Nutraceutical Chewing Candy Formulations Based on Acetic, Alcoholic, and Lactofermented Apple Juice Products.

Elena Bartkiene,Raquel P F Guiné,Darius Cernauskas,Paulina Zavistanaviciute,Modestas Ruzauskas,Egle Zokaityte,Ernestas Mockus,Ernesta Tolpeznikaite

doi:10.3390/foods10102329

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop nutraceutical chewing candy (NCC) formulations based on acetic, alcoholic, and lactofermented apple juice (AJ) products. In addition, different texture-forming (gelatin, pectin) and sweetening (stevia, xylitol) agents were tested. To implement the aim of this study, combinations based on AJ, prepared from fresh and frozen apples, apple cider (C) samples (No.1, No.2, No.3, and No.4), and apple vinegar (V) were used. First, the most appropriate combination was selected by evaluating overall acceptability (OA) and emotions induced for consumers (EIC). In addition, the volatile compound (VC) profile, and physicochemical and antimicrobial characteristics of the developed combinations were analyzed. For AJ fermentation, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains possessing antimicrobial properties (LUHS122—L. plantarum and LUHS210—L. casei) were used. AJ prepared from frozen apples had 11.1% higher OA and 45.9%, 50.4%, and 33.3% higher fructose, glucose, and saccharose concentrations, respectively. All the tested C samples inhibited Bacillus subtilis and had an average OA of 6.6 points. Very strong positive correlations were found between AJ and C OA and the emotion ‘happy’; comparing lactofermented AJ, the highest OA was obtained for AJ fermented for 48 h with LUHS122, and a moderate positive correlation was found between AJ OA and the emotion ‘happy’ (r = 0.7617). This sample also showed the highest viable LAB count (7.59 log10 CFU mL−1) and the broadest spectrum of pathogen inhibition (inhibited 6 out of 10 tested pathogens). Further, acetic, alcoholic, and lactofermented AJ product combinations were tested. For the preparation of NCC, the combination consisting of 50 mL of AJ fermented with LUHS122 for 48 h + 50 mL C-No.3 + 2 mL V was selected because it showed the highest OA, induced a high intensity of the emotion ‘happy’ for the judges, and inhibited 8 out of 10 tested pathogens. Finally, the OA of the prepared NCC was, on average, 9.03 points. The combination of acetic, alcoholic, and lactofermented AJ products leads to the formation of a specific VC profile and increases the OA and antimicrobial activity of the products which could be successfully applied in the food and nutraceutical industries.

Highlights

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, apple is one of the most important and popular fruit species in the World [1,2,3], because of its good sensory properties and health benefits [4]
In comparing apple juice (AJ) samples, it was found that AJ prepared from frozen apples had 11.1% higher overall acceptability than AJ prepared from fresh apples
A very strong positive correlation was found between the overall acceptability of AJ and C and the emotion ‘happy’ (r = 0.9173), and moderate negative correlations were established between the overall acceptability of AJ and C samples and the emotions ‘angry’ and ‘surprised’

Summary

Introduction

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, apple is one of the most important and popular fruit species in the World [1,2,3], because of its good sensory properties and health benefits [4]. Nowadays, fermented products, including apple juice, have become very popular because of their health benefits and good sensory properties. Consumers are looking for non-dairy substrates (cereals, vegetables, fruits, etc.) fermented by functional microorganisms (probiotics, possessing antimicrobial properties, etc.) [5]. Fermented beverages possess many desirable properties: stronger antioxidant characteristics, gastrointestinal health improvement [16], and possibly possessing antimicrobial properties [17]. These characteristics may be due to technological microorganisms and their metabolites in fermented juice: organic acids, vitamins, phenolic compounds, etc. The characteristics of fermented products depend on the microorganism(s) used, the fermentable substrate, and the fermentation conditions [19,20,21]

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