Kerry Hughes

Botanical ingredients have been key components in culinary traditions worldwide for centuries, not only for their unique flavors but also for their ability to enhance and balance the taste profiles of various dishes. Spices and herbs, in particular, are powerful tools for both flavor enhancement and masking off-flavors.

Watch or listen to a Prepared Foods interview with ethnobotanist and contributing editor Kerry Hughes discussing the trending foods, beverages, and ingredients using botanicals featured at 2024 Natural Products Expo West.

Some foods and ingredients that can help improve both sleep and brain function. Think favorites from the simple— tart cherries, seeds (especially pumpkin seeds), nuts (almonds and walnuts), and kiwi fruit—to the more exotic, like schisandra, turmeric, and saffron.

With the recent surge in attention to immunity, American consumers are now thinking of preventive health less in terms of reaching for “immune boosting” supplements and more about “immune resilience.” Incorporating botanicals into food products can aid significantly in maintaining the many and complex facets of immunity.

Product launches with more than 30% fat content—such as high-fat dairy—are up, and butter sales have jumped, outpacing the growth of margarines and spreads by 360%.

Beverages that blur category lines are leading drink product launches as consumers continue to expect more functionality from the products they buy. Botanical ingredients are a key focus for consumers fulfilling this expectation.

As science continues to evolve in the understanding of human health, new pathways emerge that are positively affected by botanicals. Ancient traditional applications of herbs, roots, rhizomes, bark, spices, and seeds—as well as fruits and vegetables—are gaining support daily in labs around the world.

There are many GRAS or GRAS-affirmed ingredients poised for use in foods and beverages to improve health and well-being. Some are “new,” some have been gaining traction, and some are surprisingly familiar. Here are half a dozen that merit a closer look.

Mounting research into causes of dementia and cognitive decline have produced the recognition that two of the potentially modifiable risk factors into these conditions are diet and exercise. In a recent study at King’s College, London 418 adults age 65 and up were tested every two to three years over a 12-year period. Results revealed that cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease were linked to levels of neural stem cell death. Importantly, underlying which was low levels of vitamin D, carotenoids, and lipids