iTi Tropicals Inc. announced the availability of eight new prototype blends of coconut water with other juices. 

Both new and traditional blend flavors are offered to demonstrate the broad capabilities of coconut ingredients, encourage research and development, and initiate a creative dialog between product developers and the iTi innovation team, the company says. The latest coconut prototypes include sweetened coconut water, toasted coconut milk, two coconut water vegetable blends, two tropical fruit blends, coconut water acerola blend, coconut water apple passionfruit blend, coconut water cranberry blend and coconut water grape blend. These shelf-stable prototypes are packaged under HACCP and cGMPs at the Tetra Pak pilot facility in Denton, Texas.

“Our iTi innovation scientists stand ready to assist developers in the use of tropical fruit ingredients,” said Gert van Manen, president of iTi Tropicals, in a statement. “Our new innovation center is offered as a resource to the industry in the quest for new and exciting products using coconut water and other tropical fruit ingredients.”

The eight new coconut prototypes are designed to highlight how coconut water enhances consumer health and label appeal of other juices and vegetables.  Each of the eight new blend formulas is designed to be 100 percent juice, even though some have added sugars. 

The following are the prototype blends:

·        Coconut Water Concord Grape Blend: Using coconut water to reduce the caloric content of grape juice, the resulting prototype product provides the taste and impact of traditional Concord grape juice, but with only 80 calories per 8-ounce serving.

·        Coconut Water Cranberry Blend: This blend uses a combination of apple juice concentrate and coconut water concentrate to complete a 100 percent juice product that has less acidity and fewer calories.

·        Sweetened Coconut Water from Concentrate: The featured prototype coconut water is sweetened with the addition of de-ionized apple concentrate.  It shows how coconut water concentrate can be used to make a retail beverage.

·        Toasted Coconut Water: Using a new and uniquely caramelized coconut water concentrate, iTi innovation scientists have created a coconut milk beverage that contains only 2 percent fat from coconut cream.

·        Coconut Water Green and Red Vegetable Blends: Fruits and vegetables, such as alphonso mango puree, spinach, red beet, passionfruit, blueberry, carrot, and apple concentrates, are blended to make two separate green and red vegetable blends.

·        Coconut Water Passionfruit and Acerola Blends: These two blends feature the tropical fruits passionfruit and acerola individually with coconut water. The coconut water passionfruit blend uses passionfruit essence to provide the full impact of passionfruit to a formula that is only part passionfruit. The acerola blend has high vitamin C that comes from the acerola.

“We encourage developers to contact iTi for more information on these exciting prototypes or to discuss other innovative approaches to beverage development,” van Manen said. “Taste for yourself how coconut and other tropical products add excitement and label appeal to new and traditional products alike.” 

iTi Tropicals Inc., 30 Gordon Ave., Lawrenceville, N.J. 08648; 609/987-0550; ititropicals.com.