Hearing something “through the grapevine” means to hear something from another person through word of mouth. For Chris Paulk of Muscadine Products Corporation (MPC) in Irwin County, the south Georgia agricultural “grapevine” has proved very fruitful.

By talking with Bobby Rowe, an Entrepreneur Outreach specialist (EOS) with Georgia’s EOS program, Chris learned more about the Agricultural Innovation Center (AgIC) in Tifton.

“Bobby has known our family and business, Paulk Vineyards, for many years,” said Chris. “He explained that the Agricultural Innovation Center helps agribusinesses grow and fosters innovation, and he thought we might benefit from their services.”

“The Entrepreneur Outreach Specialist position allows me to network with University and industry partners, providing a catalyst for new opportunities for small business in rural Georgia,” said Bobby. “It is like putting together a puzzle; I get to help the pieces fit properly.”

A few years ago, Paulk Vineyards started marketing both muscadine skin and seed products, along with muscadine juice. However, it was soon apparent the greater need for the nutraceutical market would be a concentrated extract of the whole pomace. To take the next step, MPC needed to secure additional research and the right equipment.

The AgIC, a one stop shop for agribusinesses applying technology in innovative ways, also provides access to grants through the OneGeorgia Authority. The grants provide company matched research funds to approved companies; the funding assists the companies in obtaining equipment and access to university level research to determine scalability, develop prototypes, conduct proof of concept testing and more

After only nine months of working with AgIC, Chris’ relationship with AgIC has borne fruit in the form of a OneGeorgia matching research grant for $60,000. This grant allows Chris and Dr. Diane Hartle, with the University of Georgia Nutraceutical Research Lab, to collaborate on creating the first highly concentrated muscadine extract for nutraceutical use. A specific item the grant provides is the equipment to scale-up manufacturing of a nutraceutical grade extract powder from muscadine pomace remaining after the juice is processed. While these extracts have been extensively studied in the laboratory, large-scale manufacturing from tons of grape pomace requires the right equipment and processing conditions to produce a refined product.

“The nutraceutical companies are asking for a more convenient product,” said Chris. “They want a more highly concentrated and dried extract that can be encapsulated alone or used as an ingredient in multiple formulated products.”

According to the UGA team’s research, 95% of the muscadine’s medicinal value is in the skins and seeds. “The challenge,” said Dr. Hartle, “has been in fully utilizing the skins and seeds or pomace of the muscadine. What we are trying to do is get the full power of the muscadine grape in a capsule. This can be done by extracting the seed and skin phytochemicals from the whole pomace and then condensing this fraction and spray-drying it for the nutraceutical market.”

MPC can currently produce a very small concentrated amount of extract; they need to scale-up the process to fully utilize the tonnage of “waste pomace” from the juicing process.

“This is one way AgIC fits into the picture,” explained Chris. An industrial scale spray dryer will be purchased with the grant funding. MPC will provide bulk dried seed, skin and pomace powders, the spray-dried pomace powder will provide the highly concentrated phytochemical fraction in significantly reduced bulk needed by the food supplement industry. The industrial scale equipment will allow processing of tons of pomace; something once considered a waste product of the muscadine juicing operation.

The spray-drying process produces a product with greater versatility and shelf-life – and ready for use in capsules, nutraceutical formulations and functional food/beverage formulations.

“I can handle the manufacturing side of the operation,” said Chris. “But I didn’t know what would happen to the extract once it is scaled up. We needed assistance with the research and development. And, again, the grant helps by allowing us to continue high quality university research.” According to Dr. Hartle, each step in processing requires testing and optimization of processing conditions to produce a superior product.

“AgIC and its grant bring together the research partner – the University of Georgia, and the industry partner – Muscadine Products Corporation,” said Dr. Hartle.

Although Dr. Hartle and Chris have been working together for five years, this grant will allow them a chance to develop a brand new tier of muscadine products. In her nutraceutical lab at UGA, Dr. Hartle will test the spray-dried extract for its medicinal properties or potency. “We will check to make certain the product maintains its medicinal value and test its strength relative to unconcentrated fractions,” said Dr. Hartle. “We are providing the biomedical testing information necessary to market this new product that is already in demand by the nutraceutical industry.”

Potential purchasers of muscadine products may want to know about the possible health benefits associated with consumption. Dr. Hartle and colleagues summarized current research supporting the nutraceutical properties of the muscadine in a book “Muscadine Medicine.” Dr. Hartle says work has been done on the anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-osteoarthritis and anti-diabetic properties of muscadines. Thanks to the grant from AgIC, the capacity will be there to supply the market and to provide the research data necessary to support the use of the products.

Chris hopes to have his systems in place as the grapevines begin to ripen this summer. While the nutraceutical companies gain a powerful new muscadine extract, the impact for agribusiness is tremendous too. The development of the commercial manufacturing process will help create new jobs in south Georgia.

“The research Dr. Hartle and her team are conducting will ultimately benefit other fruit and vegetable growers in Georgia,” said Bobby. “Our area is expanding in blueberry and blackberry production, and this process can be utilized for these and other crops, making this a winning situation not only for Chris and MPC, but for the whole industry.”

“We are very excited about this project,” said Dr. Hartle. “Nothing like this exists in Georgia, and MPC will be leading the muscadine industry with this new product. It is wonderful and timely to get this support from AgIC and OneGeorgia Authority.”

Although he knows there are many more months of hard work ahead to produce a great product, Chris is grateful for the assistance provided by AgIC. “This is just the beginning of our relationship with AgIC,” said Chris. “I hope we can do more together in the future.” ###