Exploiting blackcurrant juice press residue in extruded snacks

Extrusion process was developed to exploit blackcurrant juice press residues from industrial side-streams. Press residues obtained from conventional enzymatic pressing, with high content of fiber and seed oil, and novel non-enzymatic juice processing, with high content of sugars, fruit acids and anthocyanins, were extruded with barley flour, oat flour or oat bran. The recipes consisted of blackcurrant press residues (30%), cereal materials (40%) and potato starch (30%) and small amount of sugar and salt. When compared to enzymatic press residue and oat bran, the novel non-enzymatic press residue extruded with barley or oat flour had higher expansion, lower hardness and density, higher redness (a*), lower pH, and higher contents of fructose, glucose and fruit acids, all contributing positively to liking of texture, appearance, and flavor as well as berry-like experience. These characteristics were obtained with more gentle processing parameters, consisting of a lower total mass flow, screw speed and barrel temperature. Female consumers gave lower ratings in flavor, appearance and overall pleasantness for blackcurrant snacks than males. The study presented a sustainable way of utilizing industrial press residues from different processes of berry juice pressing for production of healthy snacks and breakfast cereals.