"We see a renaissance in science for vitamins," said Dr Manfred Eggersdorfer, senior vice president, nutrition science and advocacy at DSM. "The focus is shifting to their role for long-term health."

Vitamin D in particular, was the subject of intense scrutiny, he said. "More than 250 human studies are going on globally to study the effect on risk reduction in diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline. The authorities in the US have tripled the recommendation for vitamin D intake on December 1, 2010."

Considerable commercial potential existed for omega-3 fatty acid DHA and lutein, which were attracting interest for their role in mental performance and risk reduction in cognitive decline, said Eggersdorfer. The eye health properties of lutein and zeaxanthin offered significant opportunities, as did the capacity of multivitamins and Fruitflow, the ingredient developed with DSM by Provexis, to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

DSM has just announced a research partnership with the University Medical Centre, Groningen, in the Netherlands to investigate the effect of micronutrients and personalised nutrition on metabolism, gene-regulation and ageing.