Seed Cycle
Seed Cycle® is a Nottingham business based on the concept of ‘Seedcycling’ – the consumption of different seed types through the different phases of a 28 day cycle by women who have found it beneficial to alleviate the symptoms of menstruation, such as mood fluctuations. Seed Cycle®’s product which is already on the market, aims to provide convenient to use, pre-ground, specially selected seed formulas at an affordable price for the consumer to add to their daily routines.
Image credit: Michael Chilton
“The team at the Food Innovation Centre have been a pleasure to work with, very professional, responsive, and thorough throughout. As a growing business, access to this level of technical support through grant funding has been incredibly valuable, and the insights provided have played an important role in strengthening our product quality and supporting our next stage of growth.”
Project brief
In order to maintain excellent quality and functionality throughout shelf life, the company want to learn more about shelf-life testing protocols and get advice on strategies to best protect the product quality and safety so they can maximise their products shelf life. They also wanted a review of their raw material specifications by a Food Technologist so they could work with their suppliers to ensure they are the very best they can be.
The Response
A literature review was conducted to provide scientific knowledge about the drivers affecting shelf life of ground seeds and based on that a list of practical strategies that can be used from a processing and packaging perspective to extend quality over life were summarised. Specifications for and contact details for suppliers of specialist equipment were passed to the company, along with packaging specifications and suggestions to further improve raw materials sourcing specifications. Protocols for both real-time and accelerated shelf-life studies (including monitoring of microbiological, physico-chemical and sensory quality parameters) were written for the company so they could carry out tests to determine and validate shelf life once changes to processes, raw materials and packaging have been made.
Benefit to the business
The company benefitted in by increasing their knowledge of how to assess shelf life to provide validation evidence, using testing of physicochemical, microbiological and sensory parameters and have been given a list of potential strategies from both a processing, packaging and storage perspective.
Adopting a combination of these strategies will allow them to prevent quality deterioration of the seeds over more extended shelf lives in ways that can also be used to give them competitive edge.
They also received feedback on their current raw material specifications allowing them to work with their suppliers to ensure they have the most consistent and highest quality supplies of ingredients as they grow in scale.