Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13

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Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ultson

The application of unconventional technologies as pulsed electric field, T

ultrasound and microwave-vacuum drying in the production of dried
cranberry snacks
⁎
Malgorzata Nowacka, Artur Wiktor , Aleksandra Anuszewska, Magdalena Dadan,
Katarzyna Rybak, Dorota Witrowa-Rajchert
Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Faculty of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A lot of effort is put to decrease the energy consumption of drying. This effect might be achieved by shift of a
Microwave-vacuum drying drying technology e.g. from a hot-air to a microwave-vacuum method. Moreover, an unconventional pre-
Ultrasound treatment such as ultrasound or pulsed electric field may modify a cellular tissue, what influences drying kinetics
Pulsed electric field of plant tissue. The aim of the study was to analyse the quality of microwave-vacuum dried, osmodehydrated
Osmotic dehydration
(OD) cranberries processed by the means of blanching and ultrasound (US) or blanching followed by pulsed
Cranberries
Bioactive compounds
electric field and sonication (PEF + US) in comparison to traditionally treated material. Physical, chemical and
Colour sensorial properties of cranberry fruits were assessed. What is more, the impact of aforementioned unconven-
Organoleptic properties tional treatments on the kinetics of microwave-vacuum dried cranberries was studied. Microwave-vacuum
drying process was very short (25–38 min) in comparison to convective drying, which lasted several hours
(13.2 h). Most of the samples subjected to US and PEF + US treatments before OD and drying were characterized
by similar or a higher amount of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, anthocyanins and flavonoids, and
better colour and taste, as compared to cut osmodehydrated cranberry fruits subjected to convective drying
(reference samples).

1. Introduction electrical field strength (from 1 to 50 kV·cm−1). This treatment leads to

Fruits and vegetables are the main source of vitamins, minerals,
bioactive compounds and antioxidants in a human diet. Nevertheless,
due to the seasonality of raw plants some fruits and vegetables are
available on the market in a fresh state only for a short time.
Furthermore, after harvest a surplus of raw material can occur. Drying
is one of the most frequently used processing methods that enables
surplus to be handled [1,2]. During drying, there is a partial loss of
nutritional value as a consequence of exposition of plant tissue to high
temperature and air for long time. In order to reduce energy ex-
penditures, one can seek for a modification of existing drying methods,
propose new technologies or appropriately prepare a raw material by
performing a pre-treatment [3–5].
Pulsed electric field (PEF) and ultrasound (US) are non-thermal
techniques, which lead to acceleration of many unit processes used in a
food technology e.g. drying. PEF application is based on treating a
material with a series of very short pulses characterized by high
a cell membrane disintegration phenomenon, called electroporation.
The destruction of cell membranes intensifies processes based on mass
transfer. Moreover, physical, chemical and biological changes in the
plant tissue occur, which influence modification of the final product
[2,6,7]. Similarly, ultrasound is used to cause changes in a structure of
plant tissue. However, the mechanism of US is different from the PEF.
There are two basic phenomena induced by US that can affect solid-like
materials: “sponge effect” (a direct effect) and cavitation (an indirect
effect). Ultrasound propagated through a material cause the sponge
effect and cavitation in treated material’s cells or in medium (when
immersive method is used), which in turn damages cells and results in
microchannels formation [8–12]. What’s more, during US and PEF
treatment alike free radicals and reactive oxygen species can be formed,
what can influence the chemical properties of the treated plant material
[4]. It is also worth mentioning that US application usually is char-
acterized by higher energy consumption than PEF treatment [13].
Furthermore, the costs of implementation of both US and PEF treatment

⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Faculty of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences,
Nowoursynowska st. 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
E-mail address: artur_wiktor@sggw.pl (A. Wiktor).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.03.023
Received 29 August 2018; Received in revised form 11 February 2019; Accepted 22 March 2019
Available online 23 March 2019
1350-4177/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Nowacka, et al.
Table 1
The abbreviations of analysed dried cranberry snacks.
Treatment
Reference sample
Convective drying (CD)
(cranberries subjected to cutting, OD and CD)
Commercial (available on the Polish market)
Microwave-vacuum drying (MVD)
cranberries subjected to cutting, OD and MVD
cranberries subjected to blanching, OD and MVD
cranberries subjected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD and MVD
cranberries subjected to blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD and MVD
should be also considered [14].
Among traditional pre-treatment methods performed before drying,
osmotic dehydration (OD) is one of the most popular. The OD process
reduces drying time as well as decreases its costs [15–17]. The process
is conducted in a hypertonic solution, mostly in a sucrose solution.
During OD bi-directional mass exchange occurs. On the one hand, water
from fruits is transferred to a hypertonic solution, but on the other
hand, an osmotic substance penetrates a dehydrated material, what
cause physical and chemical changes in plant tissues [18]. Dehydration
in sugar solutions usually has a beneficial impact on the taste of dried
fruits, although sugar is not generally desired in such products [19,20].
Nevertheless, some fruits, for instance cranberries, require sugar addi-
tion in order to improve a flavour of fruits, and to win consumers’ ac-
ceptance; in these circumstances, the use of sugar is justified [21].
An utilization of microwave-vacuum drying (MVD) enables the
product to be obtained in shorter time in comparison to traditional
drying methods. For instance, in the case of drying of mushrooms, a
reduction of 70–90% of drying time was noted when hot air drying was
replaced by the MVD [22]. Microwaves penetrate the product quickly
by heating it from the inside to the outside, which results in rapid
evaporation of water from the product [23,24]. A use of vacuum de-
creases the boiling point of the solvent, allowing its evaporation at
lower temperature, which directly affects quality of a final product
[25]. In addition, the use of a vacuum increases retention of thermo-
labile compounds in food after processing. Thanks to the MVD method,
desired crisp texture of dried material due to the “puffing” effect can be
obtained [24]. However, one of the key drawbacks of this drying
method is the reduction of volatile aroma compounds. As an example,
the volatiles concentration of garlic subjected to MVD was decreased by
49% in comparison to unprocessed material [26]. MVD in some ap-
plications requires pre-drying and post-drying step which, together
with relatively high MVD equipment costs, influence the investments
costs. Some analysis suggest also that running costs of MVD are higher
than in the case of CD but lower in comparison to FD which is linked to
high prices of electricity when compared to energy from natural gas
[27,28].
Dried plants are a valuable addition to many food products, for
instance, to soups, meals, meat, cereals, cookies, cakes, yoghurts,
pastry, etc. Simultaneously, dried fruits and vegetables are a natural
snack, widely appreciated by consumers [16,29,30]. Cranberry fruits
are very rich sources of bioactive compounds [29,31,32], however due
to the low sugars concentration their taste is very sour and therefore
cranberries are not usually eaten raw. To make the taste of these va-
luable fruits acceptable, they are usually processed with addition of
sugar [20,33]. Usually sucrose is used during osmotic dehydration,
which is unfavourable due to the rising level of obesity and overweight
nowadays [18]. For this reason, the reduced content of sucrose (30%)
with addition of zero-calorie steviol glycosides was used as an
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
Abbreviations
Osmotic solution
Sucrose 61.5% (S) Ternary solution: sucrose 30% with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG)
Ref_S Ref_SG
Commercial –
C_S C_SG
Blanched (BL)
BL_S BL_SG
BL_US_S BL_US_SG
BL_PEF + US_S BL_PEF + US_SG
innovative osmotic solution. Therefore, the aim of the study was to
obtain dried cranberry snacks with reduced amount of sugars and
characterised by high quality. For this purpose, the following un-
conventional technologies were used: blanching (BL) and ultrasound
(US) or blanching followed by pulsed electric field and sonication
(BL_PEF + US) pre-treatments and microwave-vacuum drying method
(MVD). Combination of these pre-treatments and unit operations was
used based on the information provided in the literature in order to
inactivate enzymes during blanching [33], enhance OD process with US
treatment [34], minimize the sugar gain/reduce the sugar content with
PEF application and enhance drying with MVD method. US treatment
was conducted in two liquid media: a standard OD solution (61.5%
sucrose solution) and in a ternary solution consisting of 30% sucrose
with 0.1% addition of steviol glycosides, to reduce sugar content in a
final product without decrease of the product “sweetness”. The OD
process was continued for 72 h to ensure acceptable sweet taste of
product and afterwards the fruits were subjected to the microwave-
vacuum drying. To evaluate quality of the obtained cranberry snack,
physical (dry matter content, acidity, water activity, colour), chemical
(sugar content, vitamin C, flavonoids, anthocyanins, polyphenols con-
tent, antioxidant activity) and sensorial properties were assessed. The
results were compared with the reference sample, which was con-
vective dried cut cranberries osmodehydrated in standard and ternary
solution.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Material
Cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus) were purchased on a local market
(Warsaw, Poland). Only mature and undamaged fruits were selected to
the experiments. The fruits were blanched and then subjected to un-
conventional treatment (US, PEF + US). All investigated samples and
their abbreviations are summarized in Table 1.
2.2. Technological process
2.2.1. Cutting (C) and blanching (BL) process
Cutting (C) or blanching (BL) was performed in order to impair the
hard skin of cranberry fruits, which limits the mass transfer processes.
Moreover, beside of damaging the skin in a different way than it is done
usually, additional purposes of blanching was related to enzyme in-
activation, loosening of external layers of tissue and removal of air from
cellular space [35]. Cutting was conducted in the geometric centre of
material using a sharp knife. Blanching was performed for 5 min in
distilled water (water to fruits ratio was equal to 2:1). Temperature of
blanching was set to 90 ± 2 °C [36]. Blanching was conducted in two
repetitions. After the treatment, the blanched material was drained on a
2
M. Nowacka, et al.
sieve, blotted with a filter paper until its chilled.
2.2.2. Pulsed electric field (PEF)
Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment was conducted after blanching
in a prototype PEF generator (ERTEC, Wroclaw, Poland), which pro-
vided monopolar, exponential decay pulses (pulse duration t = 7 μs).
Maximum output voltage of PEF generator was equal to 30 kV and its
capacitance was equal to 0.25 μF. Electrodes' surface was 15.2 cm2 and
a distance between them was 16 mm. The circular shaped electrodes
were made from acid-resisting steel. In order to minimise the increase
of temperature during PEF treatment, the interval between pulses was
set for 2 s (0.5 Hz). After filling the cell with cranberries and then with
tap water, the PEF treatment was conducted. On the basis of pre-
liminary studies [37], PEF parameters were chosen as follows:
E = 5.5 kV·cm−1 and 10 exponential decay pulses. The experiment was
repeated thrice.
2.2.3. Sonication (US)
Cranberries after blanching (BL) or after blanching and PEF treat-
ment (BL_PEF) were subjected to sonication (US). This process was
performed in the ultrasonic bath (MKD-3, MKD Ultrasonics, Stary
Konik, Poland, internal dimensions: 240 × 140 × 110 mm, 21 kHz,
180 W). Ultrasound intensity amounted to 3.6 W/g. Sonication process
was conducted in two different osmotic solutions (ratio of OD solution
to fruits was 4:1 w/w) at room temperature (23 ± 1 °C). To avoid an
outflow of cranberries during US application, the fruits were covered by
a plastic net. On the basis of preliminary studies [31,36] the 30 min was
selected as the treatment time, during which no significant changes in
solution temperature were observed. The experiment was repeated
thrice for each variant.
US treatment was performed using standard solution: 61.5% of su-
crose (S) (Pfeifer & Langen Marketing Inc.) and ternary solution com-
posed of 30% of sucrose with the addition of 0.1% of steviol glycosides
(SG) (Hortimex Plus Inc.) [38]. Steviol glycosides are a natural sweet-
ener, which is up to 300 times sweeter than sucrose [39]. Hence, it can
be used to reduce content of sucrose in food products [20]. A purity of
utilized steviol glycosides was 95.48% (63.43% of rebaudioside A,
22.85% of stevioside, 8.21% of rebaudioside C, 0.73% of dulcoside A
and 0.26% of steviolbioside).
2.2.4. Osmotic dehydration (OD)
After the US treatment the osmotic dehydration process (OD) was
continued for 72 h (ratio of OD solution to fruits was 4:1 w/w) at 40 °C.
Such time of OD was required to obtain an acceptable taste of the
cranberry dried fruits (selected on the basis of preliminary studies –
data not shown). The osmotic solution was either 61.5% of sucrose (S)
or 30% of sucrose with 0.1% of steviol glycosides (SG) as aforemen-
tioned (Section 2.2.3).
2.2.5. Drying
2.2.5.1. Microwave-vacuum drying (MVD). After OD the fruits were
dried using laboratory microwave-vacuum dryer (Promis-Tech Inc.,
Wroclaw, Poland). The cranberries of the mass of 0.1 kg were placed in
a rotating, cylindrical chamber. MVD was carried out at 40 °C,
microwave power of 150 W and pressure of 65 hPa. During the
process, mass changes were measured with the accuracy of ± 0.1 g.
For the first 24 min, the mass was measured every 8 min, then every 2
or 1 min. Process was continued until the water activity of product
decreased below 0.6, which ensures food safety [40]. The drying
process was conducted in three repetitions.
The kinetics of drying was expressed as changes of moisture ratio
(MR) during the drying time [41] and the effective water diffusion
coefficient (Deff) was calculated on the basis of the simplified Fick’s
second law, according to following equation [42]:
3
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
8 π 2Deff τ ⎞
MR = 2
exp ⎛⎜− ⎟
π ⎝ 4L2 ⎠ (1)
where L is the half of the material diameter [m].
2.2.5.2. Convective drying (CD). Hot-air (convective) drying (CD) was
conducted for cranberry fruits subjected to cutting and OD in sucrose
and ternary solution. This procedure, performed in sucrose solution, is
usually used to obtain cranberry snacks [43]. Therefore, these processes
were considered as reference ones. After OD, cranberries were dried in
a laboratory convective dryer (Warsaw, Poland) [44], at 70 °C and air
velocity of 2 m·s−1 (air flow was parallel to screens). Drier was loaded
with 0.1 kg of material spread in a single layer on two perforated
screens (made of stainless steel). Drying was carried out until constant
weight was obtained. During the process mass changes were recorded
with the accuracy of ± 0.1 g. Drying was conducted in three
repetitions.
2.3. Physical properties determination
2.3.1. Dry matter content
Dry matter content in dried cranberry fruits was determined grav-
imetrically using low pressure (≤100 mmHg) in a vacuum dryer.
Material was dried at temperature of 70 °C for 24 h [45]. The mea-
surement was performed in triplicate.
2.3.2. Water activity
Water activity of cranberry fruits was measured by hygrometer
Aqua Lab model CX-2 (Decagon Devices Inc., USA). The measurement
was conducted in three repetitions at temperature of 25 ± 1 °C [36].
2.3.3. Colour
Colour of dried cranberry fruits was determined using the Konica-
Minolta CM-5 colorimeter (Osaka, Japan). The CIE L*a*b* system (CIE
standard Illuminate D65, diffuse illumination, 8° viewing angle, 2°
Standard Observer) and the reflectance mode were used. Before the
measurement the colorimeter was calibrated with black and white re-
ference tiles [41]. Dried fruits were put in several layers on a petri dish
glass with the diameter of 30 mm and the lightness (L*), redness (a*)
and yellowness (b*) were measured in 10 repetitions. To evaluate
colour changes, the ΔE (total colour difference) was calculated ac-
cording to the following equation [44]:
ΔE = (ΔL)2 + (Δa)2 + (Δb)2 (2)
where ΔL, Δa, Δb
are the differences of lightness (L*), redness (a*)
and yellowness (b*) between microwave-vacuum dried and hot-air
dried cranberries.
2.4. Chemical analysis
2.4.1. Vitamin C
Ultra-performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) was used to
measure the vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) content in the investigated
cranberries [31]. To avoid losses of vitamin C all operations for pre-
paring the extract were performed under reduced light. Before analysis
dried material was crushed in a mill (model A 11, IKA) and 0.5 g of
cranberry powder/slurry was mixed with 25 mL of extraction solvent
(3% meta-phosphoric acid − 8% acetic acid − 1 mM EDTA) on vortex
and centrifuged (10 min, 6000 rpm). Obtained extract was filtered
through 0.22 µm PTFE filters (Milipore, USA) and 2 µL was used for
injection.
UPLC unit was equipped with an Acquity HSS T3 analytical column
(100 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 µm particle size). An isocratic elution with mobile
phase containing of aqueous 0.1% (v/v) formic acid with a flow rate of
250 µL·min−1 was used in all analysis. Detection wavelength for the
PDA (photodiode detector) was set to 245 nm. The amount of vitamin C
M. Nowacka, et al.
in dried cranberries was assessed in comparison with the retention time
of a L-ascrobic acid standard (Sigma Aldrich) and matched with the UV
absorption spectrum. The analysis was conducted in two repetitions.
2.4.2. Total flavonoid, total anthocyanins, total phenolic content and
antioxidant activity
2.4.2.1. Preparation of the extract of dried cranberries. An extract of
dried cranberries was prepared using 25 mL of 80% (v/v) aqueous
ethanol solution and 2 g of dried material. Samples were homogenized,
boiled and then the extract was filtered. A filtrate was transferred into a
volumetric flask and filled with ethanol solution to 50 mL. This
procedure was conducted three times for each type of material. The
extract prepared in this way was used to determine the total phenolic
content, flavonoids content and antioxidant activity with DPPH free
radical assay.
To evaluate the flavonoid content a spectrometric method was used.
This method is based on absorbance measurement of coloured com-
plexes formed between flavonoid compounds with aluminium chloride
[31,46]. 2 mL of 2% aluminium chloride solution (80% ethanolic so-
lution) was added to a glass tube, where earlier 2 mL of 80% ethanol
extract of dried cranberries was transferred, and stirred. After 10 min of
incubation at room temperature in darkness, absorbance was measured
at 430 nm against 80% ethanolic solution using spectrophotometer
(Thermo Spectronic Helios Gamma, Thermo Fischer Scientific, USA).
Due to a red colour of extract, a correction of results was made using a
solution of 2 mL of 80% ethanol and 2 mL of 2% aluminium chloride.
An examination was repeated six times and the results were expressed
in mg of quercetin in 1 g of dry matter.
2.4.2.2. Total anthocyanin content. To evaluate changes of total
anthocyanin content in dried cranberries, spectrophotometric method
was used [47]. 2 g of shredded dried cranberries was added into a
falcon tube with 15 mL of extraction reagent (0.1 N hydrochloric acid
and 80% ethanolic solution in a ratio equal to 15:85 v/v), homogenized
and shaken with a speed equal to 2000 rpm for 10 min. A small amount
of magnesium carbonate was added to aliquots in order to improve
precipitation during centrifugation (5 min, 6000 rpm). Afterwards
supernatant was collected into a volumetric flask and the procedure
was repeated thrice. The volumetric flask was filled with reagent to
50 mL and the anthocyanins content was measured in six repetitions.
1.5 mL of extract was transferred into two separate tubes. To the
first tube 3.5 mL of pH 1.0 buffer (0.025 M potassium chloride) was
added and to the second tube 3.5 mL of pH 4.5 buffer was added (0.4 M
sodium acetate). Both mixtures were vortex-stirred. After 30 min of
storage of the samples at room temperature in darkness, the absorbance
was measured at 510 nm and 700 nm using spectrophotometer Helios
Gamma (Thermo Spectronic Helios Gamma, Thermo Fischer Scientific,
USA) against the buffers. The results were expressed in mg of cyanidin-
3-glucoside (C3G) in 100 g of dry matter.
2.4.2.3. Total phenolic content (TPC). Total phenolic content was
determined using Folin-Ciocalteau’s [48] method. 0.18 mL of
cranberries extract and 0.3 mL of Folin-Ciocalteau’s reagent were
transferred into a glass tube containing 4.92 mL of distilled water.
The tube was stirred and after 3 min 0.6 mL of sodium carbonate was
added and again mixed. After 1 h of incubation (in darkness), the
absorbance was measured at 750 nm against a blank sample (without
extract) using spectrophotometer (Helios Gamma, Thermo Fischer
Scientific, USA). The total phenolic content was expressed in gallic
acid equivalents in mg·100 g−1 d.m. The analysis was performed in six
repetitions (duplicate for each extract).
2.4.2.4. DPPH assay scavenging activity. To evaluate antioxidant
activity of dried cranberry fruits, the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl) assay was used [49]. Six concentrations of extract in
the range of 0.08–1.25 mg d.m.·mL−1 and 80% ethanol solution (filled
4
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
to 2 mL) were prepared separately in each glass tube. Then, 2 mL of
100 µM DPPH solution was added into a glass tube and stirred. After
30 min of storage in a dark place at room temperature, the absorbance
was measured at 515 nm against 80% ethanol (spectrophotometer
Helios Gamma, Thermo Fischer Scientific, USA). The results of
antioxidant activity were expressed as a percentage change in
comparison to the dried reference sample (Ref_S) considered as
100%. The measurements were repeated thrice for each independent
extract.
2.4.3. Sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) content
Sucrose, glucose and fructose contents were analysed using HPLC
(High Performance Liquid Chromatography) with refractive index de-
tection (Waters, Milford, USA) [50]. Dried fruits were homogenized,
extracted with ultra-pure water (MilliQ redistilled water, 80 °C) and
centrifuged (2000 rpm, 10 min). Supernatant was filtered using a
0.22 μm PTFE syringe filter. Such prepared sample was injected to
chromatographic analysis with a Sugar-Pak I column (Waters, Milford,
USA). In analysis redistilled water was used as a mobile phase and
temperature in the column oven was 90 °C. Sugar content was de-
termined on the basis of calibration curves prepared separately for each
analysed molecule and expressed in mg·100 g f.m.
2.5. Organoleptic assessment
The organoleptic assessment was conducted to evaluate flavour and
quality of dried cranberry snacks. The organoleptic properties were
assessed by 15 persons negatively tested against taste-blindness.
Analysis were conducted in an odour-free room with daily light and at
temperature of 25 ± 1 °C.
Approximately 10 fruits of dried cranberries of each type were
presented for the assessment. Seven different organoleptic character-
istics as colour, sour, sweet and foreign taste, texture, circular shape
and overall quality (Table 2), were evaluated and were expressed in a
scale of 1–5 [51]. In addition, to compare obtained samples with the
dried cranberry fruits available on the market (Bought), the cranberries
were bought and given together with others for evaluation.
2.6. Statistical analysis
Statistical evaluations were carried out using Statistica 13 (StatSoft
Inc., Cracow, Poland) software. To assess the significance of physical
and chemical properties of dried cranberries the analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was done. The results were divided on homogenous groups
using Tukey HSD method (α = 0.05). Cluster analysis, using Ward
method and presenting the dissimilarity between investigated samples
in Euclidean distance [%], was performed taking into account all of
investigated properties [36,52].
Table 2
The sensory evaluation scale used for dried cranberries evaluations.
Differentiators Scale
1 5
Colour Light red Dark red
Sour taste Definitely not sour Very sour
Sweet taste Definitely not sweet Definitely very sweet
Foreign taste No foreign aftertaste Definitely noticeable
Hardness Soft Hard
Circular shape Irregular Round
Overall quality Bad Good
M. Nowacka, et al.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Drying kinetics of cranberry fruits subjected to unconventional
technologies
Microwave-vacuum drying kinetics of cranberries osmodehydrated
in sucrose and in sucrose with steviol glycosides solutions are presented
in Fig. 1a and 1b, respectively, whereas drying time to MR = 0.15 and
water diffusion coefficients (Deff) are summarized in Table 3. Drying
proceeded at steady decreasing period, which is related to the presence
of skin and difficulty of water evaporation (Fig. 1). Similar trend was
observed also by Beaudry et al. [30] for microwave dried cranberry
fruits. The traditional method of cranberries processing [43] – con-
vective drying of osmodehydrated cut cranberries, was time-consuming
process. Drying time to MR = 0.15 was equal to 794 min for the re-
ference sample dehydrated in S solution and 980 min for the reference
sample dehydrated in SG solution, whilst the water diffusion coefficient
amounted to 9.72·10−11 and 9.06·10−1 m2 s−1, respectively. Zielinska
et al. [53] reported that convective drying of whole raw cranberries
took 195 h when temperature was set at 60 °C. Both a higher value of
temperature (90 °C) and freezing pre-treatment reduced drying time to
5 h. In other research [54] they showed that convective drying at 80 °C
of whole frozen-thawed cranberries lasted around 13 h, similarly as in
the current study. Also, the same result (12.6 h) for convective drying
were obtained by Beaudry et al. [30]. All of the investigated un-
conventional processing methods carried out in the present study
caused a significant reduction of drying time and increase of the water
diffusion coefficient in comparison to the reference samples. Drying
lasted from 25.0 to 31.5 min when S solution was used, while for SG
5
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
Fig. 1. Drying kinetics of microwave-vacuum dried
cranberries: (a) osmodehydrated in sucrose solution
(S); (b) osmodehydrated in 30% sucrose solution
with addition of 0.1% of steviol glycosides (SG).
Legend of the treatments: Ref_S and Ref_SG – cran-
berries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% ste-
viol glycosides addition (SG) and CD; C_S and C_SG –
cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% ste-
viol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_S and
BL_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, OD in
61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution
with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD;
BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – cranberries subjected to
blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% ste-
viol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_PEF_US_S
and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries subjected to
blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% su-
crose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1%
steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD.
solution time was equal to 34.0–38.0 min. The Deff values were in the
range of 2.04·10−9–2.82·10−9 and 1.70·10−9–1.93·10−9 m2·s−1, re-
spectively in the case of S and SG solution. Hence, the diffusivity was
around 20 times higher when MVD was used instead of CD, which is
linked to the higher evaporation rate of water under reduced pressure
and the application of microwave, which heated the fruits volume-
trically. Similarly, Sunjka et al. [55] reported that MVD time depending
on the applied mode ranged from 13.5 to 43.25 min when the same
microwave power density of 1.5 W·g−1 was set. In comparison to the
CD the reduction of drying time in the current study amounted to
96.0–96.9%, similarly as Zielinska et al. [54] reported for MVD
(0.75 W·g−1, 4–6 kPa) of cranberries (94% in comparison to hot air
drying). In turn, Figiel [26] reported the decrease of drying time by
85% when MVD of garlic was used instead of CD.
Comparing both osmotic solutions it can be stated that more no-
ticeable decrease of drying time was when 61.5% sucrose was used.
This can be explained by a lower osmotic pressure of the 30% sucrose
solution with addition of steviol glycosides, compared with 61.5% su-
crose. Hence, a lower preliminary decrease of water content during OD
has been achieved [38]. Among different pre-treatments method within
one solution there were no statistically considerable differences in
drying time and in water diffusivity in the case of both solutions. The
only exception was a significantly higher Deff value for C_S sample when
comparing with other treatments in S solution. It was predictable that
cut cranberry fruits will dry faster than blanched ones due to higher
impair of the skin. In general, higher effective water diffusion coeffi-
cients during drying are found when less concentrated osmotic solu-
tions are used [56] which is explained by the higher porosity of the
material dehydrated in a less concentrated solution. However, in the
M. Nowacka, et al. Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13

Fig. 2. Sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) content of osmodehydrated dried cranberries, different letters indicate statistical differences (p < 0.05). Legend of the
treatments: Ref_S and Ref_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG)
and CD; C_S and C_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and
MVD; BL_S and BL_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and
MVD; BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol
glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_PEF_US_S and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or
30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD.

Table 3 treatment by the means of BL with US or PEF + US did not cause any
The drying time (MR = 0.15) and the effective water diffusion coefficient of remarkable decrease of drying time and increase of water diffusivity of
MVD cranberries in comparison to the reference sample (CD material). MVD cranberries, despite the literature reports about significant en-
Drying time Drying time Effective water diffusion hance of drying after separate US or PEF treatments [4,58,59]. Prob-
[min] reduction [%] coefficient Deff ·109 ably, presumably blanching caused as much damage of the structure
[m2·s−1] that the influence of both non-thermal treatments (PEF, US) was ca-
mouflaged.
Sucrose solution (S)
Ref_S 794 ± 31 d – 9.72·10−2 ± 0.01 a
C_S 25.0 ± 1.4 a 96.9 2.82 ± 0.15 e
3.2. Dry matter content, water activity and colour of dried cranberry fruits
BL_S 27.5 ± 3.5 ab 96.5 2.18 ± 0.05 cd
BL_US_S 27.0 ± 1.4 ab 96.6 2.35 ± 0.02 d subjected to unconventional technologies
BL_PEF + US_S 31.5 ± 0.7 96.0 2.04 ± 0.01 bcd
abc The physical properties as dry matter content and water activity of
30% sucrose solution with addition of 0.1% of steviol glycosides (SG) dried cranberry snacks are shown in Table 4. Water activity of fresh
Ref_SG 980 ± 48 e – 9.06·10−2 ± 0.05 a samples was equal to 0.960 ± 0.004, whereas dry matter was
C_SG 35.0 ± 1.4 bc 96.4 1.93 ± 0.09 bc 12.8 ± 0.2%. These results were similar to data obtained by Zielinska
BL_SG 34.0 ± 2.8 96.5 1.89 ± 0.15 bc
et al. [54]. During OD and drying a moisture content is reduced and
abc
BL_US_SG 38.0 ± 2.8c 96.1 1.70 ± 0.18b thus dried cranberries exhibited dry matter within the range of
BL_PEF + US_SG 38.0 ± 2.8c 96.1 1.78 ± 0.06b 77.3–91.8%. During drying water activity decreased and varied in dried
fruits from 0.450 to 0.604. The microbial safety was therefore assured
Different letters within the same column indicate statistical differences [40]. In most cases, the differences in water activity of dried cranberries
(p < 0.05). were insignificant. Only samples processed by blanching in sucrose
Legend of the treatments: Ref_S and Ref_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting,
solution and blanching combined with US and PEF exhibited higher
OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol
water activity, especially in comparison to samples subjected for
glycosides addition (SG) and CD; C_S and C_SG – cranberries subjected to cut-
ting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1%
blanching and sonication only. These results may be attributed to the
steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_S and BL_SG – cranberries sub- fact that PEF treatment contributes to redistribution of water located in
jected to blanching, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution subcellular organelles which makes water more available [60]. Another
with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – explanation of higher water activity of samples subjected to combined
cranberries subjected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose treatment is linked to the enhancement of crystallization of sugars –
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) which is manifested by an increase of water activity [61] – by ultra-
and MVD; BL_PEF_US_S and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, sound and pulsed electric field as reported by Zhang et al. [62] and Hu
PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose so- et al. [63], respectively.
lution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD. The colour of food product is one of the main features to evaluate
quality by consumers [30,51]. Table 4 presents values of L* (lightness),
case of MVD material, the impact of osmotic solution on porosity of a* (redness), b* (yellowness) and total colour difference (ΔE) measured
material was negligible because of the predominant role of drying for all dried samples in comparison to Ref_S and fresh sample. Fresh
conditions that lead to the “puffing” phenomenon [57]. Furthermore, material was characterised by L*, a* and b* colour parameter equal to
this relation was more noticeable when the solution with a higher os- 2.6 ± 1.5, 49.8 ± 1.3 and 4.4 ± 2.6, respectively. Blanching of raw
motic pressure (61.5% S solution) was used. Interestingly, a pre- fruits caused lightening and an increase of b* value [36]. During drying

6
M. Nowacka, et al. Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13

Table 4
Dry matter, water activity and colour parameters (L*, a*, b*, ΔE – calculated in comparison to Ref_S and fresh sample) of fresh and dried cranberry fruits subjected to
unconventional technologies.
Dry matter [%] Water activity [−] Colour parameters

L* a* b* ΔE

Fresh 12.8 ± 0.2 a 0.960 ± 0.004 d 2.6 ± 1.5 a 49.8 ± 1.3 h 4.4 ± 2.6c – –
Commercial 83.7 ± 0.4c 0.607 ± 0.005c 20.9 ± 0.7 cd 6.0 ± 0.8 a 2.2 ± 0.5 a – 47.5 ± 0.8f

Sucrose solution (S)

Ref_S 91.8 ± 1.7 ef 0.500 ± 0.021 ab 14.6 ± 3.7b 8.3 ± 2.4b 2.7 ± 1.5 abc – 44.4 ± 2.5 e
C_S 94.3 ± 0.6f 0.497 ± 0.016 ab 19.5 ± 2.5c 12.2 ± 0.7 cd 3.3 ± 0.6 abc 6.6 ± 1.5b 41.3 ± 1.5 bcd
BL_S 85.9 ± 0.5 cd 0.586 ± 0.029c 23.6 ± 0.7 de 10.3 ± 1.1 bc 2.5 ± 0.3 ab 9.2 ± 0.5 cd 44.8 ± 1.3 e
BL_US_S 89.7 ± 0.5 de 0.475 ± 0.022 ab 25.0 ± 0.9 e 15.3 ± 1.0 fg 3.5 ± 0.4 abc 12.6 ± 1.4 e 41.2 ± 0.4 bcd
BL_PEF + US_S 83.5 ± 0.3c 0.596 ± 0.065c 23.7 ± 2.1 de 12.2 ± 1.0 cd 2.7 ± 0.6 abc 10.0 ± 1.3 d 43.2 ± 1.6 de

30% sucrose solution with addition of 0.1% of steviol glycosides (SG)

Ref_SG 90.3 ± 2.8 e 0.450 ± 0.040 a 14.2 ± 4.1b 9.4 ± 2.7b 3.7 ± 2.3 abc 4.6 ± 0.9 a 44.1 ± 0.8 de
C_SG 89.4 ± 0.5 de 0.500 ± 0.034 ab 19.3 ± 2.2c 13.7 ± 1.7 def 4.4 ± 0.8c 7.6 ± 1.9 bc 39.8 ± 1.7 bc
BL_SG 77.3 ± 2.3b 0.487 ± 0.017 ab 21.2 ± 0.8 cd 12.5 ± 0.4 cde 3.5 ± 0.2 abc 7.8 ± 0.6 bc 41.8 ± 0.6 cd
BL_US_SG 85.9 ± 0.5 cd 0.539 ± 0.039 bc 16.0 ± 2.7b 16.4 ± 2.4 g 8.2 ± 1.5 d 10.3 ± 2.3 d 36.3 ± 3.0 a
BL_PEF + US_SG 85.4 ± 0.2 cd 0.604 ± 0.024c 20.1 ± 1.3c 14.7 ± 1.5 efg 4.2 ± 0.5 bc 8.6 ± 1.8 bcd 39.3 ± 1.1b

Different letters within the same column indicate statistical differences (p < 0.05).
Legend of the treatments : Ref_S and Ref_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides
addition (SG) and CD; C_S and C_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition
(SG) and MVD; BL_S and BL_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition
(SG) and MVD; BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1%
steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_PEF_US_S and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD.

some changes in the colour of plant material occur [64]. This can be
linked to a presence of oxygen and high temperature of air during CD
and over-heating and burning in MVD [30,65].
It was observed, that the colour of dried cranberries was sig-
nificantly lighter, and the a* and b* value were, in almost all cases
lower in comparison to the raw tissue. These changes are linked to a
presence of natural coloured compounds. The colour of cranberries is
caused by red anthocyanins as peonidin-3-O-galactoside and cyaniding-
3-O-galactoside [66], and yellow flavonoids [30]. OD causes the loss of
water-soluble substances, which are transferred from the osmodehy-
drated tissue to the surrounding solution [18]. According to this ex-
planation, anthocyanins and flavonoids from the tissue go to the os-
motic solution, which can explain why decreased amount of these
bioactive compounds in dried cranberries was observed. In addition,
the unconventional technologies as PEF and US treatments might cause
formation of free radicals that can cause oxidation observed as a colour
change and bioactive compounds degradation as discussed further
[10,67].
Drying method influenced colour parameters [51]. Traditionally
dried cranberries (CD, Ref_S) were characterised by L*, a* and b*values
equal to 14.6 ± 3.7, 8.3 ± 2.4 and 2.7 ± 1.5, respectively. Similar
lightness and higher values of a* and b* parameters were obtained for
samples marked as Ref_SG. Usually during drying darkening is observed
due to expose of the material to high temperature for a long time,
during which oxidation occurs [68]. However, the MVD cranberries
were significantly darker and exhibited higher redness (a*) and similar
or higher yellowness (b*) in comparison to the convective dried (CD)
sample Ref_S. However, the bigger values of a* of the samples pre-
treated by combined blanching, sonication and PEF could be also re-
lated to both degradation of intracellular structure and water replace-
ment by saccharides which can move the equilibrium of phenolic pig-
ments to coloured species [69]. The colour coordinates in our study
were lower in comparison to those stated by Sunjka et al. [55] and
Beaudry et al. [30] for MVD cranberries (V. macrocarpon). During MVD
the presence of oxygen is limited so the colour should be preserved in a
better way [30,65]. This explanation justifies higher value of the red-
ness (a*) of MVD fruits in comparison to air dried and commercial
cranberries. Nevertheless, a high concentration of sugar at the surface
of the dried fruits might influence colour measurement and may reflect
the light in a different way. This explanation seems to be the most
appropriate taking into account the organoleptic assessment (Fig. 3),
where assessors stated that CD cranberries were darker than MVD one.
Moreover, the reference samples and cut cranberries subjected to tra-
ditional drying (Ref_S, Ref_SG, C_S, C_SG) were darker than the com-
mercial sample. In turn, lightness of MVD samples was either similar or
higher than the L* of commercial dried fruits. Higher lightness of MVD
materials is most probably related to the higher porosity of the “puffed”
material [57].
The application of BL with US or PEF + US caused mostly an in-
crease of L* parameter, especially when 61.5% S solution was used.
This effect was not so clear, when the dehydration was carried out in SG
solution. As aforementioned, these changes were mainly linked to the
diffusion of colour compounds into osmotic solution [18]. Pre-treat-
ment with BL and US or BL followed by PEF + US might cause leaking
compounds, responsible for red and yellow colour, into OD solution.
However, in those dried samples the distribution of colourants could be
different.
Dried cranberries subjected to unconventional technologies were
characterised by ΔE in the range of 4.6–12.6 (Table 4). Usually the
value of ΔE, which is higher than 2.5 indicate noticeable difference
between the evaluated samples [70]. This means that MVD fruits ex-
hibited noticeable colour difference in comparison to the Ref_S cran-
berries. Moreover, in comparison to the fresh sample, the total colour
difference was very high, from 36.3 to 44.4, and for commercial one
even 47.5. It is worth emphasizing that fruits processed in ternary so-
lution, with reduced sucrose content, using combined PEF and US
treatment methods exhibited significantly lower ΔE values than the
samples processed by cutting followed by dehydration and drying, re-
gardless of a type of the osmotic solution. Such situation is certainly
related to the smaller sugar concentration related to smaller solid gain
of these samples and different light reflectance [38,71].

7
M. Nowacka, et al.
3.3. Bioactive compounds of dried cranberry fruits subjected to
unconventional technologies (vitamin C, flavonoids, anthocyanins, total
phenolic content, antioxidant activity)
Cranberry fruits are well known source of many bioactive com-
pounds [29,31,32]. High concentration of polyphenols or vitamins
makes them to exhibit anti-inflammatory, anticancer or antimicrobial
properties [19,72]. For instance, it was demonstrated that proantho-
cyanidins of cranberry origin can help in periodontal diseases treatment
since it reduces virulence of P. gingivalis [73]. Processing of plant-based
products very often degrades bioactive compounds. Such behaviour is
related for instance to utilization of elevated temperatures that accel-
erate degradation reactions kinetics [74].
Table 5 presents chemical properties of cranberries dehydrated by
air and microwave-vacuum drying. Cranberries drying caused incon-
testable drop of vitamin C. The concentration of ascorbic acid found in
fresh fruits was equal to 196.87 ± 12.97 mg·100 g d.m.−1. According
to Nowacka et al. [31] blanched cranberries contained
145.63 ± 0.40 mg·100 g d.m.−1, what means that blanching, as
thermal treatment, decreased vitamin C content by 15% which is
8
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
Fig. 3. The results of organoleptic assessment of mi-
crowave-vacuum dried cranberries: (a) osmodehy-
drated in sucrose solution (S); (b) osmodehydrated in
30% sucrose solution with addition of 0.1% of steviol
glycosides (SG). Legend of the treatments: Ref_S and
Ref_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in
61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution
with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and CD;
C_S and C_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD
in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution
with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD;
BL_S and BL_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching,
OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose
solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG)
and MVD; BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – cranberries sub-
jected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5%
sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with
0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD;
BL_PEF_US_S and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries sub-
jected to blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in
61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution
with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG).
related to thermolabile character of this compounds and its water so-
lubility. Vitamin C content of investigated fruits ranged from 0.80 to
2.06 mg·100 g d.m.−1 wherein the highest value was stated for material
dehydrated by traditional treatment: convective drying preceded by OD
(in sucrose) and cutting. In turn, cranberries which were subjected to
PEF pre-treatment, OD with application of US followed by MVD
(BL_PEF + US_S) exhibited 61.1% smaller vitamin C concentration in
comparison to the reference sample. What is more, all samples sub-
jected to MVD regardless of pre-treatment method, exhibited a lower
vitamin C concentration in comparison to the reference sample sub-
jected to air drying. Vitamin C stability depends very much on post-
harvest and processing conditions such as temperature, pH, presence of
oxygen, metallic catalysers, light or enzymatic activity [75]. Among
these factors in the case of drying temperature and presence of oxygen
will play predominate role whereas enzymatic activity will be linked to
the pre-treatment step. A lower concentration of vitamin C stated for
cranberries dried by the MVD than in the case of CD could be con-
sidered as unexpected results since MVD last very short time and the
presence of oxygen was limited. However, considering the mechanism
of heating due to the microwave application it can be suspected that
M. Nowacka, et al. Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13

Table 5
Bioactive compounds of fresh and dried cranberry fruits subjected to unconventional technologies (vitamin C, flavonoids, anthocyanins, total phenolic content,
antioxidant activity).
Vitamin C [mg·100 g Flavonoids content Anthocyanins content (AC) Total phenolic content Antioxidant activity
d.m.−1] (FC) [mg·g d.m.−1] [mg C3G·100 g d.m.−1] (TPC) [mg
GAE·100 g d.m.−1] EC50 [mg d.m./mL] Changes of antioxidant
activity in comparison to
REF_S [%]

Fresh 196.87 ± 12.97f 36.95 ± 3.74f 1978 ± 87f 4349 ± 317f 0.23 ± 0.01 a –
Commercial –* 4.05 ± 0.17 a 3±1a 355 ± 11 a 3.89 ± 0.06 h –

Sucrose solution (S)

Ref_S 2.06 ± 0.08 e 8.77 ± 3.24 bcde 188 ± 36b 812 ± 23 bcd 1.13 ± 0.04 g –
C_S 1.23 ± 0.01 bc 5.96 ± 0.47 abc 503 ± 35c 813 ± 70 bcd 1.08 ± 0.07 fg 105 ± 7a
BL_S 0.90 ± 0.09 ab 8.31 ± 0.58 bcde 672 ± 20 d 726 ± 35b 0.76 ± 0.08 cd 133 ± 8 bc
BL_US_S 1.54 ± 0.02c 11.41 ± 1.01 e 798 ± 51 e 1157 ± 52 e 0.88 ± 0.02 de 122 ± 2b
BL_PEF + US_S 0.93 ± 0.05 ab 10.26 ± 0.49 de 667 ± 88 d 926 ± 32 cd 0.71 ± 0.02 bc 137 ± 2 cd

30% sucrose solution with addition of 0.1% of steviol glycosides (SG)

Ref_SG 1.92 ± 0.02 d 9.48 ± 3.87 bcde 142 ± 10b 881 ± 6 bcd 1.02 ± 0.04 efg 110 ± 4a
C_SG 1.20 ± 0.16 bc 9.62 ± 1.29 de 550 ± 31c 852 ± 73 bcd 0.93 ± 0.02 ef 118 ± 1.9 ab
BL_SG 1.99 ± 0.03 e 9.25 ± 0.21 cde 807 ± 54 e 976 ± 44 e 0.89 ± 0.03 de 121 ± 0.6b
BL_US_SG 1.52 ± 0.15c 6.12 ± 0.49 ab 655 ± 14 d 704 ± 59b 0.55 ± 0.02b 151 ± 2.3 d
BL_PEF + US_SG 0.80 ± 0.04 a 7.31 ± 0.34 abcd 527 ± 90c 772 ± 28 bc 0.64 ± 0.02 bc 143 ± 1.8 cd

Different letters within the same column indicate statistical differences (p < 0.05), * – data not available.
Legend of the treatments : Ref_S and Ref_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides
addition (SG) and CD; C_S and C_SG – cranberries subjected to cutting, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition
(SG) and MVD; BL_S and BL_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition
(SG) and MVD; BL_US_S and BL_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1%
steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD; BL_PEF_US_S and BL_PEF_US_SG – cranberries subjected to blanching, PEF, 30 min sonication, OD in 61.5% sucrose
solution (S) or 30% sucrose solution with 0.1% steviol glycosides addition (SG) and MVD.

material, because of its small size, in some spots will be over-heated.
Therefore, shorter drying time and limited oxygen presence will not
compensate the thermal degradation of ascorbic acid. Such explanation
could be supported by the results presented by Böhm et al. [65]. Au-
thors stated that vitamin C concentration found in air and microwave-
assisted vacuum dried strawberries were statistically the same. What is
worth emphasizing, the values of standard deviation obtained in the
case of microwave-vacuum dried material were much higher than va-
lues of this statistical parameter stated for freeze-dried or air dried
material, which supports also the theory of presence of over-heated
spots.
However, analysing all the results it can be stated that the losses of
vitamin C depended mainly on the integrity of microstructure since all
samples were osmotically dehydrated prior to drying. During OD the
losses of vitamin C can occur because of diffusion of ascorbic acid to
environment and chemical deterioration [75]. The application of pre-
treatment, which is aimed to degradation of microstructure in order to
enhance mass transfer will enhance also diffusion of ascorbic acid to
osmotic solution. Thus, samples treated by blanching, US and PEF will
exhibit most likely the most disintegrated cellular structure because of
thermal plasmolysis, “sponge effect” or sonoporation and electropora-
tion, respectively. Indeed, it was stated previously that these techniques
can act synergistically and combination of US and PEF or blanching
with PEF can enhance electroporation efficiency or calcium chloride
infusion, respectively [76,77]. Another explanation of the lower vi-
tamin C content of unconventionally processed cranberries is related to
aforementioned free radical and reactive oxygen species formation
during US and PEF application. For instance, he PEF treatment affects
the concentration of H2O2 which via hydroxyl radical attack contributes
to an occurrence of some condensation reactions or modification of
molecular conformation [78]. Moreover, the thermolysis that can take
place inside cavitation bubbles can also lead to the degradation of vi-
tamin C which will overcome the benefits from better extractability
[79].
Total phenolic content (TPC) of investigated dried cranberries
varied between 704 and 1157 mg GAE·100 g d.m.−1. These results stay
in accordance with data provided by other researchers. For instance, it
was reported that osmodehydrated dried cranberries (V. macrocarpon)
contained ca. 219.6 mg/100 g f.w. or 749–757 mg/100 g d.m. of total
polyphenolic compounds [80]. Based on obtained results, no clear re-
lationship between processing conditions and TPC can be stated.
However, statistical analysis showed that relevant difference in com-
parison to the reference sample was stated only for fruits marked as
BL_US_S and BL_SG, which puts blanching, unlike sonication, in a pre-
dominant position. Similarly, higher TPC in steam-blanched than in US-
treated and in immersed microwave dried parsley leaves was observed
by Dadan et al. [81]. In turn, Sledz et al. [35] reported a 15% higher
TPC in US-treated basil dried using microwave method, compared with
dried untreated laves. A higher concentration of TPC stated for blan-
ched samples indicate that enzymes responsible for deterioration of
phenolic compounds were probably partially inactivated [82] and
structure was disintegrated in an optimal way so leaching of poly-
phenols during further processing was restrained. Another explanation
of such results could be related to thermal plasmolysis and higher ex-
tractability of phenolic compounds as it was previously demonstrated
by Saetan et al. [83]. Such explanation is also supported by the con-
centration of phenolics in raw and raw blanched cranberry fruits which
was equal to 4051 ± 350 and 4616 ± 229 mg GAE·100 g·d.m−1, re-
spectively. Nevertheless, a huge difference between raw or blanched
and dehydrated cranberry fruits demonstrated that polyphenols origi-
nating from cranberries are sensitive to processing and further research
is needed in this area. In addition, commercial dried fruits exhibited
significantly smaller TPC than the fresh.
Cranberry’s flavonoids exhibit high bioactivity. It was evidenced
that cranberries flavonoids extract can inhibit tumour cell lines devel-
opment [84]. Flavonoid content of dried cranberries varied from 5.96
to 11.41 mg·100 g d.m.−1 whereas fresh fruits contained
36.95 ± 3.77 mg·100 g d.m.−1, respectively. Among of all analysed
bioactive compounds flavonoids were the most stable during proces-
sing. Similar findings were demonstrated by Chen et al. [85] as ex-
emplified by citrus fruits peel. A higher concentration of flavonoids in
the case of blanched material was caused most likely by thermal dis-
integration of cell membrane which facilitated the extraction. A huge
drop of flavonoid content stated for dehydrated samples is related with

9
M. Nowacka, et al.
leaching and thermal decomposition of these compounds during pro-
cessing. The highest retention of flavonoids was characteristic for
samples blanched before ultrasound assisted OD in sucrose solution
(BL_US_S). The same pattern was not observed when such treated
samples were dehydrated using less concentrated solution (SG). It is
worth emphasizing that samples treated by combination of blanching,
ultrasound and pulsed electric field and dehydrated in sucrose solution
exhibited higher retention of flavonoids in comparison to the material
treated the same but dehydrated in sucrose-steviol glycosides solution.
It can suggest that high sugar concentration plays positive role in
protection of flavonoids from degradation during processing as it is in
the case of anthocyanins by inhibition of pigment degradative enzymes
[86,87].
All samples dehydrated by MVD exhibited a higher content of an-
thocyanins in comparison to reference CD cranberries but significantly
smaller when compared to fresh material. Such results fit to data pre-
sented by Wojdyło et al. [88] who analysed the impact of different
drying techniques on chemical quality of strawberries. In this work,
researchers stated that retention of anthocyanins is ca. 2.9 times higher
in the case of microwave-vacuum dried fruits in comparison to con-
vective dried material. Fruits blanched prior to OD in ternary solution
(SG) contained the highest amount of anthocyanins among all in-
vestigated samples. The concentration of anthocyanins in this case was
equal to 807 mg C3G·100 g d.m−1, which was 4.3 times more than in
the case of reference sample. In comparison to fresh fruits retention of
anthocyanins ranged from 3 to 13%. It is also noticeable that cut
samples subjected after OD to MVD exhibited significantly smaller
amount of anthocyanins. No clear effect of type of osmotic solution was
noticed, although in literature there are some examples which indicate
that a higher concentration of sugar can protect anthocyanins from
decomposition [69]. The addition of US and PEF to the treatment
protocol resulted in a smaller anthocyanin content in comparison to
blanched samples which could be associated with high disintegration of
the material and thus bigger leaching of these compounds which are
polar. What more and as aforementioned, the PEF and the US appli-
cations can lead to formation of OH radicals and hence cause decline of
anthocyanins [67,89].
All samples obtained by MVD exhibited better antioxidant proper-
ties than reference sample subjected to CD, which stays in accordance
with data presented by Leusink et al. [90] for microwave-vacuum, air
and freeze-dried American cranberry fruits. Better antioxidant proper-
ties of microwave-vacuum dried sour cherries in comparison to material
obtained by convective methods (regardless of temperature of drying
air) were also reported by Wojdyło et al. [91]. Researchers stated that
the lowest antioxidant activity of air dried samples was linked to in-
tensive oxidation related to long drying time and thus exposure to
elevated temperature and oxygen.
However, the smallest free radical scavenging activity within mi-
crowave-vacuum dried group was stated for cranberries, which were
cut before further processing regardless of type of osmotic solution. The
increment of antioxidant activity was equal to 5 and 18% for cut and
dehydrated in S and SG solution, respectively. Fruits pre-treated by
combined method exhibited the best radical scavenging properties
among all examined samples. Such situation was probably related to the
best availability and extractability of chemical compounds possessing
antioxidant properties due to the intracellular structure degradation
caused by blanching, sonication and PEF treatments. It was previously
demonstrated that higher degradation of cellular structure as provoked
by US or PEF may improve antioxidant properties of plant material
based extracts [10,92].
In general, dried fruits processed in SG solution exhibited a bigger
increase of antioxidant activity in comparison to dried fruits prepared
by OD in S solution. Such situation could be linked to the fact that
steviol glycosides poses themselves the ability to scavenge free radicals.
For instance, Hajihashemi and Geuns [93] found that half inhibitory
concentration (IC50) tested using superoxide radical of steviol
10
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
glycosides was equal to 0.211 mM whereas for sucrose exhibited no
antioxidant activity at all. Antioxidant properties of steviol glycosides
and Stevia rebaudiana crude extracts was stated also by Bender et al.
[94] both in vitro and in cell based assay.
3.4. Sugars content in dried cranberry fruits subjected to unconventional
technologies
Sugars content in osmodehydrated and dried cranberry snacks are
shown in Fig. 2. Fresh fruits contained only 46 ± 2 mg·100 g−1 of
sucrose, 2138 ± 63 mg·100 g−1 of glucose and
3178 ± 98 mg·100 g−1 of fructose.
The reference sucrose-dehydrated sample (Ref_S) was characterised
by the highest content of sucrose (44 888 mg·100 g−1). When the SG
solution was used 20% less sucrose was noticed in dried reference
material (Ref_SG) in comparison to CD sample osmodehydrated in S
solution (Ref_S), what was linked with a lower driving force of osmotic
dehydration process [38]. The sugar content in MVD cranberries were
from 11.6 to 46.1% lower in comparison to CD sample (Ref_S), which
means that the drying method influenced sugar content in the final
product. Similarly, Komes et al. [95] stated that saccharides content in
pears depends on drying conditions and also on the ultrasound pre-
treatment, especially for glucose and fructose. However, in our study
glucose and fructose contents were not significantly affected by dif-
ferent processing method but it can be observed that all samples had a
higher amount of glucose and lower of fructose. Lyu et al. [96] reported
that application of explosion puffing drying method lead to the hy-
drolysis of sucrose content in peach chips. Higher content of glucose
and fructose was not found due the Maillard reaction progress.
The smallest concentration of sucrose was identified for MVD
cranberry snack, obtained by MVD preceded by blanching followed by
combination of PEF, US and OD in SG solution. What is interesting, both
BL_PEF + US_S and BL_PEF + US_SG samples were characterised by
significantly (p < 0.05) higher reduction of sucrose content which was
equal 42.1% (26 011 mg·100 g−1) and 46.1% (24 202 mg·100 g−1), re-
spectively, in comparison to reference sample (Ref_S). This means that
the application of combined treatment (BL_PEF + US) limits the pene-
tration of sugar during the OD process. The application of PEF before
OD of strawberry [97] resulted in similar or higher solid gain in com-
parison to intact osmotic dehydrated samples. When the US pre-treat-
ment was applied before OD process also higher solid gain during OD
process was observed [98]. However, in the current study the US pre-
treatment (BL_US) resulted in sucrose reduction (27.3 and 35.6% in
comparison to reference sample Ref_S) and the amount of sucrose in
this sample was lower in comparison to MVD sample subjected only to
blanching. Thermal process (BL) and unconventional technologies (US
and PEF) resulted in structure changes which reduced penetration of
sucrose from osmotic solution to the tissue. Since dried cranberries,
offered in the market, can contain high level of sugars (even 70% [99])
MVD preceded by the specific pre-treatment (BL_PEF + US) can reduce
sugar content in the final product.
3.5. Organoleptic assessment of dried cranberry fruits subjected to
unconventional technologies
Organoleptic assessment of dried cranberry snacks subjected to
unconventional technologies in S and SG solutions is presented in
Fig. 3a and b, respectively.
According to consumers, the Ref_S fruits were characterised by a
darker red colour, which not stayed in accordance with instrumental
analysis. The colour of MVD cranberries were rated in the range from
2.3 to 3.8. The lowest rate, indicating light red colour, was obtained by
cut samples subjected to OD and MVD, regardless of the type of osmotic
solution. These changes were linked to higher impairment of the skin
and leaking the anthocyanins into osmotic solution [18]. An average
grade given by assessors for colour of cranberries from the market
M. Nowacka, et al.
Fig. 4. The results of Cluster Analysis presented as a dendrogram. The analysis
was performed using all of investigated variables.
(Commercial) was equal to 3.1.
The taste of reference sample (Ref_S) was identified as sweet (2.8)
and sour (3.0), which is characteristic for processed cranberry fruits
available on the market [38]. Ref_SG sample was characterized by
sweet and sour taste rated 3.0 and 2.5, respectively. Dried material
bought on the market was more sweet (4.3) and not so acidy (2.2). The
cut samples subjected to OD and MVD, in the case of both S and SG
solutions, were characterised by sweeter taste, which was rated at 3.6
and 3.5, respectively. These results stay in accordance with the sugar
content determination (Fig. 2). What is important, foreign taste were
not noticeable, even for the fruits dehydrated in SG solution. Moreover,
when assessors tasted the dried cranberries the texture – softness/
hardness were assessed. The reference sample and fruits subjected to
different pre-treatment methods, OD with SG solution and MVD was
soft. However, dried fruits from the market (Commercial) was much
harder (rated 3.5) in comparison to both CD cranberries (Ref_S,
Ref_SG). Similar assessment was obtained by samples, for which un-
conventional technologies as US and PEF + US and S solution were
used (BL_US_S – rated 3.5; BL_PEF + US_S – rated 4.1). Beaudry et al.
[30] indicated that it would be appropriate to select parameters of dried
cranberry snack, which will be characterised by similar texture to those
on the market. Moreover, the shape of all investigated samples in the
study (CD and MVC) were not so circular as sample available on the
market. This was probably linked to the use of different type of cran-
berry fruits – in our study Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberry was dried
whilst the dried fruits of Vaccinium macrocarpon are usually available on
the market.
Taking into account all differentiators, the assessors evaluated
overall quality of MVD cranberry snacks similar or even better to that
available on the market (Bought). The reference sample (CD) was rated
as the worst.
3.6. Cluster analysis
The result of agglomeration is presented in the Fig. 4 as a dendro-
gram, which reveals the tendencies to grouping arising from common
characteristics of investigated variants [100]. It can be noted that
samples were aggregated in two big clusters: I and II. First one – I – was
composed of fruits subjected to traditional processing regardless of the
utilized osmotic solution (Ref_S and Ref_SG). Second aggregation
(Cluster II) consisted of two smaller groups of samples. Samples pro-
cessed by cutting – C_S and C_SG – and subjected to blanching in ternary
solution and blanching combined with US in standard solution formed
one of the sub-aggregates while all other samples were gathered in an
another cluster marked as IIB. It is worth emphasizing that samples
11
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 56 (2019) 1–13
subjected to PEF treatment were characterized by small dissimilarity
regardless of the osmotic solution. Such results suggest that it is possible
to obtain a product with reduced sucrose content but with quality si-
milar to the product processed with standard high-sucrose solution.
4. Conclusions
The microwave-vacuum drying let to obtain dried cranberry fruits
by 96.1–96.9% faster in comparison to the convective drying. Despite
the lack of beneficial impact of PEF and US on drying kinetics, the use
of these treatments in combination with blanching resulted in better
colour preservation and higher antioxidant activity. Moreover, osmotic
dehydration performed in sucrose-steviol glycosides solution followed
by the microwave assisted vacuum process and the use of the specific
parameters of unconventional pre-treatment (BL_PEF + US) can reduce
sugar and especially sucrose content in final products.
According to the organoleptic assessment and based on overall
quality of the dried cranberry snacks the highest marks were received
by cut and blanched fruits subjected to US pre-treatment and dried by
microwave-vacuum method, regardless of the type of osmotic solution.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher
Education (Poland) within a framework of Iuventus Plus programme in
the years 2015-2018 [grant number IP2014 033173].
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.03.023.
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