Effect of hawthorn berry pre-treatment and preservation methods on the extractability of color-determining compounds and selected antioxidative substances

This study aimed to investigate the effect of hawthorn berry saturation with a sucrose solution and preservation with various methods (freezing, air-drying, and freeze-drying) on the extractability of color compounds and antioxidative substances during liqueur production. The finished products were evaluated for color; turbidity; contents of total polyphenols, total flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenols, flavonols, and anthocyanins; antioxidative activity against ABTS and DPPH radicals and as ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP); polyphenolic profile and vitamin C content. Hawthorn fruit saturation with a sucrose solution had a significant effect on the color parameters (lower: L*, a*, b* values; and higher: C and h◦ values) and contributed to higher contents of the analyzed bioactive compounds except for caffeic acid and quercetin, whose contents were significantly higher in the liqueurs produced from non-saturated fruits. The freeze-drying proved best in fruit preservation and contributed to the most satisfactory extraction of bioactive compounds to the finished product.