Ingredient Round Up: Fruits, nuts & vegetables

New ways to five a day
Studies show people consume about half the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Due to increased consumer desire for convenient products, it is necessary for companies to create new and different products that can help consumers incorporate vegetable and fruit servings more easily into their daily lives. Now there’s a range of concepts and ingredient solutions to help. These provide great taste while delivering servings of vegetables and fruits in non-traditional vegetable applications. Examples include Asiago Vegetable Trail Mix, Pumpkin-Pineapple or Mango-Melon-Carrot Fruit & Veggie Chew made with organic ingredients.
Wild Flavors Inc.; Erlanger, Ky.
859-342-3600; www.wildflavors.com

Lemongrass puree
A traditional flavoring in Thai and other Pacific Rim and Caribbean cuisines, lemongrass provides an intriguing hint of citrus without the lemony bite. It’s a tropical grass with plenty of fibrous matter, so despite its popularity and intriguing flavor, it was an impractical commercial ingredient until today. Three different types of product are offered: one frozen with no preservatives, one refrigerated with citric acid, vinegar and salt (destined for salad dressings) and one soft-frozen variety. The soft-frozen line, produced using a proprietary formula, offers formulators a scoopable product in a frozen state.
Vegetable Juices Inc.; Bedford Park, Ill.
888-776-9752; www.vegetablejuices.com

Perfect for smoothies
New Rainforest Juice Concentrate evokes the taste of a tropical rainforest. It’s made with a blend of several tropical fruits: mangosteen, acai, passion fruit, pineapple, banana, mango, gogi and camu camu, along with pear and apple. The blend has a nice, refreshing mango/pineapple flavor with a background note of passion fruit and mangosteen. The all-natural concentrate is high in vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants, which makes it a perfect base for smoothies or energy drinks. Other applications include flavored teas, ice cream and frozen novelties, marinades and juice drinks.
Northwest Naturals; Bothell, Wash.
425-881-2200; www.northwestnaturals.com

Eat red, choose cherries
Tart cherries, the dried or frozen cousin of the fresh variety, can be found in many different forms. But they all share the unmistakable deep-red coloration. Whether it’s in juice form, a trail mix ingredient or a scone, the recognizable and familiar cherry-red color can guide those looking to eat a healthy, but still tasty, diet. The red color also signals to consumers the valuable antioxidants found within tart cherries. When visiting the local supermarket, remember to “Eat red. Choose cherries.”
Cherry Marketing Institute; Lansing, Mich.
517-669-4264; www.choosecherries.com