Ingredion has formed a partnership with Holobiome to utilize artificial intelligence and a comprehensive database of two million bacterial genomes to understand how specific food ingredients impact human health before clinical trials. This collaboration aims to extend research beyond digestion to examine how sweeteners, plant proteins, and texture solutions affect the gut-brain axis, influencing factors such as sleep and mental health.
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The partnership intends to assist research and development teams in prioritizing which ingredients and food matrices should advance to human testing based on their interactions with the gut microbiome. Holobiome contributes its proprietary resources, including large-scale human cohorts, microbiome health models, and a human gut simulator.
Both companies believe their research on the effect of texture solutions, sweeteners, and plant-based proteins on gut health could significantly speed up preclinical trials for various ingredients. Eric Weisser, head of Ventures, Open Innovation, and Customer Innovation at Ingredion, emphasized that the collaboration gives researchers a deep, systems biology perspective for evaluating ingredient discovery.
Holobiome has mapped out gut bacteria functions related to health and disease from data on over 90,000 individuals. Dr. Philip Strandwitz, founder and CEO of Holobiome, explained that their progress involves refining a 'map' of potential targets within the microbiome that can lead to hypotheses for human testing. He noted, "Advancements in large-scale data generation will significantly unlock healthier food options."
Ingredion focuses on developing multifunctional ingredients through food innovation partnerships, exploring significant microbial pathways and metabolites associated with health outcomes. Strandwitz pointed out that certain ingredient categories, especially fibers, appear to have strong interactions with the microbiome, suggesting various creative formulation options.
In addition to this partnership, Ingredion has also announced a strategic collaboration with Shiru to develop AI-driven sustainable functional proteins. Shiru's database contains over 77 million natural protein sequences, complementing Holobiome’s microbiome expertise. Weisser described both collaborations as essential in refining their approach to ingredient discovery and validation.
Strandwitz noted that while microbiome-informed ingredient discovery will certainly enable a move towards more personalized nutrition, Holobiome is not yet offering individualized solutions. Instead, the partnership aims at developing products tailored to specific consumer needs and life stages. Insights gained could lead to functional benefits beyond digestion, including cognitive and metabolic health.
Recent findings in gut microbiome research, presented at the Natural Products Expo West 2026, highlight how some bacteria interactions can differentiate healthy microbiomes from diseased ones.