About the only things green on Jacob Paulk’s 400-acre Irwin
County vineyard are weeds and a new idea. Paulk puts ground-up
muscadine grape seeds into capsules.

“We have almost an oversupply of muscadines now,” Paulk said. He
also has tons of grape seeds. Each muscadine grape has anywhere
from two to four seeds. And for many years, Jacob Paulk just
threw those seeds away.

Not anymore. Now he dries and grinds the seeds into powder, then
puts the powder into capsules. “We’re making a health food
supplement out of it,” he said.

Hand-packed Capsules

Paulk hand-packs hundreds of capsules with about a gram of
powdered muscadine grape seeds each, then packages the capsules
with his own label. He stresses the natural aspect of his
product, using costlier all-natural, cellulose gel caps instead
of a cheaper capsule.

The 60-capsule bottles will go to health-food stores. He’s
banking on the growing popularity of muscadine-seed powder among
health-conscious shoppers.

High in Antioxidants

“We have found the seed in particular to be very, very high in
antioxidant components,” said Romeo Toledo, a food scientist with
the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.

Toledo praised Paulk’s ingenuity. “It’s a great use of a
by-product that’s normally been thrown away,” he said.

At least one other company, in North Carolina, is selling
powdered muscadine seeds. “Not very many, though, have the
capability to separate the seed from the grape,” he said. “Paulk
is kind of unique because he has a deseeder that does a great job
of separating the seed from the rest of the muscadine.”

Not Just Growing Grapes

Paulk switched his thinking from growing grapes to processing and
selling what he grows, an approach UGA experts say other farmers
need to adopt.

Selling his powdered grape seeds directly to health food stores
will enable Paulk to determine his own price, something many
other farmers wish they could do.