The development of ready-to-drink (RTD) juice from indigenous crops yacon, green carabao mango, and mint essence received funding and technical support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST, in a press statement, said that the initiative is a collaborative research and development (R&D) project in partnership with the Lyceum of the Philippines (LPU) and Vinoca Manufacturing under the Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) program of DOST.
“The project aims to look at underutilized Filipino fruits and develop alternative juice drinks made from indigenous crops such as yacon (smallanthus sonchifolius), green carabao mango (mangifera indica), and mint essence,” said DOST on Thursday, Jan. 27.
Meanwhile, the Department reiterated that the collaborative project will help the local beverage industry in “exploring the transformation of domestic fruits into shelf-stable RTD juice” which may be beneficial to local and international markets.