New herbal bitter liqueur with high antioxidant activity and lower sugar content: innovative approach to liqueurs formulations

Sex Differences in the Bitterness Perception of an Aromatic Myrtle Bitter Liqueur and Bitter Compounds

We evaluated sex differences in the perception of bitter compounds and an aromatic bitter herbal liqueur (Mirtamaro) obtained by the infusion of myrtle leaves/berries together with a mixture of Mediterranean herbs/plants as flavoring/bittering ingredients. In a healthy population (n = 231 participants), using bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regression analyses, significant sex differences emerged in quinine bitterness perception, with women showing a higher bitter taste intensity rating than men. Among all participants, 40 subjects (subpopulation) were randomly selected for the evaluation of sex differences in Mirtamaro gustatory and olfactory perception using a hedonic Likert-type scale. Women showed higher ratings in Mirtamaro aroma (odor intensity) and bitterness (taste intensity) perception than men, with a superior capacity to perceive/describe its sensory attributes. 1,8-Cineole and methyl chavicol were the main contributors to the bitter liqueur aroma. A significant correlation (r = 0.564, p < 0.01) between Mirtamaro odor pleasantness/taste pleasantness was observed in women, indicating a positive contribution of aromatic herbs to bitter taste acceptability. Moreover, a higher bitter intensity rating of 6-n-propylthiouracil was evidenced in women than men. Our results highlighted sex differences in bitter taste acuity and the role of aromatic herbs/plants in modulating bitter taste acceptance, which is useful information in the field of precision nutrition and medicine.

Elaboration of wild passion fruit (Passiflora cincinnata Mast.) liqueur: a sensory and physicochemical study

Liqueur is an alcoholic beverage composed of a mixture of water, alcohol, sugar and substances that add flavour and aroma. Wild passion fruit is a product with good agricultural and nutritional characteristics, and is a low-cost, regional fruit that could be used to elaborate new products. The goal of this study was to develop passion fruit (Passiflora cincinnata Mast.) liqueurs and evaluate their chemical, physical and sensory characteristics. 5 formulations were prepared with defined pulp and syrup concentrations (F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5). The following physicochemical parameters were evaluated: alcohol degree (ºGL), density, pH, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids (TSS), reducing and non-reducing sugars and colour parameters. A sensory acceptance test was applied. The formulations F4 and F5, produced with 640g pulp/70ºBrix syrup and 500g pulp/55ºBrix syrup, respectively, showed the highest acceptance scores, probably due to their acid pH, high acidity and soluble solids values. In general, the beverages developed were considered feasible, aimed at aggregating value to a regional fruit and increasing family incomes. The high sensory acceptance indicated market potential for this aggregated value product.

Formulation of Novel Liqueurs from Juice Industry Waste: Consumer Acceptance, Phenolic Profile and Preliminary Monitoring of Antioxidant Activity and Colour Changes During Storage

RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Apple juice is one of the most popular and liked beverages worldwide. Due to the increased health consciousness among consumers, beetroot and chokeberry juices have also rising consumption trends. Despite representing a considerable percentage of the processed fruit and rich source of bioactive compounds, fruit pomace, remaining after juice production, has still been underutilised. Here, the possibility of using apple, beetroot and chokeberry pomace in liqueur formulations is investigated.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Apple and chokeberry liqueurs were produced from apple and chokeberry pomace extracts, respectively. Apple/chokeberry and apple/beetroot liqueurs were obtained by combining apple pomace with chokeberry and beetroot pomace extracts in ratios 50:50 and 70:30, respectively. The sensory quality and acceptability of freshly prepared liqueurs were evaluated by experts and consumers. Sugars and phenolics were identified and quantified by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed-amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS), respectively. Storability was preliminarily evaluated based on monitoring of total phenolic concentration, antioxidant activity and colour each month during 6 months of storage at 4 and 22 °C.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The expert and the consumer testing indicated that apple and chokeberry pomace could be used as raw materials without any flavour corrections while apple/beetroot pomace liqueur would require modification. High total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were found in all freshly prepared liqueurs, with chokeberry liqueur being by far superior. Among identified phenolics, ellagic acid and phlorizin were quantified as the most prominent, except in chokeberry liqueur, where phlorizin was not quantified. Despite the decrease in total phenolic concentration and antioxidant activity after 6 months, liqueurs still represented a rich source of phytochemicals. The highest phenolic compound retention and antioxidant activity maintenance were observed in chokeberry liqueur. Also, the appealing colour was retained despite the changes detected in chromatic characteristics.

NOVELTY AND SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION

The possibility of apple, beetroot and chokeberry pomace restoration into the food chain by the production of liqueurs has been demonstrated for the first time. Functional and sensorial properties of newly developed liqueurs indicated that the selected pomace represents the promising raw material for liqueur production. The applied approach represents a contribution to the circular economy in juice production.

Influence of elaboration process on chemical, biological, and sensory characteristics of European pennyroyal liqueurs

BACKGROUND

Mentha pulegium is an aromatic and medicinal plant used in different Mediterranean herb-based liqueurs, whose phytochemical composition depends on the elaboration technique used. The aim of this work was to investigate differences in the sensory, chemical, and biological characteristics of pennyroyal liqueurs elaborated by hydro-alcoholic (HI) and aqueous (AI) infusions, percolation (P), maceration (M), and distillation (D) techniques, and by the mixture of spirit with pennyroyal essential oil (EO). The volatile composition determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detection (GC-FID), the total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents, the antioxidant (AC), and enzyme (α-glucosidase, tyrosinase, and acetylcholinesterase) inhibitory capacities, and the sensory analysis by napping, were evaluated in the liqueurs obtained.

RESULTS

Monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were the main volatiles present in liqueurs. The M, P, HI, and AI liqueurs showed the highest TPC, TFC, and AC values; and pulegone, the main hepatotoxic chemotype, was found in concentrations that gave rise to concern. The D and EO liqueurs stand out for their acceptable pulegone content and greater tyrosinase inhibition. Similar liqueur classifications were achieved by sensory analyses, and physico-chemical and biological analyses using multiple factor and principal component analyses, respectively.

CONCLUSION

These results are an important contribution to the identification of the most appropriate elaboration conditions for herbal liqueurs with the healthiest chemical composition and functional properties. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Therapeutic and Biomedical Potentialities of Terpenoids – A Review

Terpenoids are the most diverse and largest class of chemicals of the innumerable plant-based compounds. Plants carry out a number of essential growth and production functions using terpenoid metabolites. In contrast, most terpenoids are used in the abiotic and biotic systems for complex chemical interactions and defense. Terpenoids derived from plants mostly used humans for pharmaceutical, food, and chemical industries in the past. However, recently biofuel products have been developed by terpenoids. The metabolism of high-quality terpenoids in plants and microbes is facilitated in synthetic biology by genomic resources and emerging tools. Further focus has been given to the ecological value of terpenoids for establishing effective pesticide control approaches and abiotic stress protection. The awareness of the diverse metabolic and molecular regulatory networks for terpenoid biosynthesis needs to be increased continuously in all these efforts. This review gives an overview and highlights current improvements in our understanding of the organization, regulation, and diversification of core and specialized terpenoid metabolic pathways and discusses the prominent therapeutic roles of terpenoids. This review provides an overview and highlights recent literature in our understanding about the biomedical and therapeutic importance of terpenoids, regulation as well as the diversion of core and specialized metabolized terpenoid pathways.

Chemical characterization of eight herbal liqueurs by means of liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Herbal liqueurs are a large group of diverse alcoholic beverages with an ancient tradition produced by maceration of various herbs and spices and are commonly drunken before or after a meal to aid in the digestion because of their potential functional properties. In the presented work, eight different commercial herbal liqueurs were investigated with regard to their composition of phenolic compounds by liquid chromatography ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-IM-QTOF-MS). This multidimensional analytical platform uses all-ion fragmentation for a deep coverage of the foodome. After an extensive data clean-up, 3225 features were found. 213 features were manually annotated due to the absence of databases and software tools able to consider the drift time or Collison Cross Section (CCS) together with high resolution MS/MS spectra for identification. The identified compounds reflected the large variance between the investigated samples and a wealth of potential bioactive compounds that these liqueurs harbor.

Evaluation of novel green walnut liqueur as a source of antioxidants: Multi-method approach

In this study, a novel green walnut liqueur (GWL) based on green walnuts, as the main ingredient, with the addition of fruits, aromatic plants, chocolate and honey, was produced at the pilot-scale. Antioxidant activity (AO) of the obtained GWL was determined using multiple AO assays in parallel, standard spectrophotometric (FC, DPPH and FRAP) and recently developed electrochemical ones, HydroxoPerhydroxoMercury(II) Complex and Mercury Reduction Antioxidant Power, and compared to similar commercial alcoholic beverages. Characterization of the GWL in terms of volatile and polyphenolic components was performed using SPE-GC-MS and HPLC-DAD-MS/MS, respectively. Sensory quality assessment was performed by experts in the field of sensory analysis of alcoholic beverages, using a scoring method. According to all AO assays applied, AO activity and total phenolics content of GWL were superior in comparison to commercial spirits considered. The volatile fraction of GWL was mainly composed of eugenol, α-terpineol and vanillin, while the most prevalent phenolic compounds were gallic (5.054 mg/L) and chlorogenic acid (1.307 mg/L) and flavonoids such as catechine (0.882 mg/L), quercetin (0.499 mg/L) and its sugar-conjugated derivatives, quercetin 3-O-glucoside (0.774 mg/L) and quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (0.614 mg/L). Gallic acid is the major contributor to total AO activity, especially determined by DPPH and FRAP, followed by catechine, quercetin and chlorogenic acid. Among the terpenoids, contribution of eugenol to total AO activity is estimated as the highest. Excellent sensory quality (18.52 of maximum 20 scores) was ascribed to GWL. Consequently, the presence of bioactive compounds and high AO activity of GWL, in addition to high sensory quality score, indicates a high market potential for this high-value product.

Quantitative Descriptive Analysis of Traditional Herbal and Coffee Liqueurs made with Grape Marc Spirit (Orujo)

Orujo is a recognized traditional grape marc distillate from Galicia (NW of Spain). It is also employed as an alcohol base to elaborate coffee and herbal liqueurs and spirits. In this manuscript, quantitative descriptive analysis was applied to obtain the most important sensory terms that describe these traditional beverages. Thirteen trained panelists developed a complete sensory lexicon. Sixteen sensory descriptors (four in appearance, five in aroma, four in mouth, and three in aftertaste) were defined, valuated, and scored with the corresponding references, after elimination of hedonic, synonymous, and non-pertinent attributes according to statistical methods. The panelists evaluated a total of 464 samples in order to define their sensory profile. Panel performance was investigated showing good discriminatory ability, repeatability, and reproducibility. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was also applied to identify the sensory descriptors that better discriminate the samples. The results obtained showed the importance of including new terms (orujo, chocolate-cocoa, floral, bitter, and astringent) in the tasting sheet, mainly in the case of coffee liqueurs to improve their sensory profile. The results of this study were useful for the development and implementation of an important tool for the corresponding regulating council in the sensory characterization and qualification of Galician liqueurs.

Physicochemical and aromatic characterization of carob macerates produced by different maceration conditions

Carob liqueur is an alcoholic drink (minimum 15% v/v of ethanol and 100 g/L of sugar) typical for the Mediterranean countries. In the current work, carob macerate produced by maceration of carob pods in hydroalcoholic base at different maceration conditions was characterized for the first time based on its aroma compounds/profile, physicochemical parameters, and chromatic characteristics. The results confirm the migration process of bioactive compounds, aroma compounds, and sugars flowing from the carob pod to the hydroalcoholic base. Changes in ethanol concentration modify the physical properties of the solvent and influence the phenolic and aroma compounds extraction, color, and acidity of the obtained samples. The higher content of phenolic compounds was determinate in the samples obtained in the darkness. The amounts of phenols were in the range of some red fruit liqueurs or walnut liqueurs, and sugars (mostly sucrose) ranging between 96 and 107 g/L. Twenty-six (out of total 94) aroma compounds were detected in all samples, of which 17 esters, 3 alcohols, 4 ketones, and 2 acids. Low molecular weight ethyl esters, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl 2-methyl propanoate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl benzoate, ethyl butanoate, and ethyl cinnamate, were the most abundant. Carob pod maceration in 50% v/v hydroalcoholic base (1:5 solid to liquid ratio) in darkness at room temperature during 8 weeks can be recommended as optimal maceration conditions for production of the aromatic carob macerate with functional properties.