Turmeric lattes have become passe, with a new nutrient-rich coffee player potentially in town.
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Researchers have developed a powder from imperfect-looking broccoli that packs a healthy punch.
Hort Innovation chief executive John Lloyd said the powder had great potential.
He said the powder could be used for smoothies, soups, baking, as a way of hiding broccoli from fussy kids in meals, and even in coffees.
“With a rising trend in healthy eating across the board, Australian growers are always looking at ways to diversify their products.”
Mr Lloyd also said despite the increasing popularity of ‘superfoods’ and health and wellness, Australian diets are still poor.
“Research is showing the average Australian is still not eating the recommended daily intake of vegetables a day, and options such as broccoli powder will help address this,” he said.
The 100 per cent broccoli powder is made from whole broccoli, and produced using a combination of selected pre-treatment and drying processes to retain the natural colour, flavour and nutrient composition of fresh broccoli.
Lead researcher Mary Ann Augustin said the broccoli is high in protein and fibre, and health-promoting bioactive phytochemicals, making it an ideal candidate for powder development.
“The powders are an option for farmers who wish to produce value-added vegetable ingredients for the lucrative functional food markets,” Dr Augustin said.
“The broccoli powder has already been used for the production of extruded snacks with high vegetable content. Prototype extruded snacks with 20-100 per cent vegetable content were displayed during Science Week at the Victorian Market last year and were well-received by parents and even by kids.”
The broccoli powder, and associated extruded snacks, are being developed as part of a larger research and development project which aims to reduce vegetable waste by creating healthy food products from ‘ugly’ produce.