Quality of dried haskap berries (Lonicera caerulea L.) as affected by prior juice extraction, osmotic treatment, and drying conditions

The effect of juice extraction conditions on the quality of haskap berries (Lonicera caerulea L.) dried at different temperatures (60, 100, and 140°C) was investigated. The conventional juice extraction (process A) consisted of a two-press process, where thawed berries were pressed, and osmotic treatment was applied before pressing again. This was compared with a modified extraction (process B), which applied osmotic treatment during fruit thawing and only one press was used for extraction. The quality parameters investigated included moisture content, pressed berry yield, extraction loss, drying yield, total anthocyanin content (TAC), vitamin C content, and the rehydration characteristics of the final dried berries. Pressing the berries to 70% juice yield resulted in a higher pressed berry yield and better physicochemical quality in the pressed product. The yield was 26.39 and 28.92% in the conventional and modified extraction, with moisture contents of 70.32 and 77.75%, respectively. The TACs of pressed berries from extraction processes A and B were 24.62 and 33.03 mg C-3-G g⁻¹ DW and the vitamin C contents were 14.14 and 36.18 mg/100 g, respectively. Drying at 60°C until 25% moisture content was better than at higher temperatures, resulting in a better quality dried product. It revealed drying yields of 45.32 and 52.75%, TACs of 4.00 and 4.30 mg C-3-G g⁻¹ DW, vitamin C contents of 2.97 and 4.91 mg /100 g, and rehydration ratios of 2.22 and 2.37 from processes A and B, respectively. Process B with the one-step extraction is recommended for higher pressed berry yield, higher drying yield, and enhanced quality of the pressed and dried products. It is also a more efficient process, in terms of time, cost, and energy.