Verica Dragović-Uzelac

Research background. Herbs and spices used in traditional medicine are nowadays increasingly used in combinations to create functional food formulations aimed at treating specific symptoms and disorders. Among herbs originating from the Mediterranean region, extracts of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.), bay leaf (Laurel nobilis L.) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) are traditionally used for gastrointestinal disorders. When considering how to incorporate these extracts into products, dairy-free milk alternatives provide an excellent base with almond-based drinks being among the most popular within this group. Experimental approach. The aim of this study is therefore to optimise the formulation of an almond drink fortified with a 25 % (on dry mass basis) aqueous herbal extract containing myrtle, bay leaf (25 % each) and fennel seed (50 %) extracts. A central composite design with 20 formulations varied the content of φ(aqueous herbal extract)=2–6 %, lecithin as emulsifier 0.15–0.45 and xylitol as sweetener 2–5 % (m/V), while antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and sensory properties were determined as dependent variables. Results and conclusions. The antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the prepared almond drink formulations increased with the amount of added concentrated aqueous herbal extracts, as did the colour, herbal odour and flavour, bitterness and aftertaste. The addition of lecithin resulted in a darker colour and the sweetness was increased by the xylitol content. All formulations had good overall attractiveness, which increased with higher xylitol content. Novelty and scientific contribution. The current work offers new insights into the optimisation of fortified dairy-free alternatives. The addition of myrtle, bay leaf and fennel seed extracts to almond drink-based formulations resulted in a 12-fold increase in antioxidant activity. Xylitol masks the potential bitterness of the phenolic compounds so that higher amounts of extracts can be added.

Pistacia lentiscus is an evergreen shrub widely used in folk medicine due to the high biological potential of the leaves’ phenolic compounds. Since phenolic compounds are susceptible to degradation under different heat, light and oxygen conditions, various microencapsulation techniques, such as spray drying, can be used to increase their stability. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of different carriers (gum arabic (GA), maltodextrin 13–17 DE (MD), β-cyclodextrin (BCD) and their mixtures), carrier concentrations in feed (12.8, 16 and 19.2% (m/V)) and drying temperatures (120, 150 and 180 °C) on the physiochemical properties, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AOA) of Pistacia lentiscus leaf extract powders. Product yields of powders ranged from 23.53 to 65.51%, moisture content from 2.89 to 12.03%, hygroscopicity up to 4.45 g/100 g, solubility from 27.11 to 86.84% and bulk density from 0.24 to 0.45 g/mL. All obtained powders had satisfactory physicochemical properties, except BCD powders, which resulted in the lowest product yield, solubility and bulk density. However, BCD powders and those produced with GA containing mixtures retained the highest amounts of TPC and AOA. Thereby, the carrier mixtures with GA at a concentration of 19.2% and dried at 150 °C are recommended as the most suitable for the production of encapsulated Pistacia lentiscus leaf extracts with desirable physicochemical properties, rich in phenolics and with high antioxidant activity.