer by offering natural products and services that improve the health and quality of life of people in a sustainable environment. It has six production centres distributed all over Spain, employing directly more than 1300 people with international offices in more than 40 countries.

San Antonio Technologies (SAT) is an organism of the Catholic University of Murcia, specialized in the scientific-technological support of the food and food supplement industries, that specifically works in the completion of clinical research. SAT activity is based on developing new processes, products or services from the knowledge and results gained at the University.