Mazza Innovation has developed a breakthrough technology to extract phytochemicals from plants. Phytochemicals are chemical compounds such as antioxidants that occur naturally in fruits and berries, nuts and tea that have health-enhancing properties which are known to help prevent disease. The Mazza process delivers the natural food ingredients that health-conscious consumers are demanding by producing these high-value extracts from plants without using chemical solvents in the extraction process.

The founder of Mazza Innovation, Dr. Giuseppe (Joe) Mazza, began with a passion to create healthy foods. He found that by optimizing and controlling temperature /pressure conditions, water can be made to act in much the same way as a chemical solvent. The result of this pressurized low-polarity water (PLPW) technology is a clean and efficient process to extract desirable compounds from plant materials. Mazza Innovation works with clients to provide technologically advanced solutions to extract phytochemicals such as polyphenols and specialty carbohydrates from plant material including fruits, berries, herbs, tea, grains and wine pomace. The Mazza process is efficient, green and more economical compared to current industry extraction technology. .

Before founding Mazza Innovation in 2011, Dr. Mazza was a Principal Food and Bioscience Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. During his career, Dr. Mazza has published more than 200 research articles, over 30 book chapters, and five books. He was named by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) as the world’s most cited and influential researcher in Agricultural Sciences. In 2002, Dr. Mazza was a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for his work in the area of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Mazza Innovation operates a commercial facility, located in Summerland, BC, which features a commercial scale PLPW extraction system and an extract research and analytical services laboratory.