Austin, TX— Applied Food Sciences (AFS), an international ingredient supplier, will be the exclusive owner of U.S. patented natural guayusa, a single source plant that contains antioxidants, caffeine, and amino acids. The company will also be launching its most recent brand AMATEA guayusa extract, a water-soluble ingredient for use in beverages and nutritional supplements.

Guayusa is a caffeinated leaf, cousin to the yerba mate plant, that grows only in the upper Amazon region. It is a sweet ingredient that combines well with other flavors. AMATEA guayusa extract is clear in solution and organically grown.

Brian Zapp, the director of marketing at AFS said in a press release, “Customers are calling our guayusa ‘focused energy’ because the caffeine helps stimulate the mind while polyphenol antioxidants balance that effect in the body. AMATEA, therefore, is usually experienced as a bright and clear energy. We see this offering meeting the growing demand of functional energy and cognitive health products that are geared toward modern working consumers seeking a calmer nervous system and less agitation to go with alert mental or physical energy.”

AMATEA contains 20% caffeine, 30% chlorogenic acids, 5% catechins; these ingredients wake up the mind, reduce blood pressure, and fight diseases, respectively. These ingredients also help eliminate the jittery, nervous feelings one can experience from drinking coffee, and instead offers the “bright, clear energy,” which Zapp spoke of.

Chris Fields, Applied Food Science’s vice president of scientific affairs said, “AFS immediately started generating science to help researchers understand the synergies with caffeine among other naturally occurring compounds and how they impact physiological and hormonal biomarkers in the human body. Initial clinical research utilizing AMATEA, when compared to synthetic sources of caffeine, demonstrated guayusa’s ability to help regulate epinephrine upon caffeine ingestion. This is significant because providing a conventional energy ingredient that typically works through stimulation of the central nervous system, like caffeine, with one that may help regulate neurotransmitter functions within the body, could be a critical benefit to the cognitive energy category.”