What's the Benefit of Berries in Bloom?

Continued from Yesterday

A number of multiple berry ingredients on the market combine the benefits of each individual berry into a superberry product able to offer formulators a range of possible mechanism of action to consider.

Phillips noted Cyvex’s BerryVin™ combines antioxidant-rich berries— including blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and cranberries—in a concentrated, high-ORAC formulation. Similarly, Paul Dijkstra, InterHealth USA, explained OptiBerry® a standardized, proprietary blend of extracts from well-researched fruits: wild blueberry, wild bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, raspberry and strawberry. “Each berry offers different health benefits and complementary and overlapping mechanisms of action for whole body,” he added.

Combining berries appears to have merit. Recently, a berry purée made of bilberries, blackcurrants, cranberries and strawberries was found to lower plasma glucose concentration when consumed with sugar.21 Similarly, adding berries to the diet appears to reduce inflammatory markers of non-alcoholic liver disease and decrease risk of metabolic disease, according to a study in slightly overweight women.22 The berries in the Finnish study include lingonberry, sea buckthorn, bilberry and black currants.

Field of Berries Products

Given the range of health benefits associated with various berries, as well as the universal appeal of many berry flavors and textures, these colorful fruits are featured in all sorts of products, from foods and beverages to supplements and personal care.

“Drinks that are already associated with healthy living, such as dairy and fruit smoothies, should prove very successful,” Dijkstra said. “Yogurt drinks have already proved popular with consumers as a way to incorporate ingredients that improve health—particularly digestive health—into their lives. In addition to preliminary research demonstrating OptiBerry’s whole-body antioxidant properties, research suggests OptiBerry may support gastrointestinal (GI) health, and has been shown to inhibit Helicobacter pylori by 100 percent—H. pylori has been associated with various GI disorders.”

Beverages are also a target of macqui, cranberry and other berries. "Ready to drink products, energy powders, tablets and encapsulation and the characteristics are its deep purple color and neutral flavor making it very easy to work with," Kiro said. "We take our Organic Maqui 65 Brix and freeze dry it with a patented process to offer an organic maqui freeze dried juice powder that is 100-percent water soluble" She further noted maqui is a very neutral flavor, so formulations with other fruits that offer more flavor work well with the berry. "It is very rich in color therefore any usage will move towards this rich purple color," she said.

“Functional foods, beverages and personal care are growing due to a multi-tasking society looking to reap several health benefits out of existing daily practices (e.g. eating, drinking, washing),” Phillips said. He noted Cyvex’s roster of berry ingredients and blends are versatile, and its composures render them viable in pill forms and powders (such as in meal replacement shakes), as well as beverages.

Phillips further explained consumers increasingly understand the health benefits of antioxidants not only in promoting internal cellular health and protecting the immunity system, but also externally in promoting beauty and healthful aging. “Because of this, we are seeing tremendous interest in a next generation of functional foods, beverages and anti-aging creams for face and body that feature the rich-antioxidant capabilities of berries,” he said.

CONTINUED TOMORROW:

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