Abstract
Abstract Blueberries are widely recognized for their beneficial health effects due to their bioactive compounds content. In addition, balsamic vinegars trade developed quickly because of their wide acceptance in gourmet food. A novel product made with second quality berries, being suitable for human consumption, i.e., blueberry balsamic vinegar, was evaluated. This work aimed to assess changes in Total Anthocyanins (TA), Total Phenolics (TP), and antioxidant activity during production process of blueberry balsamic vinegar, at the following stages: raw material, blueberries juice after enzyme treatment, blueberries alcoholic substrate, blueberries vinegar, concentrated blueberry juice and blueberries balsamic vinegar. Additionally, three alternative evaporation systems, rotary vacuum evaporator, microwave and vacuum microwave, were evaluated in order to determine the concentration method that best retains TA and TP in blueberry juice for its further use in this process. The highest TA and TP retention was achieved by blueberry juice concentration with a rotary vacuum evaporator. On the other hand, both alcoholic fermentation and acetification negatively affected those compounds and antioxidant activity during vinegar production. However, mixing with concentrated juice to obtain blueberry balsamic vinegar allowed balancing nutrient concentration reductions due to processing. The present study showed that production of blueberry balsamic vinegar gives rise to an interesting possibility to reduce losses due to fruit waste while getting added value products with healthy qualities.
Highlights
Blueberries are widely recognized for their bioactive properties as they contribute to protect against coronary and neuronal diseases, cancer, diabetes, among others (Folmer et al, 2014; Beaulieu et al, 2016)
The Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content was 12.5 °Brix which are within the average values (8.9 to 14.0 Brix) reported by Zapata et al (2013) for blueberries grown in this region
The Total Acidity (TAc) agreed with values reported by Zapata et al (2013) who determined a range from 0.3% to 1.4% w/v as citric acid, for regional blueberries
Summary
Blueberries are widely recognized for their bioactive properties as they contribute to protect against coronary and neuronal diseases, cancer, diabetes, among others (Folmer et al, 2014; Beaulieu et al, 2016) These berries contain high levels of phenolics, carotenoids, vitamins A, C and E, folic acid and minerals that have shown to prevent oxidative processes by neutralizing free radicals in the human body. The increasing volume of discarded fruits (berries), not suitable for export, has caused negative social, economic and environmental impacts (Zapata, 2014) Their high sugars content (10% to 15%), the increasing trends to consume natural products and the fast development of balsamic vinegars trade due to their wide acceptance in gourmet food, open up a possibility of making a novel product, i.e., balsamic type blueberry vinegar.
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