SACRAMENTO and SAN FRANCISCO — Almond processor and marketer Blue Diamond is partnering with bioactives company Brightseed to find undiscovered health benefits of California almonds.
For the baking industry, these learnings could help bakers create products with health claims desirable to consumers.
“Almond flour and almond protein are already excellent ingredient options for baking with benefits such as low sugar and gluten free,” said Kurt Waananen, senior director of R&D at Blue Diamond. “Our work with Brightseed is about understanding the bioactives within almonds that contribute health benefits, so this research will potentially give commercial bakers even more reasons to include almond ingredients in their products.”
The research program used Brightseed’s artificial intelligence platform, Forager, to profile whole natural almonds. The AI identified 188 predicted bioactive compounds, which can potentially impact mental wellness, metabolic health and immunity.
“Science has long known that bioactives are essential health-driving components within plants, but pinpointing their underlying mechanisms of action has been a largely intractable problem for the food, health, and nutrition industries,” said Sofia Elizondo, co-founder and COO of Brightseed. “Our work with Blue Diamond enables Forager to tap into a global food staple and illuminate the almond health story for consumers worldwide. This is an important leap for the industry to champion food and functional ingredients as powerful and accessible modalities for precision nutrition for proactive health.”
Generally considered a nutrient dense food, almonds are linked to a range of health benefits, including but not limited to, heart health, blood glucose management and gut health. Results from the partnership between Blue Diamond and Brightseed suggest that there might be more active bioactive compounds in almonds that may impact people.
“Consumers are navigating a highly crowded marketplace with the proliferation of plant-based food and beverage options claiming holistic health benefits,” said Sarb Dhanjal, senior director of consumer insights at Blue Diamond. “To that end, I am excited for this collaboration with Brightseed to bring forward the health benefits of almonds in new and differentiating ways to our well-poised portfolio of consumer brands and ingredients.”
