Research is underway to find out if eating kiwifruit can help manage blood glucose levels.

Plant & Food Research has been awarded $1 million from the Ministry of Business and Innovation's High Value Nutrition fund to work with Zespri.

Zespri says kiwifruit has powerful health benefits. Photo: File.

Zespri general manager marketing and innovation Carol Ward says the funding will help further develop Zespri's health strategy, providing scientific evidence of kiwifruit's health benefits to underpin consumer communications around the world.

'This funding is great news. The results of this work could well give our consumers another reason to buy Zespri Kiwifruit, as kiwifruit volumes increase strongly,” says Carol.

'This will help grow our industry's export revenue and returns to the NZ grower.”

Elevated blood glucose levels are associated with diabetes and Diabetes New Zealand recommends eating three to four serving of fruit a day as part of a healthy diet. Kiwifruit are included on its list.

Dr Juliet Ansell, Innovation Leader for Health and Nutrition at Zespri, says kiwifruit has powerful health benefits and this is the basis of the company's consumer communications in the 54 countries around the world in which Zespri's fruit is sold.

'Our research shows that the more consumers know about the health benefits of kiwifruit, the more likely they are to see kiwifruit as an important nutritious addition to the daily diet,” says Dr Ansell.

'We want to build on our base of loyal, regular consumers who value the health benefits they get from eating kiwifruit.”

Health marketing is increasingly important when taking into account global trends towards an aging population, rising middle classes in developing countries and increasing interest in healthy living.

The funding will be made available over three years.