Formulating with Superfruits

While the superfruits category may not be as high profile today as it was a few years ago, when Oprah talked about açai, and XANGO started its expansive growth in the multilevel marketing (MLM) category, it continues to attract consumer interest. Fortunately, there is a growing interest in scientific substantiation along with a broader portfolio of ingredient options to choose from.

Formulators working with superfruits first have to define their goals and objectives as they relate to a product, functionality and claims standpoint, according to Stefan Wypyszyk, senior business development manager at Stiebs. Equally important is it to determine how the product will be sold: as a dietary supplement, food or beverage, or as a medical product.

The next step is ingredient sourcing. “Superfruits are one of the most exciting growth areas in the industry, but a great superfruit ingredient begins with the environment it is grown in," said Marina Linsley, marketing director, NP Nutra. “[We] work with local farmers in the most pristine environments to ensure the soil is clean and free from contaminants, and that chemical fertilizers and pesticides are never used, ensuring the best-quality fruits are grown."

However, starting with the highest quality fruits is only step number one; maintaining the active constituents is a big challenge. “A superfruit should be in the form closest to what exists naturally with a minimum of processing," suggested Brien Quirk, director of R&D, Draco Natural Products.

Any type of processing—drying the whole fruit, juicing, pureeing, extraction, etc.—can affect the phytochemical composition of the raw materials. Stability can be achieved in many ways, with each method having a profound effect on the preservation of nutrients, phytochemicals and bioactivity, said Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., FACN, senior research director and CEO at AIBMR Life Sciences Inc. For example, he noted two cold-processing technologies: spray-drying and freeze-drying. “[Spray-drying] may be much cheaper, but the end result could be a food that has lost a significant amount of its bioactivity compared to the same food [after being] freeze-dried."

Linsley agreed: “Freeze drying provides the best alternative for retaining the integrity of cell structure, flavor, color and nutritional properties." In addition, as raw fruits contain enzymes that are susceptible to oxidation and nutritional degradation after harvesting, many suppliers locate their processing facilities near the harvest sites to ensure optimal quality of the raw materials.

Quirk said Draco employs two major processing steps to capture the full spectrum of antioxidant and bioactive plant compounds. He explained: “The first component is made by juicing the whole fruit, including the peel, seeds and rind, concentrating it in a vacuum evaporation system. Then, the pressed fiber that remains, [which is] still rich in many plant compounds, is processed with water extraction to obtain an additional extract. All of the antioxidants, polysaccharides, pectins, organic acids and other plant compounds are obtained in this manner. These two components are then combined together and spray-dried in a special process that prevents the loss of valuable compounds. In this state, the dried carrier-free powdered extract is stable and very similar in important actives that the original fruit contained."

Similar processing steps are used by Stiebs to ensure stability. For example, Wypyszyk detailed when formulating Stiebs’ TRUE Pomegranate® Extract, the company, "took great care to ensure that the HPLC anthocyanin fingerprint of our extract maintains the fingerprint found in the fruit and juice. This is vital to the functionality of the ingredient as the fingerprint of the six anthocyanins in pomegranate are well established and used, in the juice, to establish identity and authenticity."

One best practice is putting in place a comprehensive quality control program that ensures identity and purity at key stages of harvesting and processing. Ethical Naturals' program, for instance, is called "Nature Verified by Science." “We use a patented method for producing fruit extracts that contain high, defined levels of polyphenols and ORAC [oxygen radical antioxidant capacity] values," said Cal Bewicke, president, Ethical Naturals. “These are combined with a long-term stability verification program and extensive batch-related quality assurance testing."

Another factor to consider when formulating with superfruits is toxicity. Consider the case of soursop (Annona muricata L.), a fruit once widely consumed in the French West Indies, until high consumption was found to be linked to incidence of atypical Parkinson’s disease (Lancet. 1999 Jul 24;354(9175):281-6). “Once the compound responsible for causing the neurodegenerative disease was identified and experimentally proven to be responsible for it, people realized chronic consumption of that fruit was ill-advised," Schauss said. “As a result, the incidence of the disease dropped precipitously, [and we learned] that any exotic fruit needs to be determined safe for chronic consumption."