Extraction Optimization and Valorization of the Cornelian Cherry Fruits Extracts: Evidence on Antioxidant Activity and Food Applications

In this work, the optimization of two extraction methods, conventional CE and ultrasound-assisted UAE, to obtain extracts from cornelian cherry fruit with high antioxidant activity, which can be used to produce healthier jelly candies, is presented. In the CE process, the effects of temperature (30–50 °C), time (15–45 min), and hydroalcoholic mixtures (60–100% ethanol, v/v) were studied. The highest antioxidant activity (29.83 ± 0.85 mg TE/g dw) was found in the extracts obtained using 60% ethanol at 40 °C for 15 min. The UAE process led to comparable values of 26.60 ± 0.53 mg TE/g dw at 40% amplitude and pulsed sonication (5 s on and 5 s off) for 12.5 min. Under these experimental conditions, the specific energy consumed was 1.91 kJ/g. The vitamin C content and its inhibitory activity against metabolic enzymes were evaluated in extracts with different antioxidant activity. A significant inhibitory effect against carbohydrate-metabolism-associated enzymes was identified for all the tested extracts, with an inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase higher than 75%, but with a lower effect against α-amylase. The extract obtained by CE (60% ethanol, 40 °C, 15 min) provided the highest vitamin C content of 39.9 ± 1.2 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw. Four variants of the healthier jelly candies were formulated, with a vitamin C content of 0.34 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw in samples with agar-agar and 0.70 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw in samples with gelatin.
Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project numbers PN-III-P1-1.1-MC-2019-1905 and PN-III-P1-1.1-MC-2019-1908, within PNCDI III. The APC was funded by M.T.S. The authors are also grateful to Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) and ERDF for the financial support of project BU050P20. The Ó. Benito–Román post-doctoral contract was funded by Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) and ERDF through project BU050P20 and by Agencia Estatal de Investigación through project PID2020-116716RJ-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.