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PhytoSel™ and PhytoChrome™

WHAT ARE THEY?
PhytoSel™ and PhytoChrome™ are dried, powdered (pass 60 mesh), unprocessed edible Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) plants. These plant powders contain plant-bound selenium and chromium trace elements at concentrations thousands of times the amounts that occur in most plants.

HOW ARE THEY PRODUCED?
InB:Biotechnologies scientists have developed a patented, proprietary process for hydroponically growing these plants in greenhouses under controlled conditions of light, moisture, temperature and critical nutrient regimes. This results in the plants taking up into their cells and tissues large quantities of select micronutrients - over a thousand times higher than in conventional plants. The plants are harvested, dried at mild heat (<150° F), and ground to provide a free flowing powder suitable for formulations.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF InB:Biotechnologies PHYTOMINERALS?
For the first time it is possible to provide trace elements in a pure natural plant from. Not an inorganic mineral, not a yeast product, not a synthetic chelate, but an unaltered plant product. These trace elements are in the same form as found in conventional foods, just at much higher levels. These levels are sufficient to provide daily trace nutrients requirements in 100 mg or less. The benefit of natural nutrition in a small powerful package! Ideal for multivitamin/mineral formulations, nutritional supplements of all kinds, functional foods, your products.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO OTHER PLANT MINERAL SOURCES?
There are no other natural Se or Cr plant supplement sources on the market. For example, the highest source of Se in plant matter is 100 ppm in Amazonian Brazil nuts, which require oil extraction to make into a flowing powder. Some garlic plants also have similar concentrations of Se, but are not commercially available. In any event, no edible plant source comes close to the Se content of PhytoSel™ or Cr levels in PhytoChrome™.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO MINERAL ENRICHED YEAST?
There are some yeast and microalgae products on the market enriched in Se and Cr, but the minerals are added as inorganic salts to the yeast after growing and concentrating into a paste, which is then spray dried. In effect, the salts are diluted with yeast powder! Some yeasts are cultivated in the presence of selenium (sodium selenate), so the Se is taken up by the yeast cells. However, analysis of a best-selling yeast product found that most of the Se in the yeast had been reduced to selenite and elemental selenium, which are poorly bioavailable. In the PhytoSel™ product the Se is incorporated into organic molecules (e.g. selenium methionine) and plant-bound selenate, the two most highly bioavailable forms of selenium. Similarly, the Cr in PhytoChrome™ is bound organically within the plant tissue matrix.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE WITH INORGANIC / CHELATED MINERALS?
Inorganic mineral salts and chelates are inexpensive sources of trace elements. However, they are poorly bioavailable and exhibit secondary interactions. Most troubling, they provide a sense of false security to consumers - they are taking their supplements but are not assimilating the nutrients. Synthetic complexes and chelates are touted as being more bioavailable than the inorganic salts, but are so only in laboratory experiments. After entering the acid stomach most chelated minerals revert to their original inorganic form. Many vendors mix mineral salts with soy or other proteins and amino acids, but that is no better than mixing these with yeast powder. Humans evolved to obtain our nutrients from plant foods, and these are still the best sources. InB:Biotechnologies'  PhytoSel™ and PhytoChrome™ are the only available plant sources of concentrated minerals.

WHAT ABOUT SAFETY?
These products containing relatively large amounts of Se and Cr nutrients and must be handled with care during manufacturing, preventing dust exposure and in dispensing the right dosage into formulations. Studies done by InB:Biotechnologies demonstrates a lower toxicity for the PhytoSel™ and PhytoChrome™ products than for the corresponding inorganic salts, on a element content basis. The Brassica juncea plants used by InB:Biotechnologies are neither genetically modified nor are pesticides or herbicides are used in the hydroponic production process. The hydroponic nature of the process does not allow for organic certification, but the process is based on good agricultural and supplement manufacturing practices. The microbiological counts are low.

WHAT ABOUT GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS?
The PhytoSel™ and PhytoChrome™ products are unprocessed edible plant products, grown under greenhouse and hydroponic conditions with conventional agricultural plant nutrients. Their use as food supplements falls under DSHEA, which allows the use of these products without FDA approval or regulation. In other countries, such as Canada, with strict limitations on inorganic mineral supplements, the InB:Biotechnologies products can be sold as natural, plant-based supplements.