Phenolic, Headspace and Sensory Profile, and Antioxidant Capacity of Fruit Juice Enriched with Salvia officinalis L. and Thymus serpyllum L. Extract: A Potential for a Novel Herbal-Based Functional Beverages

Abstract

Since certain constituents are not naturally present in pure fruit juices, incorporating herbal extracts can provide specific sensory properties to the beverages and improve their biopotential. In our previous research, it was found that sage (Salvia officinalis L.), wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.), and combinations of their extracts had the highest total phenolic content and a unique composition of volatile compounds, which can contribute to the aromatic and antioxidant qualities of functional products. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the potential of sage and wild thyme extracts, as well as their mixture (wild thyme:sage at 3:1, v/v), to enrich fruit juices (apple, pineapple, and orange). Obtained beverages were evaluated for sensory properties as well as phenolic and headspace composition (UPLC-MS/MS and HS-SPME/GC-MS analysis) and antioxidant capacity (ORAC assay). The incorporation of wild thyme extract in pineapple juice provided the most harmonious flavor and the highest content of volatile compounds (on PDMS/DVB fiber). The orange juice formulations were the most enriched with phenolic and volatile compounds (on DVB/CAR/PDMS fibers). The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in the formulation with orange juice and sage extract (22,925.39 ± 358.43 µM TE). This study demonstrated that enriching fruit juices with sage and wild thyme extracts could create functional beverages with improved sensory and health-promoting properties, providing valuable insights for the food and beverage industry to meet the growing demand of health-conscious consumers for natural and functional products.

Determination of Phenolic Content and DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity of Functional Fruit Juices Fortified with Thymus serpyllum L. and Salvia officinalis L. Extracts

“…These results are in agreement with our previous study, which showed that fortified fruit juices have higher antioxidant activity by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. [19] This is most likely due to the different structures of the phenolic components, which are present in higher concentrations in the plant extracts than in the pure fruit juices. Our findings are also consistent with the results of a previous study by Ogundele et al, [14] who indicated that the ability of fruit juice formulations to scavenge free radicals increased with increasing plant extract amounts.…”

“…[40] Plant extracts can be used not only to enhance antioxidant activity, but also to improve the sensory properties of functional beverages and to develop new formulations acceptable to consumers. [19]…”

“…The amount of each extract added to each juice was 10 %, since we have shown in our previous research that the addition of this percentage leads to favorable sensory properties of fortified fruit juices. [19] Table 1. shows various beverage formulations from fruits fortified with plant extracts.…”

Aromatik bitki ekstraktları ile zenginleştirilmiş fonksiyonel elma suyu üretimi

“…Ayrıca içerdikleri fenolik bileşenler, antioksidanlar gibi biyoaktif bileşenler ile yüksek lif, vitamin ve minerallerin sağlığı olumlu yönde etkilemesi sebebiyle de popülerliklerini korumaktadırlar (Ghinea et al, 2022). Meyve suları biyoaktif bileşenler bakımından zengin olmalarına rağmen, elde edildikleri meyvelerin ham maddeleri ile karşılaştırıldığında, uygulanan işlemler sonucunda önemli oranda kayıplar olduğu belirtilmektedir (Törrönen et al, 2012;Maleš et al, 2023). Bu aşamada çeşitli aromatik bitki ekstraktlarının meyve sularının biyoaktif bileşen kompozisyonunu zenginleştirmek amacıyla kullanımı bir alternatif olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır (Gomez et al, 2023;Maleš et al, 2023).…”

“…Meyve suyu üretiminde portakal ve ananas ile birlikte en çok üretimi yapılan elma suyunda da diğer meyve sularında uygulanan ısıl işlemler sonucu biyoaktif bileşenlerde kayıplar görülmektedir. Literatür çalışmalarında kekik, adaçayı, biberiye gibi aromatik bitkilerden elde edilen bitkisel ekstraktların içerdikleri hidroksisinnamik asitler, flavonlar ve terpenler gibi biyoaktif bileşenlerin elma sularında fenolik içerikleri, antioksidan özellikleri ve duyusal nitelikleri olumlu yönde etkilediği belirtilmiştir (Carović-StanKo et al, 2016;Raudone et al, 2017;Abd Rashed & Rathi, 2021;Maleš et al, 2023).…”