You know of course that carrots are good for us. But what you might not know, is that when carrots are made into juice, about 25% of the carrot remains behind as pulp. Although it contains nutrients and fibre, it’s traditionally been lost as waste.

However, Australian company Kagome, has innovated by drying the pulp into a stable and versatile powder. They've perfected a drying process that converts 7000 tonnes of carrot pulp per year into 700 tonnes of value-added powder. They call the product NinjinFibre® (ninjin is Japanese for carrot) and it’s one of our key ingredients in Planet A foods.

It's a sustainable prebiotic fibre source and a powerful source of flavonoids and polyphenols, which are bioactive compounds that play an important role in pet health. These flavonoids and polyphenols have antioxidant properties and can help reduce inflammation, improve immune system function, and even promote better skin health. Flavonoids and polyphenols may also aid digestion, support liver function, and reduce cholesterol levels.

Kagome has also done a similar thing with tomatoes. They've developed what's called Lycofibre®, a nutritious and sustainable ingredient produced from tomato skins, left over after processing tomatoes for sauce, juice, or paste. (Kagome is also Australia's largest tomato processor.)

Lycofibre® provides both insoluble and soluble fibre to support optimum gut health. The soluble fibre component provides prebiotic functionality to support intestinal health and reduce faecal odour whilst the insoluble fibre component provides bulk to assist with GI transit and gut motility and may be reduced to reduce energy density to assist with weight control.¹ ² ³ ⁴ 

Lycofibre® also contains essential amino acids, fatty acids, minerals to support pet health and is also a rich source of lycopene, a unique heat stable bioactive antioxidant.

Lycofibre®: Antioxidant Support

Lycofibre® is a rich source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties, such as lycopene, beta-carotenoids, tocopherols, polyphenols, and terpenes (Lu et al. 2022). These bioactive compounds play a vital role in biological systems by delaying or inhibiting the oxidation of lipids or other molecules and thus counteracting oxidative damage that occur under stress.⁵

Lycofibre® is particularly abundant in lycopene. Lycopene is an important bioactive molecule with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-atherogenic and cardio protective properties⁶ ⁷ ⁸ 

Tomato pomace inclusion in dry petfood diets as a source of lycopene has been associated with reduced anxiety modulating metabolites in diets supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids and prebiotic fibres⁹.

References:

1. de Godoy, MR, Kerr, KR, Fahey, GC, Jr. (2013) Alternative dietary fiber sources in companion animal nutrition. Nutrients 5, 3099-117.
2. Serao, M, Fahey, G (2013) Companion animal nutrition as affected by dietary fibre inclusion. Fibre-Rich and Wholegrain Foods: Improving Quality 407-420.
3. Pilla, R, Suchodolski, JS (2021) The Gut Microbiome of Dogs and Cats, and the Influence of Diet. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 51, 605-621.
4. Finet, S, He, F, Clark, LV, de Godoy, MRC (2022) Functional properties of miscanthus fiber and prebiotic blends in extruded canine diets. J Anim Sci 100.
5. García Herrera, P, Sánchez-Mata, MC, Cámara, M (2010) Nutritional characterization of tomato fiber as a useful ingredient for food industry. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies 11, 707-711.
6. García Herrera, P, Sánchez-Mata, MC, Cámara, M (2010) Nutritional characterization of tomato fiber as a useful ingredient for food industry. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies 11, 707-711.
7. Mozos, I, Stoian, D, Caraba, A, Malainer, C, Horbańczuk, JO, Atanasov, AG (2018) Lycopene and Vascular Health. Frontiers in Pharmacology
8. Kilany, OE, Abdelrazek, HMA, Aldayel, TS, Abdo, S, Mahmoud, MG (2020) Anti-Obesity Potential of Moringa Olifera Seed Extract and Lycopene on High Fat Diet Induced Obesity in Male Sprauge Dawely Rats. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences.
9. Ephraim, E, Brockman, JA, Jewell, DE (2022) A Diet Supplemented with Polyphenols, Prebiotics and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Modulates the Intestinal Microbiota and Improves the Profile of Metabolites Linked with Anxiety in Dogs. Biology (Basel) 11