The influence of chokeberry juice and inulin as osmotic-enriching agents in pre-treatment on polyphenols content and sensory quality of dried strawberries

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explain the effect of osmotic dehydration pre-treatment (chokeberry juice or inulin) and drying method (microwave-convective drying or freeze-drying) on polyphenols content, antioxidant activity and sensory properties of dried strawberries. The addition of a chokeberry juice concentrate to the osmotic solution significantly influenced the increase of polyphenols content in the fruit. Their content was significantly higher in the samples treated via osmotic dehydration in solutions containing the chokeberry juice concentrate, followed by freeze-drying and also by microwave-convective method. The ability to bind DPPH• radicals ranged from 40% in the dried strawberries without osmotic dehydration to 82% in fruit osmo-dehydrated in a mixture of inulin and the chokeberry juice concentrate and dried by freeze-drying. Study results indicate that the concentrated chokeberry juice and inulin can be used as beneficial osmotic substances. The dried strawberries can represent an alternative to snacks or may be attractive component of other products. One of the very attractive proposals for today’s increasingly demanding consumers can therefore be dried fruit snacks enriched with natural bioactive ingredients.