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Phytochemicals of interest in industrial and retail products can be susceptible to degradation if drying processes are not well controlled.  Freeze, drum, infrared, microwave, and refractance window drying are just a few of the drying options available to processors.

Juicing is a classic example of extraction, whereby the liquid components of a fruit or vegetable are partitioned from the solids.  Other forms of extraction may involve the addition of an organic solvent, such as ethanol, to improve the recovery of certain phytochemicals.  Extraction systems such as supercritical fluid extraction use carbon dioxide and are well suited for isolation of hydrophobic compounds.

Separation technologies enable targeted phytochemicals to be enriched relative to other compounds.  As an example, solid phase extraction resins are commonly used to isolate and enrich the active phytochemicals (proanthocyanindins) from cranberry juice concentrates.  Membrane filtration is a separation technology that is often used to enrich active phytochemicals (anthocyanins) from elderberry.

Consumers of retail dietary supplements expect their products to be authentic and truthful in labeling.  CPS provides resources to enable retailers to substantiate label claims in compliance with FDA regulations.  As an example, CPS scientists developed a customized reference standard for a retailer in the pomegranate industry, which provided the ability to quantify the level of the targeted component in the retail products with exceptionally high accuracy.  This resulted in a series of peer-reviewed scientific publications on improving the accuracy and precision of quantifying hydrolysable tannins using our Polyphenol Fingerprinting℠ platform.  Martin et al., JSFA 2009, Madrigal-Carballo et al., J. Functional Foods 2009, Seeram et al.,  Pomegranate Phytochemicals. In Pomegranates (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants – Industrial Profiles) 2004.

Cranberry juice is promoted and consumed mainly for its urinary tract health benefits.  CPS works intimately with PR and marketing agencies that represent the Cranberry Institute and Cranberry Marketing Committee (CMC).  As an example, CPS scientists collaborated with cranberry retailers to identify stakeholder needs, resulting in the development of a customized reference standard that lead to publication of two AOAC First Action Official Methods℠ for the identification and quantification of cranberry A-type proanthocyanidins using our Polyphenol Fingerprinting℠ platform.