BOSTON, MA - Shoppers love seeing the health benefits of fresh produce. To help them connect the dots even further, Ocean Spray Cranberries and Brightseed announced an agreement to leverage Brightseed’s A.I., Forager^®. By doing so, Ocean Spray and Brightseed will profile the compounds in cranberries and surface new connections between cranberries and human health.

“Similar to how different grapes produce different wine varietals, each cranberry strain can be extraordinarily diverse in their phytochemical composition, resulting in different colors, flavor nuances, size, and a trove of health-promoting bioactive compounds,” said Katy Galle, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Ocean Spray Cranberries. “Our agreement with Brightseed puts us on a path to profiling our cranberry varieties and understanding their health potential like never before. The insights from this agreement will support us as we continue to innovate healthy products for our consumers, in addition to informing how we grow, separate, and treat our cranberries to optimize for target health benefits and sustainability.”

According to a press release, this collaboration puts Ocean Spray on the path to having the world’s most comprehensive nutritional profile of the cranberry—including the cranberries’ previously unknown bioactive compounds and potential health benefits.

“Some of the cranberry’s potent health benefits are well-known, including their impact on bladder and kidney function. With over 100 cranberry varieties, the vast majority of compounds in cranberries have never been explored for their impact in the human body, however, they carry enormous potential to open up new dimensions for health and wellness,” continued Galle.

According to Christina Khoo, Director of Emerging Science, Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs at Ocean Spray Cranberries, leveraging the A.I Forager to deep dive into the bioactive components in cranberry varietals helped accelerate Ocean Spray’s innovation activities to evaluate exciting health benefits of cranberries including immunity and cognitive health and build the scientific evidence.

“We are thrilled at the early findings of this discovery work, which is showcasing how important crop diversity and growing practices are for bioactive content and expression,” added Sofia Elizondo, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Brightseed. “The question Forager is able to answer is not just ‘what is in a cranberry?’ but also ‘what is different about all these cranberry varieties?’ With Forager’s insights, Ocean Spray’s stewardship will be taken to the next level and so will consumer comprehension of what a cranberry can do for health.”

To learn more about the partnership and how Forager, Brightseed’s proprietary A.I., works, click here.

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