An energy drink made from spruce buds – Klinta Kārkliņa, a student at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, has developed an alternative to conventional energy drinks, which often contain high levels of sugar. In this upcoming invention, there is no sugar, but the drink's effect is similar. Additionally, it is rich in healthy substances, as shared by the doctoral student and her supervisor.
The refreshing energy drink created by Klinta, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology, is opaque, brownish with slight yellow and green hues, containing nearly 70% orange juice and also cold-brewed coffee. This means that the coffee is steeped in cold water for up to 20 hours to extract its flavors. But the main ingredient is spruce buds.
"Primarily, it's Scandinavian countries and [the US state of] Alaska and Canada where spruce buds are widely used. I communicated with them to learn how they got to this point and why they started. They shared some of their information. I then came to the decision that I could gather spruce buds," Klinta explained.
Initially, the idea was to make syrup from spruce cones growing at the top of the trees. However, a fear of heights became an obstacle, leading to the final decision to collect spruce buds, which can be harvested while standing on the ground.
"One morning I woke up and realized – yes, this is what I will make. Previously, I had conducted research on coffee mixed with various fruit juices. The results were quite good. So, I managed to connect that with spruce, considering that I had already studied spruce for my bachelor’s thesis."
Photo: Spruce Bud Energy Drink. Photo: Viktors Demidovs / Latvijas Radio
Buds can only be harvested from the common spruce and only at the end of April and the beginning of May.
The buds are rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, various minerals, and tannins, which provide energy. The juice from these spruce buds is extracted, and cold-brewed coffee and orange juice are added. Although making the energy drink may not seem very time-consuming, the entire process can actually take up to a year, said Liene Ozola, the faculty's deputy dean, researcher, and Klinta's supervisor:
"The most challenging part is figuring out how to reach that cooking process. In Klinta's case, there were preliminary studies on how to combine ingredients and also about the proportions of what we add, which is usually the longest part of developing new products. Then, with all the sensory analyses that count towards product development, there are still a few months added, not to mention the time for biochemical analyses that must be conducted afterward. Of course, safety is another aspect to consider."
An essential part of making the energy drink is the mixing of liquids. Latvijas Radio demonstrated how the drink is mixed in a glass container on a magnetic stirrer.
"In a boiling flask, the sample material is placed, and solvents are added. It is very often a solvent based on alcohol mixed with water, but it can also be acetone-based. These options depend on the raw material. Then, it is mixed slowly. This usually takes at least an hour.
The compounds are extracted; in this case, they would be total phenols, and they dissolve in the solution. Then we obtain the extract," Ozola explained.
"This extract can then be used further by adding reagents. And we can determine the total phenol content. Phenols include many compounds—those that form aromas, those that form pigments, and those that contribute to flavors. They are significant because many of them have the ability to fight free radicals. Thus, a large part of them are antioxidants. This is one reason why we often seek them out and want them in food products, as they play a known role in human health. But they are also important in the products themselves because they help preserve them better during their shelf life."
Residents have already begun to show interest in the spruce bud energy drink.
It could potentially appear on store shelves within two years – estimated the inventor Klinta, saying that she is currently acquiring business skills to eventually start producing the drink.
In parallel, she plans to thoroughly test the drink's quality to ensure it is completely safe for consumers. Considering that it is an energy drink, it will be intended only for adults.
Photo: Viktors Demidovs / Latvijas Radio | Source: www.lsm.lv