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Functional beverages production: the role of fruit purees
Alimentos SAS • Feb 23, 2022
Nowadays, consumers look for food items that do more than taste good. As a result, products like functional beverages are on the rise among the health and convenience-driven. Read on to find out what these products are all about. This way, you will learn what fruit purees and their nutraceuticals ingredients can do.
The notion, rise, and benefits of functional beverages
Functional drinks are non-alcoholic products with non-traditional ingredients like fiber, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and added fruits. They include water, energy drinks, sports drinks, and enhanced fruit drinks, among others. Usually, they aim to help things like digestive health, the immune system, heart rate, and weight management (The Business Research Company, 2021).
Some examples of functional drinks include (Arndt, 2019, 2020; Link, 2020. Nettle, 2020; Tetra Pak, 2020):
- Snack or meal-replacement drinks with proteins, cereals, or seeds.
- Enhanced-nutrition beverages with super fruits.
- CBD and herbal drinks to combat stress, anxiety, and inflammation.
- Antioxidant drinks that prevent oxidative damage.
So, why are they on the rise? Today, consumers are favoring healthier food choices like soymilk, sugar-free drinks, and functional beverages as they grow more aware of potentially adverse health implications associated with common soft beverages such as a nectar drink, a juice, or a soda.
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be impacting people’s food habits and how they cater to their health. Mordor Intelligence (2022) says it will drive demand for functional products that boost immunity credibly and affordably.
Furthermore, the growing demand for innovation is also pushing the functional drinks market with plant-based and lactose-free products. In fact, the global market was valued at 130.5 billion dollars in 2021. Estimations show it will grow at a 7.3% rate to reach 173.2 billion dollars by 2025 (The Business Research Company, 2021). In the case of North America, the market is poised to grow by 32.5 billion dollars between 2022 and 2026 at approximately the global rate (TechNavio, 2022).
The role of nutraceuticals in functional beverages
Essentially, nutraceuticals are substances that offer physiological benefits for the body. In general, they are meant to provide the extra nutrients the organism needs to work properly. Functional food includes fortified, enriched, or enhanced goods with the power to improve health as part of a balanced diet (Azzollini, 2021).
Specifically, fruit-derived products might contribute nutraceuticals to people’s diets. Fruits are a superior source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants (Sissons, 2019). In turn, fruit purees carry an important nutraceuticals content, as they retain vitamins, minerals, and proteins from fresh fruit (Persistence Market Research, 2017).
As functional beverages aim to improve consumers’ health, fruit purees and their nutraceuticals rise as key ingredients. Moreover, purees:
- Cater to health-driven consumers due to their all-natural sweetening, flavoring, and enhancing properties (Grand View Research, 2020).
- Can help brands deliver products to consumers interested in organic, clean-label, non-GMO options (Business Research Company, 2021).
These attributes help position purees as leading ingredients in healthier, more natural products. Today, manufacturers use them to make:
- Baked goods
- Dairy
- Baby food
- Confectionery
- Beverages
For instance, the juice industry exploits purees for color and flavor enhancement (Allied Market Research, 2022). There are even innovative product approaches containing purees such as fruit slushies.
Finally, it should be noted that there is an increasing demand for new varieties of functional foods in North America (TechNavio, 2022). Using fruit purees to make functional drinks could help industry players to place innovative, enticing products in the market.
Ultimately,
functional beverages are destined to continue to grow as healthy refreshing drinks. Therefore, they can refine the nutritional content of fruit purees to offer benefits to consumers.
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