The participants in the Fijus-R@isol project are working on a range of grape juice with higher nutritional value (lower sugar content, rich in polyphenols, and controlled acidity) and on setting up a 'grape juice' network. The project, which was certified by competitive clusters Q@limed and Vitagora in early 2008, was selected by the Sixth call for projects of the Fonds Unique Interministériel (FUI, government agency funding industrial R&D projects). It is also an idea whose time has come as the European Community has stopped aid to grape juice development since last August 1. Also, grape juice has a reputation for being an excessively sweet drink mainly for children. "For us, this is an opportunity to develop a targeted raw material, which we would own," explained Pierre Guyot, the Industrial Manager and Buyer for Foulon-Sopagly, a small business employing some 60 people and European pure grape juice leader.
Two point two million euros (from the FUI, the Bourgogne and Languedoc-Roussillon Regions and several of their départements) will be devoted to the different developments of the project that besides Foulon-Sopagly involves SAS Roquecourbe, SCA Vignoble de la Voie d'Heracles, three INRA research units (Pech Rouge, Science Pour l'Oenologie or SPO, and Domaine de Vassal), the Institut Coopératif du Vin (ICV), and the Dijon University Hospital Center. Fijus-R@isol will last five years, an unusual time span for this type of project. "This is because of the stage dedicated to selecting new vines that necessarily takes a long time," explained Aurélie Sivry, Foulon-Sopagly R&D Manager. The end goal is to create a diversified raw material that will foster the emergence of an array of new products. "Our purpose is to rethink the mechanics of the grape juice sector, and move away from the wine sector. We would like the product, which has been in the shadow of wine for too long, to come into its own. This is truly a first," exclaimed Pierre Guyot.
For the project, two technologies, which are already being used for products other than grape juice, will be tested. One technology involves controlling pH, an aspect of interest to packagers. The purpose is to control grape juice acidity thanks to a membrane process. The other technology will be optimizing polyphenol extraction. "We want to develop a polyphenol-rich grape juice that will be tested by a clinical trial conducted by a team at the Dijon University Hospital Center. Our goal is to prove that drinking grape juice regularly may limit oxidative stress," said Aurélie Sivry.
