Grant: Alliance Grants

Blueberries occupy the largest area of all fruit crops in Canada. Wild lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) comprised 23% of the total farm gate value of all blueberries produced in Canada. Individually quick-frozen (IQF) lowbush blueberries contribute about 50% of Canada's blueberry exports. Recent surpluses of IQF blueberries have resulted in lower farm gate value and the industry is seeking urgent alternative uses of wild blueberry. Partnering with Clever Fruit Products Ltd, we propose to develop new encapsulated and fermented food ingredients from wild blueberry for the Canadian and global markets. The major knowledge gap is the lack of a scalable manufacturing process for the commercialization of fermented wild blueberry ingredients. The specific objectives of the proposed research are to (i.) develop and optimize science-based advanced manufacturing processes for value-added wild blueberry products using fermentation and encapsulation technologies and (ii.) generate new knowledge of post-biotic metabolites of fermented wild blueberry that could have a positive health impact. The proposed experimental approaches include the development of optimized and standardized probiotic fermentation processes, identification/assessment of post-biotic metabolites, the examination of encapsulation technologies for the potential to replace maltodextrin with prebiotic polysaccharides (e.g., inulin) or protein hydrolysates, and an assessment of the new functional blueberry-based ingredients for their ability to mitigate the risk of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. The expected outcome will be the establishment of advanced and scalable manufacturing processes for novel fermented wild blueberry ingredients with potential health benefits. It is anticipated that the project would contribute to the sustainability of the Canadian wild blueberry industry through creation of new value-added products. The indirect impact would be enhancing the health and well-being of Canadians through the availability of specialty health-promoting wild blueberry-derived food ingredients.