Pomegranate Bars Capture Fun Fruit's Flavor,
Nutrients
By Marcia Wood
June 28, 2006 Pomegranates bursting with
sweet-and-tart juice and slippery little seeds--or "pips"--may be the
world's most fun-to-eat fruit. Now, thanks to a process invented by
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists in California, you can enjoy the flavor of freshly harvested
pomegranates even when this fruit is out of season, or when you don't have the
time to section and savor it.
A new, all natural, snack-size bar captures the taste of orchard-fresh
pomegranates and apples, yet slips conveniently into a child's lunch sack, a
grown-up's briefcase, or a hiker's backpack for an on-the-go treat.
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Tasty, fat-free and all-natural, FruitFast bars
are made using food-processing technology developed by ARS scientists in
California.
Photo courtesy Flavonoid
Sciences.
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Moist and chewy, each fat-free bar contains only about 100 calories and is
rich in fiber, vitamin C and anthocyanins--natural compounds that may benefit
our health.
Food technologist and research leader
Tara H.
McHugh of the ARS
Western
Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., is co-inventor of the
technology used to make the "Wonderful Pomegranate FruitFast" bars
from whole fruit, without the need for artificial preservatives or other
additives.
Flavonoid Sciences of
Eastport, Mich., manufactures and markets the pomegranate-apple bars, as well
as two other new flavors also made with the ARS-developed technique:
Montmorency CherryFlex FruitFast Bar and Wild Blueberry IQ FruitFast bars. All
are newly available online at www.FruitFast.com and at a growing number
of stores.
McHugh and agricultural engineer Charles C. Huxsoll of Moraga, Calif., now
retired from ARS, created the food-processing approach as part of research to
help find new ways to entice kids, teens and adults to eat the recommended five
to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables. It's estimated that less than
20 percent of Americans meet that guideline.
The new bars are a boon for growers and processors, giving them new markets
for perishable fruits. The technology allows them to make fruit into puree and
concentrate that--after the busy harvest season winds down--can be processed
into the all-fruit bars.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.