Grant: Engage Grants Program

For many years, the SMK Farm & Herbal Research (SMK Group) in Surrey BC has managed its own researchand development activities for identifying high valued functional crops that can be readily marketable and forbuilding pilot facilities to process them using sustainable production practices. SMK Farm is interested inexploring BCIT's Natural Health & Food Products Research Group knowledge, expertise, and capabilities torealize the proposed project in developing methods for the evaluation of major phytochemicals present invaluable specialty crops. This partnership with the Natural Health & Food Products Research Group seeks toinvestigate some wild rice secondary metabolites that have potential health benefits. SMK Farm and BCIT willcollaborate to optimize the production, processing and quality standards of raw and processed Canadiannorthern wild rice by developing tools for establishing quality specifications and standardizing the levels ofsome key plant secondary metabolites. SMK Farm is very interested in the outcomes of this project since itmay have substantial impact on its operation and future direction. The company is aware of widely reportedissues regarding the quality and safety of natural products that have led to concerns of safety, efficacy and fraudwhich are threatening the trust of consumers. The reason why SMK Farm is committed to supporting newresearch to establish quality standards is to ensure that product availability is achieved in its nutraceuticalproducts in order to grow and maintain consumers' confidence.