University Innovates Sweet Potato Flour and Creates Company to Commercialize It

09 Oct 2015 --- The products are processed with 100 percent natural ingredients, contain no preservatives, have a unique flavor and are ready to bake.

After noting that the sweet potato is not used much in Mexico and investigating that their nutritional properties may help reverse nutritional deficiencies during childhood, old age and pregnancy primarily, a student of the Institute of Biotechnology (IBT), UNAM developed powdered products developed from the root.

It was after seeing a program in Africa called VITA A - in which several countries used a variety of orange sweet potatoes to combat malnutrition – that the science teacher Laura Grecia Fuentes Ponce and her team thought to develop nutraceutical products.

"This project was born when I finished my degree and then when I finished my master's two years ago, I decided to pick it up again. We formed a multidisciplinary group to take charge of production (as a pilot) and less than a year ago we formed the company ALNUBIO, which under the brand name Camorina houses a special line of flours (Smart, Camorina, Multiplex and Diabetics)”, she says.

She reports that they have begun formulating a smoothie and nutritional snacks for the infant population, but they still need to do more research.

Camorina brand products, she adds, are made with 100 percent natural ingredients, contain no preservatives, the flavor is unique and they are ready to bake. The flours named Smart and Multiplex are aimed at people with celiac disease and nutritional problems, respectively.

This is because none of the products contain gluten; moreover, its main ingredient, sweet potato, is effective in the fight against malnutrition due to its energizing power and its high content of vitamin A, essential for the development of an infant.

Fuentes Ponce and her team incorporate minerals and protein to the formula and improve the flavor. "If we can process it without this increasing the price for the consumer, why not add other natural components that are necessary to the root itself", she says.

While this is an innovative product on the market, the entrepreneurial scientist reports that although they have had online sales and there are companies interested in the flour, demand is not yet strong.

She says this may be due to poor marketing strategy and inadequate time dedicated to the company, because she has not yet completed her doctorate and her team also continue to study. "Therefore, we do not have a strong presence in social networks or POS" she says.

"Although we have not yet been able to validate the impact on children with nutritional problems, there are studies that confirm the benefits of the sweet potato, she says.

Through competitions and programs of social entrepreneurship and business, universities aim to seek financial support and promote Camorina products which, although they are targeted at the most vulnerable segments, can be consumed by the entire population.

Finally, Fuentes Ponce says that it is a priority to make efforts to promote the efficient operation of the nutritional possibilities and economic potential of local crops such as roots and tubers, especially sweet potatoes.