SENSORY ACCEPTANCE AND ANTHOCYANIN PROFILE DURING IN VITRO DIGESTION OF ICE CREAM WITH NATURAL DEEP EUTECTIC SOLVENT (NADES)

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) have emerged as a sustainable and efficient alternative for extracting bioactive compounds. Besides preserving anthocyanins, these solvents contribute to color intensity and stability, key attributes for food appeal. This study evaluated sensory acceptance and assessed the anthocyanin profile during the simulated gastrointestinal digestion of ice creams formulated with either a natural blueberry colorant extracted using NADES or using a conventional organic solvent. The colorants were obtained by extracting blueberry powder using a NADES composed of choline chloride, glycerol, and citric acid (molar ratio 0.5:2:0.5) diluted with 25% water that yielded a ready-to-use colorant (C-NADES) or using methanol acidified with 0.1% HCl requiring methanol removal before to use (C-SORG). The colorants were incorporated into the ice cream mix at a 10% ratio, resulting in 3.1 mg of anthocyanins per liter of ice cream. Sensory acceptance (CAAE: 67880922.1.000.5346) was assessed using a nine-point hedonic scale. Samples underwent static in vitro digestion simulating oral, gastric, and intestinal phases, following the INFOGEST protocol. Anthocyanin content was determined via LC-PDA-Qtof-ESI-MS. Although overall sensory acceptance was lower for the C-NADES ice cream compared to C-SORG (n=131 panelists) (p<0.05), a cluster comprising 56 of the 131 panelists assigned a higher acceptance score to C-NADES ice cream (7.125) compared to the C-SORG formulation (6.607) (p<0.05), a result likely linked to the more attractive color provided by the NADES. Chromatographic analysis enabled the identification and quantification of 13 anthocyanin compounds in the ice creams and throughout the digestion phases. The anthocyanin classes identified in both treatments were malvidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, and petunidin. A progressive reduction in anthocyanin content was observed across all classes during digestion. Malvidin, the predominant anthocyanin (mg/100mL) in C-NADES ice cream (11.4±2.0), was degraded during digestion [oral phase (7.3±0.6), gastric phase (5.3±0.5), and non-bioaccessible intestinal fraction (2.0±0.0)] (p<0.05). A similar pattern was observed for malvidin levels in the C-SORG ice cream (16.5±2.1) and during digestion [oral phase (8.0±0.6), gastric phase (7.1±1.5), and non-bioaccessible intestinal fraction (2.3±0.1)] (p<0.05). In the bioaccessible fraction of the intestinal phase, anthocyanin levels fell below the limits of detection for both formulations. This reduction may be attributed to the inherent instability of anthocyanins or to interactions between matrix compounds. It is concluded that C-NADES performed as effectively as C-SORG, as both exhibited similar anthocyanin profiles during in vitro digestion. Futhermore, the C-NADES ice cream demonstrated higher sensory acceptability than the one made with C-SORG for a group that comprised 43% of consumers. These findings reinforce the potential of NADES for application in foods. 

This research was supported by CAPES.