The Influence of Drying Method on the Anthocyanin Character of Duwet Fruit Qualitatively and Quantitatively

Abstract

<em>The fruit of duwet (</em>Syzygium cumini<em> L.) has anthocyanin compounds with some pharmacological effects.  Several factors, such as the drying method, determined anthocyanin levels.  This study aimed to compare the drying method's effect on anthocyanins' qualitative and quantitative characteristics in duwet fruit.  The drying methods tested were (1) fresh fruit (without drying), (2) freeze drying, and (3) sun drying.  The sample was macerated with 96% alcohol and 3% citric acid (6:1) and concentrated using a rotary evaporator.  The extracts were then qualitatively analyzed with color and TLC tests.  Anthocyanin levels were analyzed by the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. </em> <em>The red and green colors of each sample indicated the presence of anthocyanins.  Rf values of 0.25; 0.375; 0.5 indicated anthocyanin type, which was cyanidin 3-ramnosil glucoside 5-glucoside, cyanidin 3-glucoside, and petunidin 3,7 diglucoside.  The average anthocyanin content in the freeze-drying and sun-drying method were successively 305.406 mg.l<sup>-1 </sup>and 99.0244 mg.l<sup>-1</sup>.  The freeze-drying method showed stronger color intensity and higher anthocyanin levels (p<0.05) than sun drying.</em>