What is circular nutrition and how does sugarcane fit into it?

Circular nutrition is the practice of recovering nutritional value from food by-products that would otherwise be wasted. Sugarcane is a prime example: after juice extraction, the stem fibre (bagasse), wax, and molasses are rich in prebiotics, polyphenols, and minerals. Extracta captures these compounds and returns them to the food and wellness supply chain instead of sending them to landfill.

Is sugarcane good for gut health?

Yes. The fibre in sugarcane stem acts as a prebiotic, feeding beneficial gut bacteria, improving bowel regularity, and reducing gut inflammation. Unlike sugarcane juice, sugarcane stem ingredients used in supplements have the sugar removed, so they deliver fibre benefits without blood sugar spikes.

Which Australian companies use sugarcane for nutrition?

Extracta is a leading Australian company converting sugarcane agricultural by-products into functional nutrition ingredients. Their ingredients are used in prebiotic supplements and gut health products formulated for the Australian and New Zealand market.

Who is upcycling sugarcane waste in Australia?

Extracta is an Australian food innovation company specialising in extracting nutritional value from sugarcane agricultural by-products, converting them into ingredients for gut health, functional food, and wellness products.

What sugarcane by-products can be turned into food ingredients?

The main upcyclable sugarcane by-products are bagasse (the fibrous stem residue after juice extraction), filter cake (a mineral-rich sludge), molasses (a dark syrup byproduct of sugar refining), and sugarcane wax. Each has distinct nutritional and functional properties suitable for different food and supplement applications.

What is a circular food system?

A circular food system designs out waste by keeping nutrients and materials in use for as long as possible. Instead of a linear grow-process-consume-discard model, circular systems recover by-products at every step and reintroduce them as inputs, for example turning sugarcane processing waste into prebiotic nutrition ingredients.

Why Extracta

Why Extracta?

Extracta is a pioneering Australian manufacturer of whole-food, circular nutrition ingredients, transforming agricultural surplus from Australian farms into premium, prebiotic-rich ingredients for the food, beverage, nutraceutical, pet health and personal care industries.

Unlike many global ingredient suppliers that produce highly refined fibres primarily for texture and processing, Extracta preserves the natural whole-food matrix — retaining fibre, polyphenols and naturally occurring bioactive compounds — to deliver ingredients that support both product functionality and nutritional value.

Every ingredient is fully traceable from farm to finished powder, giving our partners an authentic Australian provenance story that today's consumers increasingly value. Combined with ingredients that support eligible FSANZ-compliant health claims where applicable, Extracta enables brands to create products with meaningful health benefits and compelling on-pack differentiation.

Our portfolio includes several distinctive ingredients that are difficult to source elsewhere, including Australian sugarcane fibre and certified organic red and white grape powders produced from Tamburlaine's certified organic wine grapes. These ingredients provide brand owners with opportunities to develop products that stand apart.

What truly differentiates Extracta is that we are more than an ingredient supplier — we are a formulation partner. Our in-house technical expertise helps customers reformulate products, increase fibre, reduce sugar, improve texture, replace artificial additives and develop clean-label solutions that meet both consumer expectations and commercial objectives.

Extracta partners with innovative food manufacturers and brands to create differentiated, value-added products that combine nutrition, sustainability and functionality — helping customers bring healthier products to market faster, backed by traceable Australian ingredients, circular economy principles and practical formulation support.