From purple sweet potato to black garlic: Natural powders boost nutrients and color

Dried fruit and vegetable powders allow manufacturers to add extra nutrients and color to food and drink products, says Brazilian supplier Sylvestre Natural Ingredients.

Sylvestre Natural Ingredients manufactures soluble powders of fruit, vegetables, and botanicals, and is a division of  BioTae Group, a Brazilian supplier of botanical extracts for food, nutrition, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

Sylvestre's biggest selling products are two typical Brazilian fruits – guarana and acai – that it sells both domestically and worldwide, but the company has over 142 products in its portfolio.

At BioBrazil and NaturalTech, it was showcasing four new products, the company’s research and development (R&D) scientist Patrick Arruda, told FoodNavigator-LATAM.

Black garlic, which it added to black mini muffins, has cardiovascular health benefits and is a perfect fit for gourmet and culinary applications, Arruda said.

Garapa is sugar cane juice, a popular beverage in Brazil, that consumers could now make at home thanks to its dehydrated mixes, added Arruda.

It was also presenting olive powder, useful for savory food applications such as pasta sauces, and purple sweet potato.

Our process doesn’t use any chemicals. To make the product, we take the fruit, such as guarana seeds. We make a concentration of this fruit in water then we evaporate the water and then we dry it in a spray dryer.

"You [end up] with a soluble dry powder that is soluble in water and oil. You can [dissolve] it in so many ways," Arruda added.

Sylvestre supplies 100% pure fruit powders or with added excipients, such as maltodextrin, cornstarch, cassava starch or polydextrose.

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