Osmotic dehydration of Honeoye strawberries in solutions enriched with natural bioactive molecules

- Plant tissue were enriched with bioactives during osmotic dehydration.
- Chokeberry juice concentrate or inulin are good osmotic and enriching agent.
- Osmotic dehydration in chokeberry juice makes for attractive semi-product.
- Dehydrated products had polyphenols and antioxidant activities.

The objective of this study was to obtain fruits with normalized moisture loss and evaluate the addition of chokeberry juice concentrate (CJC) or inulin to osmotic solution for enrichment in bioactives. Mass exchange in osmotically dehydrated strawberries was more effective in the solution in which part of the sucrose (50%) was substituted with CJC or inulin. Both inulin and CJC may be applied for effective dehydration of strawberries. The most significant factors that affected values of mass exchange indicators during osmotic dehydration of strawberries were the type of osmotic solution and time of the process, and the least significant factor was temperature. The partial substitution of sucrose with CJC or inulin enables obtention of products with higher value (less simple sugar) and additionally enriched with valuable natural substances. Osmotic treatment can be used as a method for the infusion of sucrose partly substituted with chokeberry juice concentrate or inulin in a solid food matrix such as frozen strawberry.