New tool for measuring synbiotic synergy potential could shape the next wave of food and drink innovation supporting gut health

Tate & Lyle PLC (Tate & Lyle), a global leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages, welcomes the publication of a new peer-reviewed study from world-leading APC Microbiome Ireland at University College Cork, supported in part by research grants from Tate & Lyle and Research Ireland. The study introduces a new tool, designed to improve the potential gut health outcomes and the quality and speed of development of synbiotic ingredient combinations for the food, beverage and supplement industries. The study used two of Tate & Lyle’s recently NutraStrong™ certified prebiotic fibres: EUOLIGO ^® FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides) and PROMITOR ^® Soluble Fibre as part of its screening for synbiotic potential.

Synbiotics, combinations of probiotics and prebiotic fibres, are attracting growing interest across the food and beverage industry as they bring both beneficial components together, helping healthy bacteria not only reach the gut but also thrive, amplifying their potential impact on health compared to pre‑ or probiotics used alone.

The research, published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology, introduces the Synbiotic Potential Score (SPS) – a new screening tool that helps researchers identify which combinations of probiotics and prebiotic fibres work most effectively together. The SPS supports a more efficient and systematic way of identifying promising combinations early in development, reducing the time and resources that often go into a trial and error-based approach and consequently speeding up availability for use in new product development for customers.

Today, brands are exploring synbiotics across categories including functional beverages, yoghurts, nutrition products and supplements, responding to demand for more personalised and functional food experiences. As the market evolves, brands and researchers are increasingly focusing on combinations that deliver more targeted and effective consumer benefits.

Using the SPS framework, researchers screened eight probiotic strains and how they grew across a range of well-recognised prebiotic ingredients, including Tate & Lyle’s EUOLIGO ^® FOS and PROMITOR ^® Soluble Fibre at various fibre contents.

The findings showed that different probiotic strains respond differently to specific prebiotic fibres. This highlights that a more targeted approach to pairing a probiotic with the most synergistic prebiotic fibre has the potential to unlock greater health benefits for consumers.

These differences were true whether the screened prebiotics were tested individually or in combination, reinforcing the growing industry focus and the need for more targeted and complementary synbiotic development, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to combining prebiotics and probiotics.

The SPS framework supports this next generation of synbiotic innovation by helping researchers better understand how specific probiotic strains interact with different fibres. This could help accelerate innovation for better gut health outcomes across food and beverage categories. Gut health continues to grow as a consumer priority as well as the understanding of its role in overall health.

Tate & Lyle contributed scientific expertise and supplied prebiotic ingredients for the study.

While the authors note that further clinical and functional validation remains important, the SPS framework offers a scalable approach for early-stage screening and could help streamline future synbiotic research and development.

Dr Harriët Schellekens, Group leader at APC Microbiome Ireland, said: “As interest in gut health continues to grow, there is increasing demand for more targeted and evidence-based synbiotic products. The Synbiotic Potential Score provides researchers with a practical way to compare how different probiotic strains respond to specific fibres and identify promising combinations earlier in the development process.”

Dr. Clare Leonard, VP Nutrition and Health Science at Tate & Lyle, said: “Understanding how specific prebiotic fibres perform with different probiotic strains is central to developing synbiotic products that deliver better gut health. This research is exciting as it gives the industry a more rigorous way to make those connections earlier in the development process.”

About the collaboration

This research was conducted by APC Microbiome Ireland (University College Cork) with funding support from Research Ireland and Tate & Lyle, a global leader in ingredient solutions. Tate & Lyle contributed scientific expertise and supplied prebiotic ingredients used within the study.

About APC Microbiome Ireland

APC Microbiome Ireland is a world-leading research centre focused on understanding and harnessing the microbiome to improve human health and wellbeing. Based at University College Cork, APC brings together academic, clinical and industry partners to translate microbiome science into realworld solutions. For more information, please visit https://ucc.ie/en/apc or follow APC Microbiome Ireland on Bluesky,  LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram  or Facebook.

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About Tate & Lyle PLC:

Supported by over 165-years of ingredient innovation, we partner with customers to provide consumers with healthier and tastier choices when they eat and drink. We are proud that millions of people around the world consume products containing our ingredients and solutions every day.

Through our leading expertise in sweetening, mouthfeel and fortification, we develop ingredients and solutions which reduce sugar, calories and fat, add fibre and protein, and provide texture and stability to food and drink in categories including beverages, dairy, bakery, snacks, soups, sauces, and dressings.

Tate & Lyle has approximately 5,000 employees working in around 70 locations in 37 countries, serving customers in more than 120 countries. Science, Solutions, Society is our brand promise and how we will achieve our purpose of Transforming Lives through the Science of Food. By living our purpose, we believe we can successfully grow our business and have a positive impact on society. We live our purpose in three ways, by supporting healthy living, building thriving communities and caring for our planet.

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. For the year ended 31 March 2026 Tate & Lyle revenue from continuing operations totalled £2.0 billion. For more information, please visit www.tateandlyle.com or follow Tate & Lyle on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Facebook or YouTube