BACKGROUND: Fruit and vegetable processing can often alter and damage antioxidants. Phenolic compounds, which are major antioxidants in these products, can suffer dissociation and changes in their concentration. Quince is an excellent source of antioxidants, with health-improving potential for consumers. The phenolic profile (by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) and quality attributes (pH, soluble solids, acidity, water activity) were determined for processed quince products (fresh fruit puree, cooked puree and dried bars), in addition to the effect of puree cooking time (5, 10, 15 and 20 min). RESULTS: Soluble solids in purees averaged 14.4 ∘ Brix and increased to 75 ∘ Brix in bars, as did titratable acidity, reaching 1.5 g malic acid kg −1 fresh weight after 20 min of cooking at 120 ∘ C. Quercetin, p-coumaric acid and trans-cinnamic acid were predominant in fresh fruit puree. Thermal processing significantly increased the concentration of p-coumaric acid, trans-cinnamic acid, apigenin and quercetin, and decreased gallic acid. This increase was 242%, on average, for all of them when comparing fresh fruit puree with bars on a fresh weight basis, demonstrating their concentration throughout the dehydration process during bar production. CONCLUSION: Although a minimum puree cooking time of 5 min was sufficient to obtain the highest concentration of most phenolics, p-coumaric acid showed a higher concentration after 20 min of cooking.
Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) phenolic profilingFresh and cooked fruit puree (350 mg each), as well as bar samples, were weighed and ground into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle using 5 mL of a 75% methanol solution and then mixed with 100 μL (60 μg mL −1 ) of internal standard Luteolin (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, MO, USA). The solution was centrifuged J Sci Food Agric 2019; 99: 2556-2564