Optimization of antioxidant properties of sugar free fruit drink prepared by infusion of different fruit juices

The interest in healthy nutrition has led to an increasing trend towards foods and beverages with low sugar content and high antioxidant content. The production of products that provide the low sugar content required by the sector with natural fruit input has become extremely important. In this study, a sugar-free fruit drink was produced using apple, black carrot, and mandarin juices and apple deionized concentrate. The physicochemical, antioxidant, and rheological properties of the beverages prepared by optimizing the components in the mixture by Response Surface Method (RSM) were investigated. In this direction, it was determined that the total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic matter values of the blended fruit juices obtained in this direction were higher than the values of apple, mandarin, and black carrot juices used in the mixture. As the amount of black carrot concentrate used in the optimization increased, it was observed that the scores of the color parameter in sensory evaluations increased. The change in total antioxidant capacity (ABTS: 4326.62±65.70 mg GAEs/100 g and DPPH: 672.6±0.46 mg TE/100 ml), anthocyanin profile % rel. area at 280 nm (25.95±0.24) and 518 nm (51.75±0.45), and total phenolic content (0.46±0.06 mg/mL) was found to be significant (p<0.05). Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, and total coliform, which are used as indicators of food spoilage and good practices during processing, Enterobacteriaceae and total coliform, which indicate the absence of fecal bacterial contamination from environmental sources, mold and yeast, which indicate adequate processing practices, and pathogenic bacteria (E. coli, B. cereus, and Salmonella spp.), which are used as indicators of food spoilage and good practices during processing, were found to be below 1 log10 cfu/g in mixed fruit juice production. As a result, the optimized blended juice showed a significant difference in color, sensory acceptability, antioxidant capacity, and phenolic content compared to the blended juices. Thus, microbiologically compliant and risk-free fruit juice beverages were designed.