Developing a juice beverage from soopolallie (sxʷusmíɬp)/soapberries

Developing a juice beverage from Soopolallie (sx̌ʷusmíɬp)/soapberries represents a research partnership between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Westbank First Nation (WFN). Lindley, Chief of WFN from 2016 to 2019, expressed a community interest in developing a soapberry/soopolallie (Shepherdia canadensis) juice product. With the help of Ntityix Resources LP, WFN’s natural resource company, soapberries were collected during the 2020 growing season. The objective of this study was to define the processing parameters required for the development of soapberry juice products. Five different processing regimes were examined. These different processing regimes were used to investigate the influence of pressing temperature and/or enzyme processing aids on the yield and quality of the juice. The physicochemical properties and microbial and bioactive qualities of soapberry juice were defined. This work supported the goal of enhancing indigenous food access for Indigenous People and aimed to contribute to the WFN community by advancing the knowledge of indigenous berries by investigating the main factors necessary for the development of a soapberry juice product.