Revolutionary technology can process "Colombian blackberries" in just two minutes

Blackberries are a fruit rich in antioxidants, but they spoil within days - now, a new technology that couples different processes in a single step can produce a safe puree in just two minutes, retaining the fruit's nutrients and flavour.

Blackberry (Rubus glaucus Benth) is cultivated throughout the Colombian Andes, with national production exceeding 140,000 tonnes in 2020, according to statistics from the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Karen Johana Ortega Villalba, a PhD candidate in the Engineering Phd programme in the area of Food Engineering, linked to the Grupo de Investigación en Ingeniería de los Procesos Agroalimentarios y Biotecnológicos (GIPAB) explained that most blackberry at national level is destined for processing, due to its rapid deterioration, but thanks to this technology originally developed in France, the instant pressure change can produce a high quality puree, opening up more possibilities for marketing the product in markets outside Colombia. 

"This process breaks down the cell walls releasing bioactive compounds, with minimal impact on those compounds sensitive to heat, compared to current commercial techniques," Ortega said, adding that the technology is already in trials with small producers in Colombia.

Photo: Production of blackberry puree and nectar. Credit: Agrosavia.

The Research

In a paper "Unleashing the potential of flash vacuum expansion: an innovative approach for Andean Blackberry (Rubus glaucus Benth) Processing" published in the scientific journal Ingeniería y Competitividad, Ortega and his collaborators used the Flash Vaccuum Expansion (FVE) process coupled with vacuum pulping to obtain blackberry puree.

"The blackberry crop has a high post-harvest loss and our goal is to help producers reduce these losses by offering the market a value-added product," Ortega said, adding that this technology simplifies the processes of pasteurisation, cooling, de-aeration, pulping and vacuum refining in just two minutes in one step.

In addition to the benefits of preserving the bioactive compounds, the method eliminates spoilage-causing microorganisms, and also promoted greater consistency in the puree obtained with a consumer-pleasing taste and appearance.

In the results of the hedonic tests, 70% of consumers told us that they would buy this product even if it cost 10% more than commercial products," Ortega said.

Pablo Emilio Rodríguez Fonseca, a researcher at Agrosavia Centro de investigación explained that the macro project developed a pilot plant to test the technical and economic pre-feasibility of the EVF process for the development of high quality purees of fruits such as cape gooseberry, gulupa and blackberry.

"The validation of this technology involves: design, construction, installation and implementation of the process in the Association, as well as the consolidation of business models and the dissemination of this technology to 36 associations of small producers in the Eje Cafetero region (according to DNP Eje Cafetero is: Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío)," Dr. Rodriguez said, adding that a project starting in November 2023 will impact 625 producers in Eastern Antioquia in Colombia. 

"In addition to this, the purees represent innovative products of high microbiological and sensory quality and with potential beneficial effects on the health of consumers (no addition of colourings, flavourings, etc)," Rodriguez said.

Ortega explained that the research also included metabolomic studies to validate the beneficial potential in people who consumed the puree prepared with the new technology.

"We detected biomarkers of blackberry consumption in the urine samples, meaning that the biocompounds were reaching the body at beneficial levels," Ortega said.

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Image: Metabolomic analysis of EIV-processed blackberry juice consumption. Credit: Karen Ortega

National and international collaboration

This project involves both national and international institutions including Univalle, Agrosavia and the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD).

"In the framework of the Minciencias project call 805, the Agrosavia-Univalle collaboration was fundamental to carry out the validation of the process in arrears and to contribute to the training of a doctoral student, presentations at international conferences, book chapters and publications in indexed journals have been generated," Dr. Rodriguez said.

El origen del proyecto comenzó con el investigador Fabrice Vaillant-Barka, un investigador del CIRAD de Francia y co-autor del artículo científico.

Vaillant-Barka was interested in using the EIV technology, developed in France, and coupling it to a vacuum pulper for new applications in tropical fruits. 

Ortega's project is an example of this knowledge transfer between th e Global South and developed countries.

"The technology has been developed in France, but here in Colombia, we have the diversity of tropical fruits that contain biologically active compounds with proven health benefits, which must be preserved after processing," Ortega said.

Vaillant-Barka has already worked with other researchers on projects applying the same technology to other tropical fruits such as Uchuva (Physalis peruviana) and Gulupa (Passiflora edulis), which is also grown in Colombia.

These projects have also been featured in scientific journals, specifically for their production of a puree and metabolic studies.

If you are interested in contacting the researcher or learning more about the project, please write to the Communications Office Faculty of Engineering: comunicaingenieria(at)correounivalle.edu.co

Cover photo: Karen Ortega at the pilot plant. Credit: Agrosavia.