Infused vegetable, herb, and/or seed fiber product and dietary supplements containing same

#The invention is directed to: (i) a method of producing a reconstituted vegetable, fruit, herb, and/or seed product, the product produced using the method, and dietary supplements containing the product; (ii) other methods which provide all natural solutions for carrying and delivering nutraceutical supplements into the human body; and (iii) a unique cranberry nutraceutical product which can be used effectively to promote and maintain a healthy urinary tract.

#Currently, powdered forms of cranberries and of many other fruits, produced for use as ingredients, are made from the juice portion of the fruit only. The juice is extracted from the whole fruit by pressing and then concentrating. During this stage, the plant-derived fiber portion, otherwise known as the pomace or marc, of the fruit is discarded, and the natural pectin in the juice is removed. The remainder fruit juice product is then spray dried, using a high-heat drying method to remove most of the moisture, which reduces it to a powder. This final powder ingredient is a substantially-depleted version of the whole fruit plant, bearing little resemblance to the values contained in the complete fruit.

#These powdered fruit ingredients, now devoid of many of the important active components and enzymes which synergistically existed in the whole fruit plant, deliver little therapeutic value when incorporated into nutraceutical products.

#The following Examples are included solely to aid in a more complete understanding of the subject invention. The Examples do not limit the scope of the invention described herein in any fashion.

#Production of CRAN-MAX.

#CRAN-MAX was produced by combining 1430 pounds cranberry fiber, 65% moisture content, with 99 gallons of cranberry juice concentrate (50 brix, 10.2 pounds per gallon), to yield a total weight of 2430 pounds. Both the cranberry fiber and the concentrate were delivered frozen and thawed immediately prior to formulation.