Impact of processing upon dry blueberry fruit aqueous extracts

The Vaccinium genus, from the Ericaceae family, is composed by ca. 450 species distributed worldwide. Vaccinium corymbosum, also known as highbush blueberry, is one of the several species that are known to produce blueberries (small, dark blue berries with a bittersweet taste). Common cultivated varieties are either Northern Highbush Blueberries (NHB) or Southern Highbush Blueberries (SHB) depending on their temperature requirements. Blueberries are known as a good source of phenolic compounds. Kader et al. (1996), Skrede et al. (2000) and Brambilla et al. (2008) reported three types of phenolic acids (gallic, siryngic and vannilic) and four types of cinnamic acids (chlorogenic, the major cinnamic derivative, caffeic, ferulic, o‐ and p‐coumaric). Due to the high content in pectins found in blueberry the standard procedure in industry is to depectinize the blueberry prior to its use as an ingredient. Considering that one of the possible applications of these extracts is as a functional ingredient, the aim of this study was to access the impact of depectinazation when performed after processing and pectinases were inactivated through heat treatment.