Maltodextrin in Organic Barley Juice Powder

Young organic barley grass is from the Gods. The nutrition gained from young barley grass if off the charts. Barley Grass contains more dietary fiber than bran and is a rich source of beta carotene, chlorophyll, iron, enzymes, vitamin C (seven times more than oranges),vitamin B-12 (important for brain function), and 19 essential amino acids.  It aids the body in DNA repair; helps improve stamina, and clarity of thought.

The usual method of taking barley grass is through barley grass powder that you add water or juice to.

In looking at which barley grass to purchase, you need to know how it was processed and if it contains any additives.

Now obviously, you would want 100% organic young barley grass when you could get it, but even without any additives like magnesium stearate, you would still need to know which method was used to convert the juice to a powder. If the process exceeds 117 degrees for 3 minutes, you start to kill off the enzymes.

In my research I was introduced to a young barley grass powder produced in Japan and distributed via network marketing in the USA. It tasted OK. Then I found a PDF file online describing the product in detail. I was reading about the product trying to determine how the juice was processed into powder. I read the following statement in the brochure, “Prepared using a cold process….No Heat, which can destroy enzymes”.

I was amazed to read this as there is only one company I know of that can turn barley grass juice into a powder below the enzymatic kill point.

I contacted a number of formulators and a farmer in Utah that grows young barley grass to figure out how this company in Japan was doing it.

One word was pointed out to me. Maltodextrin.

Maltodextrin was an additive in the barley grass powder from Japan.

This is a corn starch that was added to the raw barley grass juice to protect it from a Spray Drying process which can exceed 400 degrees.

Two things…

1) Heat processed not cold processed

2) 30% Cornstarch

Not pure young barley grass juice powder.

I feel their marketing materials are blatantly lying to the consumers about how their juice is converted to powder.

Freeze Drying IS a Heat Process

OK, so we know 99% of all commercially available juices have been heat pasteurized over the 117 degree kill point and are mostly devoid of enzymes. So the natural solution is taking a juice or fruit and veggie product and convert it to a powder.

The majority of available food powders have been heat processed. The list below starts with the highest heat settings and most damaging to enzymes. (Remember 117 for three minutes is the enzyme kill point).

Flash drying takes place at over 600 degrees for 30 seconds.

Spray drying is over 425 degrees at 1 minute.

Drum Drying 160 degrees. 2 hours.

Freeze Drying 120 to 140 degrees of infrared heat for up to 72 hours.

Window Refraction drying 205 degrees for 10 minutes.

Instafresh is 80 degrees on average for 30 to 120 seconds.(No higher then 100 at the very end)

I bring up freeze drying today because there are companies selling powdered juice products that will not admit they freeze dry. There is a company that used to buy their whole food products from our farms and now they freeze dry. A year ago I called their customer service department to confirm what I already knew. The rep stated they flash freeze a puree’ and dry it in an “airless environment” at below freezing.

An Airless Environment is a vacuum chamber and if the frozen puree is in a vacuum chamber it is being freeze dried.

Once the frozen puree is placed on the vacuum chamber you have to introduce heat to cause the frozen liquid to turn to a vapor.

Scientifically, heat HAS to be introduced. If somebody claims they freeze dry without using any heat, ask them if they purchased their freeze drying equipment from the guy who sold jack his magic beans.

To wrap this up, that company now just says the use a “Proprietary Process” without explaining anything.