Dive Brief:
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Grape waste from the wine-making process could be used in commercial applications that add fiber and prolong the shelf life of foods, according to Food Ingredients First.
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Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have been exploring ways to transform the leftover grape skins, stalks and seeds — known as pomace — into antioxidants, oils and dietary fibers for food and nutritional products. They found that phenolic compounds extracted from the pomace prevented oxidation in popular high-fat foods like mayonnaise and ranch dressing, thereby extending shelf life.
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The wine-making industry produces about 14 million tons of pomace a year and disposing of it can cause environmental problems. It may pollute surface and groundwater with pesticide and fertilizer residues, and make soil acidic because of its low pH.
Dive Insight:
Food manufacturers have been under pressure to make their ingredient lists easier to understand, as consumers say they're rejecting products that contain too many chemical-sounding ingredients. According to the Food Marketing Institute’s 2017 Grocery Shopper Trends, 59% of shoppers look for minimal processing claims like "no artificial preservatives," while 65% seek to avoid ingredients like salt, sugar and antibiotics.
However, artificial preservatives can be particularly challenging to replace due to their complexity. Companies need to strike a balance between answering demand for clean labels and ensuring their products are still safe, attractive, affordable and have an acceptable shelf life.
The researchers developing grape-pomace-derived ingredients hope their antioxidants will be able to preserve foods as effectively as the synthetic antioxidant ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a safe but unfriendly-looking ingredient for product labels.
The initiative to repurpose grape waste is in line with recommendations from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which urges food companies to discard food waste only as a last resort. The FAO has highlighted several successful ways that waste has been reused as a raw material, including coffee grounds as a medium for growing mushrooms, spent grains from the brewing process used in breads and pretzels, and using tropical fruit waste to create biodegradable plastics for packaging.