An Antioxidants-rich Nutraceutical Product from Haskap Berry

加拿大新斯科舍省贝德福德的Avive Naturals Inc.(www.avive.ca)是加拿大卫生部自2010年以来批准和许可生产天然保健品(NHP)的cGMP认证设施。为了满足日益增长的消费者需求，该公司希望生产和销售从哈斯卡普浆果中提取的富含膳食抗氧化剂的胶囊，哈斯卡普浆果是加拿大一种新兴的“超级食品”。然而，该公司面临的挑战是生产出与加拿大卫生部要求的最终产品中抗氧化剂含量一致的NHP。Haskap的主要抗氧化生物活性成分是花青素，花青素因品种成熟度的不同而有很大差异，并且在加工和储存过程中容易降解。拟议的项目将建立采收成熟度指数，以确定这种新引进的浆果机械采收的最佳生物活性含量。为了在生产过程中最大限度地保留花青素，还将确定前处理和干燥方法。了解储存过程中光线的影响将有助于公司决定最终产品所需的包装类型。最终产品的花青素含量和抗氧化剂含量的表征将为公司计算新NHP的推荐剂量提供基础。除了预期的花青素含量和抗氧化剂声明外，拟议的研究还将探索推荐这种NHP产品用于治疗2型糖尿病的潜力。这一新的行业合作伙伴关系不仅将直接帮助该公司开发新的NHP，还将在加拿大推广高价值的经济作物。此外，新的NHP还将有助于管理由于慢性氧化应激相关疾病而不断增长的加拿大医疗负担。

Avive Naturals Inc of Bedford, Nova Scotia (www.avive.ca) is cGMP certified facility approved and licensedby Health Canada to manufacture Natural Health Products (NHP) since 2010. To meet the growing consumerdemand, the company wish to manufacture and market dietary antioxidants-rich capsule derived from thehaskap berry, an emerging "superfood" in Canada. However, the company is challenged to manufacture anNHP with the consistency of the antioxidant content in the final product as required by Health Canada. Themajor antioxidant bioactives of haskap are anthocyanin's, which highly differ due to harvest maturity ofcultivars as well as subjected to degradation during processing and storage. The proposed project will establishharvest maturity indices to decide the optimum bioactive content for mechanical harvesting of this newlyintroduced berry. Pre-treatments and drying methods will also be identified for maximum retention ofanthocyanins during the manufacturing. Understanding the impact of light during storage will help thecompany to decide the type of packaging required for the final product. The characterization of anthocyanincontent and antioxidant content of the final product will provide the company a basis for calculating therecommended dose of the new NHP. In addition to the intended anthocyanin content and antioxidant claim, theproposed research will also explore the potential of recommending this NHP product for the management oftype 2 diabetes. This new industry partnership will directly help not only the company to develop a new NHPbut also to promote a high-value cash crop in Canada. Moreover, the new NHP will also contribute tomanaging the growing Canadian healthcare burden due to chronic oxidative stress-associated disorders.