ANDES: protecting bioactives and colors in low-ph clear beverages

Overview

ANDES (Active Natural Deep Eutectic Systems) is an innovative food-grade platform developed to safeguard sensitive bioactives, botanical extracts, and natural colorants within low-pH clear beverages. This technology deviates from conventional encapsulation methods by embedding active ingredients into a structured eutectic network that minimizes water activity. This integration not only protects against oxidation, hydrolysis, and color degradation but also enhances solubility. Additionally, ANDES serves as an extraction and delivery medium, facilitating the direct incorporation of plant-derived actives into beverage formulations. The platform is crafted using naturally derived food ingredients, ensuring improved shelf stability, potency retention, color preservation, and scalability, all while maintaining beverage clarity.

Technical specifications

• Structured Eutectic Network: Integrates bioactives into a network that reduces water activity and protects against degradation.
• Enhanced Solubility and Stability: Provides superior solubility and protection for sensitive compounds in acidic environments.
• AI- and Physics-guided Design: Utilizes advanced design platforms to optimize formulations for specific actives and beverages.
• Clean-label Compatibility: Employs food-grade ingredients suitable for clean-label products.
• Scalable and Tunable: Adaptable to a variety of ingredients and scalable for commercial applications.

Technology readiness level

Currently, the ANDES platform is at Technology Readiness Level 4, indicating that it has been validated in laboratory environments. The ongoing project involves staged research and development, including formulation, characterization, and validation in representative beverage systems, with future steps aimed at commercialization and scale-up.