Optical properties of sea buckthorn drinks as the main physical characteristic of their quality

Abstract

The hue and color intensity are referred to optical properties of soft drinks made from fruit and berry raw materials that are crucial for control of their quality and identification. In addition, a natural color of raw materials is attractive for consumers since it provides a more appealing natural appearance to the drink. Sea buckthorn drinks are prone to browning during storage due to the specific chemical composition of berries, which necessitates the control of their optical properties. The study aimed to investigate optical properties of different groups of sea buckthorn drinks during storage, namely clarified juice and dry wine material made from sea buckthorn of the Chuiskaya variety, and to establish the possibility of using some calculated parameters that characterize the drink color in techno-chemical control practices. Optical properties of drink samples were determined with a UV-1800 spectrophotometer, and the values obtained were used to calculate the parameters of intensity, hue, and yellowness. It is shown that physical methods can be used to control optical properties of sea buckthorn drinks in order to objectively assess the color as one of the basic organoleptic parameters of drink quality. It is established that the results of optical analysis are consistent with visual assessment of the sea buckthorn drink samples during storage, which opens up prospects for implementation of this research method in the laboratories of enterprises involved in processing of sea buckthorn to produce various groups of drinks.