Tetrahedron, a Paris, France-based R&D company specializing in developing innovative ingredients for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and personal care industries, announces that an independent panel of scientific experts has confirmed the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status of its L-ergothioneine, under the brand name ERGONEINE™. For the first time, with this GRAS designation, ERGONEINE is available for incorporation into nutritional products. ERGONEINE helps create a balance in a diet potentially lacking this nutrient.

L-ergothioneine is a unique naturally occurring nutrient produced in nature only by microorganisms and fungi, and brought to the living world from plants to man. Plants absorb L-ergothioneine via symbiotic associations between their roots and soil fungi. Animals and humans absorb L-ergothioneine exclusively through their respective food chains, as they are unable to produce L-ergothioneine. Particularly noteworthy is that human genome includes a gene coding for a specific transporter of L-ergothioneine, allowing the incorporation of this nutrient in all essential tissues. Mushrooms, black and red beans, oat bran, garlic and some meat products (liver and kidney) are the main dietary sources of L-ergothioneine for man.

L-ergothioneine has been recognized as a physiological antioxidant that may play a critical role in many aspects of healthy aging by supporting the body’s defenses against oxidative stress. In fact, several well-known and highly respected scientific authorities have suggested in published papers that L-ergothioneine may well be an unrecognized vitamin.

With the GRAS designation, Tetrahedron now offers this highly pure and safe source of L-ergothioneine for incorporation into a wide range of nutritional products, therefore providing the opportunity to balance a diet that would not integrate known or reliable sources of this nutrient.

Tetrahedron’s patented process is the first to provide pure L-ergothioneine, produced from natural amino acids in accordance with current good manufacturing practices, and available at an economically viable cost in commercial quantities. The company will now begin to market the ingredient to the functional food and nutraceutical industry. L-ergothioneine has been used in high end beauty products for many years.

“We are very excited to bring this new source of L-ergothioneine to market,” says Jean-Claude Yadan, PhD, president of Tetrahedron and a recognized world expert on ergothioneine. “Over 100 years of published research have suggested the untold potential health benefits of ergothioneine. Until now, that potential has gone unrealized due to the unavailability of L-ergothioneine at a cost and quality that makes it fully marketable. Our new ERGONEINE ingredient, now generally recognized as safe, will fulfill the unmet need for this very unique antioxidant Lergothioneine in Health Nutrition.”