Storage stability of berry mueslis with special focus on phenolic compounds




Zhou, Ying; Saarniit, Kärt; Jafari, Mahsa Sadat; Rosenvald, Sirli; Laaksonen, Oskar; Tian, Ye; Yang, Baoru

PublisherElsevier BV

2025

LWT - Food Science and Technology

LWT

118119

228

0023-6438

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2025.118119

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2025.118119

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/498846548



To investigate stability of phenolic compounds in food products during storage, real-time (RT, at 23 °C) and accelerated shelf-life tests (ASLT, 40 °C) were conducted on modified-atmosphere-packaged strawberry, blueberry, and blackcurrant mueslis. Monitored with LC-MS and HPLC, a clear variation was observed in the phenolic profile of the berry mueslis in both tests, including 29 anthocyanins, 40 flavonols, 16 phenolic acids, and 2 flavan-3-ols. The contents of these phenolic compounds changed differently during storage. Unlike other phenolics, the contents of all identified anthocyanins were significantly decreased in the tests. The modified atmosphere package of the mueslis did not retard anthocyanin degradation at 40 °C. The largest decrease occurred in the first 56 days of ASLT, when 54–66 % of total anthocyanins were lost. The degradation was highly associated with structural features of anthocyanins, including substitution on both anthocyanidins and sugar moieties. Pelargonidin 3-O-glucoside, malvidin 3-O-arabinoside, and malvidin 3-O-galactoside had higher degradation rates (k = 0.0267, 0.0195, and 0.0176 day−1, respectively) than others. Acylation on the sugar moieties also significantly enhanced storage stability of anthocyanins. Our results suggested that the stability of bioactive phytochemicals in food products should be considered when estimating the health-promoting function and sensorial property of the products.


This research was funded by the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD) and the Estonian Rural Development Plan (ERDP) for 2014–2020 (Decision No. 616219790092). The analytical equipment (in the University of Turku, Finland) was supported by the FOODNUTRI-Climate Smart Food and Nutrition Research Infrastructure (funded by the Academy of Finland's FIRI 2020: Research infrastructures as collaborative platforms, Decision No. 337980). The personal fundings to Dr. Ying Zhou was supported by Turku University Foundation (Decision No. 081821) The personal fundings to Dr. Ye Tian were supported by Niemi Foundation (Project No. 20190110 and Project No. 20200048) and Finnish Cultural Foundation (Decision No. 00211089).


Last updated on 2025-30-07 at 08:31