Made by Northern Light Food Processing, the ingredient claims to hold a distinct advantage over competitor products as it does not contain grape seed oil, and so has a longer shelf life.
The ingredient is obtained by drying the seeds and skin of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
The grapes are cold-pressed and the seed oil is extracted from the seed.
The seeds and skin are then blended back in using a proprietary process in order to make a flour.
According to Market-Wise Nutrition, one of the distributors of the wine flour, the product's competitive advantage comes from the fact that the oil is extracted from the grape seeds.
Shelf-life extension "If someone just grinds up the grape seed with the oil, then that will cause rancidity.
The shelf-life would only be a few months before the acid profile increases," said Stephen Lukawski, president of Market-Wise Nutrition.
"Because we defat the oil from the seed, what you have left over is a pure seed, so oxidation and rancidity are prevented," he told NutraIngredients-USA.com.
This, he explained, can increase the shelf-life of bread by up to six days, which was achieved in the company's tests with wholegrain bread made with the ingredient.
Healthy profile According to generic tests carried out by the Guelph Food Technology Center, when baked into a bread product wine flour delivers 52g of fiber per 100g, as well as 70 percent of the recommended daily value of calcium and 710 percent of iron.
It also delivers 4g of omega-6 and 0.2g of omega-3.
Lukawski said the new wine flour also delivers over 20 percent of protein and 10 percent proanthocyanidins (PACs).
PACs are natural plant compounds with antioxidant, anti-adhesion and anti-bacterial health-promoting properties.
Usage levels The wine flour is designed to be used as levels of around 5-10 percent, said Lukawski.
If too much is added, the bread would become gritty and not rise as much, he explained.
The ingredient delivers a distinct purple color to bread, and so is therefore best suited for products such as rye bread and whole wheat bread, where it may "add more of an aesthetic appeal" , according to Lukawski.
Price Commercial production of the product is just kicking off in the US, at the company's plant in Nekoosa, Wisconsin.
The ingredient has already been sold in Canada, for CA$12-15, but it is only just undergoing first testing by customers in the US market.
The shelf-life of the flour is around two years, although the company said it prefers to "press fresh" rather than store up inventory.
Cranberry powder Northern Light has also developed a cranberry protein powder designed to add protein to products in place of the more common dairy- or soy-derived ingredients.
The ingredient contains 23-30 percent protein, 5-20 percent soluble fiber and 40-47 percent insoluble fiber.
It contains one percent omega 3, one percent omega 6 and 0.75 percent omega 9, and is also said to be rich in flavonoids.
It is being sold in the US by a number of companies, including AHD International, which sells it under its Luravida line, and Market-Wise Nutrition, which markets it under the brand name Cranwise.