Combined effects of sodium carbonate pretreatment and hybrid drying methods on the nutritional and antioxidant properties of dried Goji berries

Abstract

[EN] Combined effects of sodium carbonate (SC) pretreatment and hybrid drying methods (freeze drying-instant controlled pressure drop drying (FD-ICPDD), hot air drying (HAD-ICPDD) on nutritional and antioxidant properties of Goji berries were investigated. Compared with distilled water pretreatment, SC pretreatment could obtain products with better quality. Goji dried by FD-ICPDD showed better overall quality than that dried by HAD or FD alone. FD-ICPDD products exhibited higher contents of total Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (140 g/kg), total carotenoids (2.4 g/kg) as well as the strongest ABTS.+ radical scavenging activity (57.6 μmol TE/g). FD-ICPDD could be an alternative drying method for processing valuable agro-products.