PRESS

For Immediate Release
Monday, August 16, 2010

Contact(s)
Margaret Gomes
Director of Marketing
310-694-3031

Natural ingredients manufacturer, NP Nutra^®, launched a certified organic Maqui freeze-dried Powder, adding to its growing line of high quality Superfruit ingredients.

With sales growth of organic products now outpacing conventionally grown foods, the health industry is seeing an unprecedented demand for organically grown ingredients. Andrew Carter, NP Nutra’s Quality Control Manager states, “Inquiries for developing and producing more certified organic ingredients keep coming in from all parts of the food and beverage industry, suggesting that organic products have finally become mainstream.”

Maqui berries have astonishing levels of antioxidants, including anthocyanins, delphinidin, malvidin, petunidin, cumarins, triterpenes, flavonoids, and cyanidin. They are also a good source of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and iron. Maqui berries are traditionally used to promote strength, endurance, and overall health. The antioxidants in Maqui berries aid normal function of the body's cells, and may help maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

Maqui (Aristotelia chilensis) is an evergreen shrub or small tree that grows up to 15 feet tall and is native to the Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina. When Maqui berries are mature, they are an attractive deep purple or black color, usually growing to the size of large blueberries.

“We use the whole maqui berry to maximize the nutritional content of our product while minimizing wastage,” explains Andrew Carter. NP Nutra^® places a strong emphasis on producing a high quality product in the most sustainable way. By using all three parts of the fruit: the Epicarp (the dark purple/black skin), the Mesocarp (the pulpy meat of the fruit) and the Endocarp (the seeds), the nutritional value of the product is maximized. Tests have shown that the whole berry product has a higher ORAC rating than powder produced from refined Maqui juice. The process of removing seeds results in loss of up to 30-40% of the fruit pulp and/or skin. Andrew Carter comments,“Not only do we maximize ORAC ratings, we are able to produce an ingredient that is far less wasteful and therefore highly sustainable.”

Contact NP Nutra^® for more information.