Indena: leading the way in natural wellbeing with new solutions for chronic ache relief & beauty from within, at Vitafoods 2025

Milan, 20th May 2025 - Evidence from the World Health Organization indicates that a growing number of individuals worldwide are actively seeking natural solutions to enhance their well-being, a trend driven by a desire for more holistic and preventative approaches to health management. Indena has consistently focused on global health trends, aiming to address key consumer needs with the power of nutraceuticals.

Vitafoods 2025 will see Indena presenting its proposals, including its latest products, for addressing some of the most relevant emerging health needs: chronic ache management and beauty from within.

Francesca de Rensis, Marketing Director at Indena SpA, says: “Indena is thrilled to once again be a leading participant at Vitafoods. This year, we’re excited to present both new product developments and novel applications of our established ingredients to meet evolving consumer health needs. Vitafoods will be the perfect platform to unveil two groundbreaking botanical ingredients: PUREBKALE™, our Tuscan black kale seed extract with scientifically proven benefits for body detox and skin health, and CRONILIEF™, P·E·A Indena Phytosome^®, offering relief from chronic ache. We eagerly anticipate welcoming our guests to share these exciting advancements and to provide updates on our ongoing commitment to sustainability, a core value that Indena has championed for years and continues to prioritize. And still speaking of products, we are also delighted to announce that our UBIQSOME^®, CoQ10 - Indena Phytosome^®, has been nominated for the NutraIngredients Award 2025 in the anti-aging category. Once again, the quality and innovation of our ingredients have enabled us to be selected for prestigious accolades such as this”.

Indena is waiting for its guests from 20^th to 22^nd May at Fira Barcelona, in Barcelona – Booth 3J110.

Chronic ache management: a challenge that Nature can help to win
Over 30% of people worldwide live with long-lasting pain that significantly diminishes their quality of life. Nature may help effectively in this condition, and Indena has a wide products portfolio which can support ache management effectively. One of them is the recently developed CRONILIEF^TM, P^.E^.A Indena Phytosome^®, an innovative health food ingredient based on the formulation of palmytoylethanolamide (PEA) with Indena Phytosome^® technology to optimize its biological performances and health benefits.

“The natural compound palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) formulated with Indena Phytosome^® technology can effectively support ache management and specifically ache-free aging – explains Serena Tongiani, Chief Portfolio Officer at Indena -. Modulating healthy response to oxidative or pro-inflammatory stress and pain activated physiological signaling, CRONILIEF™ can favourably address chronic discomforts, which are often associated with natural aging-related conditions and difficult to manage with traditional approaches alone. Thanks to Indena Phytosome^® technology, CRONILIEF™ optimizes PEA solubility and bioabsorption compared to not formulated PEA. CRONILIEF™ offers a promising, safe, and effective solution for relief from chronic discomforts, being the natural innovation that health-food consumers are looking for.” 

Thanks to the so-called entourage effect, PEA works on multiple natural pathways positively linked to the modulation of human body endocannabinoid system, influencing targets and receptors involved in the physiological inflammatory response and in pain signaling. Serena Tongiani's presentation at Vitafoods on May 21st, titled New CRONILIEF™: the natural remedy for an ache-free, healthy life, will delve deeper into this topic.

In addition to the new CRONILIEF^TM, Indena’s portfolio includes nutraceutical ingredients able to support the body’s natural ability to favour a healthy inflammatory response and fostering long-term health. Among them are CASPEROME^®, Boswellia Indena Phytosome^®, proven efficacious in relieving stress and discomforts related to musculoskeletal and gut systems; ACMELAIN^TM, an innovative acmella extract standardized in alkylamides to be combined with other functional ingredients for a lasting ache-relief effect; MERIVA^®, curcumin Indena Phytosome^®, able to act against low chronic inflammation and support joint health.

Botanicals for a natural beauty: the inside-out approach
People are increasingly adopting a "beauty from within" philosophy, acknowledging the connection between overall well-being and outward appearance. This trend heavily relies on natural ingredients, especially botanicals, to provide effective solutions for healthy skin and hair.

Talking specifically about skin health, Indena developed PUREBKALE^TM, Indena ingredient derived from Tuscan black kale seeds. It is an aqueous dry extract from seeds of Brassica oleracea var. virids (L.) - Brassicaceae family, standardized to provide ≥17% of glucoraphanin by HPLC. This compound is precursor of sulforaphane (SFN), an active isothiocyanate produced when glucoraphanin is metabolized by the enzyme myrosinase, a compound extensively studied for its health- promoting properties. It is scientifically proven that the human gut microbiota acts the enzymatic conversion of glucoraphanin into sulforaphane and this transformation unlocks the bioactive potential of sulforaphane, which has been linked to a variety of benefits like detoxifying and antioxidant capabilities. Specifically, sulforaphane has shown promising in preventing photoaging of the skin and reducing the risk of sunburns by modulating the effects of UV radiation. Additionally, sulforaphane promotes skin nourishment, making it a powerful ingredient for overall skin health.

Indena's other ingredients also support beauty from within, and Vitafoods 2025 will be an opportunity to discuss this further with Indena's experts. The ingredients are OPEXTAN^®, that fosters skin renewal and sun exposure protection thanks to the olive fruits extract from southern Italy olives; SABALSELECT^®, a premium, highly standardized Serenoa repens extract which unleashes hair's potential supporting hair growth and health thanks to the traditional benefits of saw palmetto; UBIQSOME^® an exclusive CoQ10 nutraceutical ingredient formulated with Indena Phytosome^® technology, able to boost cellular energy and skin vitality through  a proven enhanced absorption of ubiquinone in dermal cells compared to traditional coenzyme Q10. Moreover, UBIQSOME^® has also been selected for the prestigious Nutraingredients Award 2025, confirming the value of this Indena ingredient also for healthy-aging.

Indena: sustainability integrated into governance for long-term value
For years, Indena has embedded sustainability into its core governance principles. The responsible management of supply chain is a concrete example of the company's commitment to managing its business while considering its impact on people and nature. Full traceability, supplier qualification, Good Agricultural Practices, quality cultivation practices, and environmental risk management are the pillars of Indena’s supply chain management system, ensuring the best raw materials for our high-quality extracts. People are another key focus of Indena’s sustainability efforts, encompassing both those who use our ingredients to live healthy lives and those who work to produce our botanical ingredients. Thanks to multiple employee wellbeing programs, our human resources record shows 97% permanent contracts and a very low average turnover rate of 5%. Our European plants are ISO 45001 certified for occupational health and safety management systems. Moreover, we utilize innovative technology to optimize the use of natural resources and transform our footprint into a positive environmental impact, and all of our European plants have achieved ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems. Finally, our commitment extends to the responsible use of energy. For example, we're installing photovoltaic panels across Indena's European sites, aiming to reach over 4MW of photovoltaic power capacity by 2026. By 2030, we plan to self-generate 10% of our total electricity consumption, with 80% of our electricity coming from renewable sources.

Indena’s presentation at Vitafoods 2025
New CRONILIEF™: the natural remedy for an ache-free healthy life, by Serena Tongiani, Chief Portfolio Officer at Indena. May 21^st, 12:00 am, New Ingredients Theatre, 3G266.

Visit Indena at Vitafoods 2025: Booth 3J110
May 20^th to 22^nd, Fira Barcelona, Barcelona