Waste brassicas turned into ingredients using CSIRO tech

A ‘new food’ manufacturing company — Nutri V — has been formed by vegetable grower Fresh Select and CSIRO.

Using CSIRO-patented technologies, the company will turn surplus Australian-grown vegetables such as brassicas into ingredients, products and supplements that lock in the vegetable’s natural colour and flavour. Their nutritional content will also be enhanced thanks to CSIRO’s microencapsulation of healthy oils and gut health fermentation applications.

Dairy- and gluten-free, Nutri V ingredients are designed to help the environment as well as help to improve Australians’ daily vegetable intake.

According to Nutri V CEO John Said: “We’ll be able to minimise wastage by using the entire crop to make powder — ‘ugly veg’, stems and leaves as well — not just the retail-fit parts.

“We’ve been collaborating with the CSIRO for more than two decades and this latest venture is a tremendous breakthrough with numerous benefits for people and the planet.”

CSIRO scientist Dr Pablo Juliano said Nutri V was turning cutting-edge food science into products that will make a difference for the planet.

“We’ve been able to apply our expertise in creating nutrient-dense foods with innovative techniques to tackle the challenge of converting what might otherwise be lower value crops into foods with enhanced nutritional profile,” Dr Juliano said.

“This is next-step innovation in plant-based ingredient and product technology.”

According to Nutri V Operations and Sales Manager Raquel Said, the advantage of these ingredients is their small serve size and concentration, which makes them suitable for multiple application and vegetable claims.

“Quite simply, roughly 7.5 g of powder is nutritionally equivalent to a full serve of vegetables. Whilst it can be added to any meal at any time, it has proven to work well adding it to fruit juices and smoothies, adding it to pasta or pizza dough, baked goods including muffins, brownies, crackers and bread, soups, sauces and even seasonings,” Raquel said.

The first Nutri V products will be available in the coming months.