RALEIGH, N.C. — A ready-to-eat Army meal can survive a 1,200-foot parachute drop and stay fresh for up to three years — only to go straight into the trash can if it doesn’t appeal to a soldier’s taste.

That’s a problem researchers at North Carolina State University are hoping to solve by infusing snack bars and other prepared foods with extracts from tasty fruits and vegetables grown in North Carolina.

“The Army goes to such an expense to make rations, then watches time and time again as soldiers throw out anything that doesn’t look and taste good,” said Mary Ann Lila, director of N.C. State’s Plants for Human Health Institute in Kannapolis.

“If it’s nutty and good tasting, the guys will eat it — especially if they know it has high protein and will help with energy and muscle mass. Here, we are making an ingredient that not only will taste good but will be good for your body and your health.”

Using a $60,000 grant from the Center for Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies, an organization that links industries and university researchers, Lila and her colleagues chose one fruit and one vegetable to test their new method of extracting and transplanting vital nutrients.

“Because of our North Carolina connection, we decided on kale greens and muscadine grapes,” she said.

These and other vegetables and fruits have naturally occurring properties known as phytochemicals, sometimes called antioxidants, that enhance the immune system, repair cellular damage, improve brain functions and offer other health benefits.

Delivering fresh fruits and vegetables to troops is often difficult if not downright impossible, especially in parts of the world where they are not grown, said Tom Yang, senior food technologist for the U.S. Army’s Combat Feeding Directorate in Natick, Mass.

“There are logistics problems as well as the fact that these foods are highly perishable,” Yang said. “Many times there is no refrigeration. We have to use food that is shelf-stable.”

Shelf-stable foods, according to the Army, must be able to remain fresh for 3.5 years when stored at 80 degrees, or nine months at 100 degrees.

To make their products, Lila and research partners at Rutgers University have found a way to extract the fruit and vegetable phytochemicals and bind them with flour made from soybeans or hemp. The flour is used to prepare the snack and meal bars soldiers receive.

Their process also filters out excess sugars, fats and waters from the fruits and vegetables, resulting in a concentrate that can provide four or more servings of fruits and vegetables in a single tablespoon and remain suitable for consumption for several months, Lila said.