Physicochemical Properties of Apple Purees and Peel Extract for Potential Use in Pastry Products

Abstract

In recent years, the consumption of pastry and bakery products has grown considerably, and consumers are increasingly tempted to choose products from an organoleptic point of view. At the same time, consumers are also interested in having a healthy diet, respectively, products with special sensory properties, but with a low sucrose content. Substituting the sucrose in these products with apple puree represents an alternative to obtaining cakes with a lower sugar content and, in addition, in obtaining products with high nutritional value, with the bioactive compounds from apples having special properties on health. The purpose of this work was to analyze both the physicochemical properties, the total content of polyphenols and the antioxidant activity of the apple puree samples, as well as their variation during the storage period. The physicochemical properties analyzed were: moisture content, titratable acidity, ash content, pH, water activity, total soluble solids content and color. Regarding the content of the bioactive compounds, the total content of polyphenols and the antioxidant capacity were determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu method, respectively, the DPPH method. The results showed that apple puree is an important source of polyphenols, and these are the main factors influencing antioxidant activity. The analysis of the properties of the three products obtained from the apple will allow you to choose one of them or a combination of them in order to obtain the highest degree of sugar substitution and the highest nutritional value of the products. The degree of substitution will be correlated with technological parameters, baking temperature and time.