A glimpse inside the food business to discover how product developers and consumers are incorporating fruits and vegetables in different foods and beverages.
It would be an understatement to say that fruits and vegetables are now popular. Fruits and vegetables have several established health advantages (“Eat the rainbow” as parents tell kids). The minimal “five a day” suggested daily portions are still not met by Indians. Just 1.1 servings of fruit and 1.8 servings of vegetables are consumed daily on average by people.
Not only are fruits and vegetables chock-full of beneficial nutrients, but they also can be transformed into different types of functional ingredients. That’s why fruits and vegetables are considered more than healthy snacks or side dishes. Fruits and vegetables as ingredients and flavours have been trending for quite some time now. Fruit flavours have become essential in categories such as beverages and are even finding their space in coffees. Meanwhile, flavoured vegetable chips, fruit-flavoured sweets, etc. are what the healthy consumer asks.
Eating the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of many diseases. These include cancer, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Increasing intake (through produce) of nutrients they often lack—such as vitamins (especially A, B, C and K), minerals, fibre and phytochemicals—better enables human bodies to counteract DNA- and cell-damaging oxygen-free radicals, boost immunity and optimize metabolic function.
What’s driving the Use of Fruits and Vegetables?
Vegetables and fruit offer a variety of flavours, textures, aromas and visual appeal that can’t always be achieved with animal protein. Also, with increasing focus on sustainability and the impact the meat industry has on the economy and environment, today the food industry knows that more fruit / vegetable-based items translate to happier eco-minded consumers.
This leads to how the food industry can best take this growing trend and incorporate it into new lines. Whether the challenge is to make veggie- and fruit-centric products or to appeal to the omnivore looking to have a tasty meal with benefits of plants and fruit-based ingredients.
The push for clean label is a powerful force affecting all areas of food product and ingredient development. The progressive loss of confidence in processed food is the result of a combination of several factors such as more information made available to consumers, new communication channels, food scandals, and the publication of studies pointing out the negative effects of specific additives.
This creates an opportunity to use fruits and vegetables as ingredients that can give natural colour, flavour and taste. The use of ingredients derived from fruits and vegetables has been supported by this trend, even if these ingredients do not usually act as additive replacements. Indeed, claiming fruit/vegetable content instantly turns the product into a healthier one. More recently, clean label concerns have evolved progressively into the clear label trend, with more and more consumers raising their level of expectations: the absence of additives is a ‘must have’ and consumers are now demanding labels that only list ingredients they recognize and would potentially use at home. Claims like organic, non-GMO, and minimally processed are thus increasingly popular as they provide reassurance.
In addition to a clean label, there are a few other factors influencing the growing use of fruits and vegetables in product development. Flavour is one of them, and Millennials are more open to trying new and unusual flavours and flavour combinations. The sky is the limit when it comes to combining different fruits and vegetable ingredients to capture the attention of consumers who want new taste experiences.
In fact, incorporating vegetables in juice beverages is almost mainstream and it’s becoming more common for vegetable ingredients to be formulated into ice cream, yogurt, sweet snacks, and confectionery.
Two additional growth drivers are related to health and wellness issues. Stealth health trends have meant consumers are trying to pack the highest nutritional punch possible into their diet, and nothing is more synonymous with nutrition than fruit and vegetable content. That is why fruit and vegetable ingredients such as powders and juices are increasingly being formulated into beverage and snacking applications for this reason.
The second driver stems from changes to the Nutrition Facts Label that require inclusion of the amount of “added sugars” in grams and the percent daily value for added sugars on the label. As a result, more food manufacturers are moving away from formulating with juice-based dry ingredients to pulp-based, whole fruit ingredients that have a better nutritional composition and do not fall under the added sugars labelling requirement.
Formulating with fruit and vegetable ingredients can pose some challenges due to such things as insoluble particles, inconsistent flavour profile, difficult industrial handling, and microbiological risks. One area of focus is on the specific components of fruits such as polyphenols and vitamin C that offer health benefits, for which the food companies are now offering a range of fruit extracts with a significant natural content in those actives.
Fruit- and vegetable-based products range from fresh-cut pieces to spray-dried powders, and emerging technology is creating new products every day to assist with product creation. While cost and function typically rule the day, the ready acceptance in the market gives food makers more scope to keep quality high.
The scientist and developer in the food industry need to dig deeper into how a product is actually used in order to make it work, for example, if you’re making an edamame or immature soyabean ‘hummus,’ it’s important to understand that edamame’s green colour is not stable and can bleach out under the florescent lights in a supermarket setting. In such a case, spinach powder can be included to provide a nice, bright green colour, making it a natural and even healthful choice to solve the problem.
Another example is using fruit as a flavouring in cooked or smoked formulations. While fruit juice concentrate is more expensive than fully diluted juice, in a product where processing includes cooking, smoking or evaporation, a concentrate will save the bottom line. Using a fruit juice concentrate in such a formulation will allow reducing the amount of moisture going into the product while achieving the flavour and functional benefit desired. The result can be a more intensely flavoured product that takes less time to cook.
In some products, a multi-pronged approach can be best to get desired results. In frozen pasta in order to balance the overall moisture content with texture, visual appeal and flavour, there are multiple tomato products from which to choose. A dehydro-frozen tomato added to a traditional sauce will bind moisture and improve texture and water activity, controlling syneresis (weeping) when the product is thawed and cooked. However, adding a little tomato powder can help brighten the sauce’s colour and assist with water migration. It also will intensify the tomato flavour, actually helping it taste “fresher” and increase the nutrient value.
Flavourful Fruits and Vegetables
Unexpected applications and exotic varieties of fruits and vegetables are allowing product developers to pack more punch in product formulations. Vegetables such as beets, spinach, kale, and sweet potato are being used in sweet applications like ice cream, while fruits like yumberry, goji berry, prickly pear, and guanabana are turning up in yogurts.
Fruits are also turning up in savoury applications, especially sauces and soups where the sweetness of fruit helps to balance out a savoury profile. Peach, raspberry, cherry, and blueberry all work well in barbecue sauces or in salsa applications. In soups, with the trend of drinkable soups and juicing diets, fruits are being combined to create more palatable flavours. Watermelon gazpacho, orange carrot ginger soup or butternut squash and pear all work perfectly.
Fruits and vegetables are still used singularly in products—strawberries in jam, for instance. The key challenge product developers’ face is about creating different combinations that are attractive to traditional consumers and also appealing to new flavour enthusiasts. More and more, we can see differentiation in finding ways to promote fruit and vegetable ingredients as it relates to a locally sourced ingredient, a specific origin, or other specific claims that consumers want or identify with.
One approach that product developers take is to layer fruits and vegetables with other flavours and ingredients to create new taste experiences and appeal to consumers. Sweet and savoury flavours have always been combined, but more interesting pairings are now seen like Pineapple and jalapeño, and mango and red chili are a couple. The other interesting thing we’re starting to see is the combination of peppers and dessert flavours- spicy miso caramel and chipotle chocolate come to mind.
Pairing fruits and vegetables with herbs and spices is a great way to add flavour and to appeal to health-conscious consumers. Herbs and spices such as ginger or turmeric offer functional benefits, making them a favourite with consumers that look for healthy choices and cleaner labels. The popularity and prevalence of these kinds of flavours are making some of these a mainstream staple; think of chai, ginger, and pumpkin spice that are making their way into most food and beverage products.
Fruit and vegetable single-strength and concentrated juices and purees in both traditional and trending fruit and vegetable varieties offer product developers a range of options when developing products that grab consumers’ attention. Tropical fruits like pineapple and passion fruit are turning up in many beverage products, and cucumber and celery are incorporated in green vegetable drink combinations Food developers can also benefit from a cloudy juice or a puree to create a superior sensory experience and captivate consumers by creating a more authentic fruit or vegetable look in their beverages.
Juice concentrates can deliver a more intense flavour and sweetness profile to many food products or simply help beverage manufacturers to conveniently deliver a tasty product with recognizable ingredients. Juice concentrates from fruits or vegetables have an increased sweetness due to their higher concentrations of natural sugar, which helps with creating the overall sweetness profile in a formulation. The sugars found naturally in juice concentrates from fruits and vegetables are not considered added sugar when diluted back to single-strength Brix levels.
Another trending flavour across many products categories is smoke, which can come from naturally smoking vegetables and then incorporating them into sauces, condiments, soups, and more. Smoke appeals to those who are looking to discover new, complex flavours to satisfy their adventurous palates.
According to Mintel, smoked flavours are popular in restaurant side dishes, growing 18% in the past two years, however recently, smoked flavours are moving beyond restaurant menus, appearing in product segments like snacks, meal centres, and meat or meat analogue products. According to Mintel, 37.9% of new products in the snacks segment and 66.7% of new products in the sauces and seasonings segments are using natural ingredients like smoked onion, smoked paprika, and other naturally smoked vegetables to elevate flavour.
Smoked vegetables can add value to condiments like mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard, where they provide an authentic, gourmet smoked flavour experience for consumers to use in their own meal preparations. Smoked vegetables are also expected in new market segments like cocktails, soups, seafood, meat analogues, dairy products, and more. Vegetarian and vegan products like meat analogue appetizers and entrées can also use the natural, single-ingredient smoked vegetables to provide cooked, meaty flavours. Driven by consumers’ demand for sophisticated and gourmet flavours, new products are introducing smoke to add a modernistic, gourmet twist to traditional flavours. For example, smoked tomato and black pepper goat cheese log provides a distinguished campfire smokiness and earthy undertones complementing the savoury goat cheese log.
How Dry I Am
Advances in drying technology have vastly improved the quality of produce powders. The pale, slightly cooked and inferior-tasting products of the past have been replaced with brightly hued, vibrantly flavoured nutritional powerhouses that not only provide organoleptic appeal but also pack nutritional punch. These new approaches, from low-heat spray-drying to freeze-drying to microwave-assisted processes and light evaporation, allow vital nutrients and phytochemicals to remain intact and colour and flavour to stay vivid.
Classic, drum-dried powders are made by drying juices or purées in high-capacity drums that rotate and heat at relatively low temperatures. The resulting sheets of dried product are then ground into a fine powder. Using this traditional method gives a relatively consistent product. However, depending on the manufacturer, the flavour quality can vary—ranging from cooked, jam-like flavours to overly caramelized or even burnt notes.
Spray-dried powders take a similar journey, although instead of tumbling in a drum, the purée is sprayed into a chamber, where it hits slightly warm air (below 125°F) and then quickly dries and falls to the bottom of the chamber. The resulting mass is ground into a fine powder that imparts concentrated flavour and vibrant colour.
Another remarkable new technology in the world of fruit and vegetable powders is light-driven evaporation. This process gently removes water while keeping colour, flavour and nutrients intact. This innovative technology results in uniformly shaped, non-porous granules that are moisture-resistant with low surface tension. This means intense, vibrant concentrated flavour—much stronger than that which is achieved through drum- or spray-drying—can positively affect end-costs. More intense flavour means lower product usage to achieve equivalent results.
More conventional treatments are no less interesting or innovative. Some fruit and vegetable ingredient makers utilize the BIRS process, a system that combines slightly warm air (about 30°C/86°F) at ultra-low humidity (3% RH) with gravity to dry the product. Modern versions of this system can be quite large, such as the 75-meter (250-foot) BIRS tower in Burgdorf, Switzerland.
Produce, even dense produce such as carrots, are converted to pulp. The system gently sends droplets of the pulp from the top of the tower down, where it encounters the warm air from a ground blower that slowly dries the pulp to powder. Much slower than conventional spray- or drum-drying systems, the slower drying provides better colour, flavour and nutrient retention.Using fruit and vegetable powders can enhance colour and flavour and allow for stronger nutrition claims. In addition, some powders contain high levels of fibre, making them very useful for texture and moisture retention. Powders of already dried fruits, such as from prune, apple, raisin and date, contain both soluble and insoluble fibres that, in addition to nutrition benefits, also help bind water, adding tenderness and improving texture.
The previously noted levels of sorbitol in these dried fruits, especially in prunes, assist further with water activity, increase batter stability in baked goods and improve moisture. While cost can be an issue, it takes a relatively small amount of fruit or vegetable powder to reap the functional benefits. Experts recommend starting with adding as little as 2-5% of the total formula.
Slice, Dice…and Dry
As with pulverizing produce, fruit and vegetable processors are equally adept at creating dehydrated products to add organoleptic and functional qualities to food products. Ranging in use from simple flavour or colour enhancement to assisting with moisture retention and migration, dehydrated produce comes in multiple forms. Generally speaking, dehydrated and freeze-dried produce retains its colour, flavour and nutritional value.
The move to dried fruits, especially super fruits such as berries and cherries, reflects the nutrition, taste, colour and versatility of these fruits. Blueberries are still trending up as favoured super fruits for formulations. Consumers have indicated that blueberries in an ingredient statement say ‘wholesome’ and ‘natural’, and they view blueberries as a value-added, healthy ingredient. Berries such as dried blueberries (and other formats) can allow for reductions in sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners, as well.
One rising star lately has been tart cherries. In terms of product form, there is a strong shift toward dried tart cherries. Increasingly, dried tart cherries are being blended into ‘high-antioxidant’ snack mixes. They also are being combined with more savoury flavours and entrées. This surge in tart cherry ingredient use is being driven by their strong nutrition profile, their unique sweet-tart flavour and the bright red colour they add to formulations.
Dehydrated inclusions are made by cutting or slicing the produce and dehydrating it to the desired level. Often, products can be further processed with flavours, coatings or additional cutting. Freeze-dried produce is achieved by nitrogen-freezing it (or sometimes a combination of frozen nitrogen and liquid methanol) to between -50°C (-58°F) to -80°C (-112°F) in a two-step drying process, during which the produce is subjected to a partial vacuum that helps wick away moisture without raising the heat significantly.
Freeze-dried produce (whole or in discreet cuts) also boasts the benefit of retaining shape and size. This is a definite boon for those applications, such as dry soup and rice mixes, where visual appeal is important. The rehydrated produce will come quite close to visually resembling fresh upon rehydration. It should be noted, however, that the rehydrated produce will have a different texture than fresh.
Technology ranging from pasteurization of fresh fruits to blending drum-dried fruits to improve cost, or adding coconut water to fruit juices to reduce sugar and sweetness, provide endless options for cost and health-conscious developers.
The significance
Using fruit and vegetables in food products as natural colorant, flavourant and taste enhancer can be pricey but have a big impact on the appearance of the final product. If cost is an issue, using a very small piece size can show abundance. If using dried fruit pieces in batter applications, smaller pieces also will be favourable over large pieces, as they stay suspended in baked goods, providing even ingredient disbursement and a more appealing product. In addition to the obvious inclusion in baked goods and dry blends, fruit and vegetable pieces also make their way into savoury applications, assisting not only with flavour, colour and aroma, but also used as fat replacers, thickeners, humectants and bases for more complex flavour profiles. This is a significant advantage, not only for consumers seeking healthier yet still flavourful food options, but for marketers as well. Produce and produce products are not “new” news in the industry, but new forms, functions and application occasions open up a new world of possibilities to the food developer.
End
The fruit and vegetable ingredients are obtained from the various fruits and vegetables to be further utilized in different food and beverage applications. It is used to produce food products such as soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, dairy products, snacks, and others. It is a specially designed element for food items that ensures the best quality and stability in terms of colour, flavour, texture, and nutritional value.
The main types of fruit and vegetable ingredients are concentrates, NFC juices, pastes and purees, and pieces and powders. The concentrated types of fruit and vegetable ingredients are used to enhance the flavour, colour, texture, and nutrition of fruits and vegetables in the finished products. Concentrates are products that contain a powerful and flavourful liquid concentrate that is highly pourable and has a long shelf life after the water has been removed from the fruit or vegetable juice. The fruit and vegetable ingredients that nature provides are organic and conventional, which are categorized as fruits and vegetables that are applied in bakery products, confectionery products, dairy products, RTE products, soups and sauces, beverages, and other applications.
The global fruit and vegetable ingredients market size is expected to grow from $209.53 billion in 2022 to $222.88 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.37%. The Russia-Ukraine war disrupted the chances of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, at least in the short term. The war between these two countries has led to economic sanctions on multiple countries, a surge in commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions, causing inflation across goods and services and affecting many markets across the globe. The fruit and vegetable ingredients market size is expected to reach $282.90 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 6.14%. The increase in demand for plant-based foods is expected to propel the fruit and vegetable ingredients market. Plant-based foods are primarily made of whole or minimally processed plant parts, such as grains, nuts, seeds, and other whole or unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables.
Consumer behaviour has changed significantly due to the COVID-19 epidemic toward more wholesome foods to increase immunity, which aids in battling the virus. Consuming these fruit and vegetable ingredients, which offer various nutritional advantages, could help consumers attain their increased focus on overall wellness.
Product innovation is the key trend in the food and vegetable ingredients market. Major companies operating in the food and vegetable ingredients market are focused on innovating new products to strengthen their market position. Product innovation allows businesses to remain relevant to their customers’ needs while developing and improving over time. For instance, In September 2021, Koa Switzerland, a Switzerland-based start-up company operating in the food and vegetable ingredients market, partnered with French-based chocolate manufacturer Valrhona to create Oabika. Oabika is a concentration made from the white pulp that coats and protects the beans in the cocoa pod. It is filtered, pasteurized, and gradually lowered to 72 degrees Brix to generate a 100% cocoa pulp concentrate. Due to its distinct aroma and flavour, it is used in various applications, including ganaches, jellies, sauces, glazes, ice creams, and others.