Importance of Origin

A variety of enzymes sources are used for supplementation, viz. animals (usually from pancreas of swine, calf, or hog), plants (e.g. pineapple, papaya), and microbial fermentations (from fungi or bacteria, often known as ‘plant-derived’). A majority of the digestive enzyme supplements currently available in the market are from animal sources. Hence, enzyme origin would be a great concern for a customer who is strictly vegan.

In Asia, non-animal-derived enzymes have traditionally been used extensively in the fermentation process to prepare culinary ingredients (for example, Aspergillus oryzae has been used to prepare soy sauce, tamari, and miso by fermenting soybeans). Moreover, since millennia, several of these enzymes have also been well-utilized in the areas of food production, as well as therapeutic application — owing to their known digestive health benefits.

Microorganisms nowadays are being used as a major source of enzymes for supplements. As a result, microbial enzymes represent about 90% of all enzymes produced commercially for any purpose. Some of the best known sources of microbial enzymes used in supplements include species like Aspergillus, Rhizopus (fungal), Bacillus (bacterial), and Saccharomyces (yeast).

However, it is important to note that these microbe-derived enzymes, although contain no microbial residue as they would be thoroughly filtered using modern filtration technology leading to a clean and pure end-product, which consists strictly of enzymes.

We, at Sabinsa, have incorporated following microbial enzymes from bacterial and fungal origin in DigeZyme^®, and they are produced via fermentation method.

Source of Digestive Enzymes