BACKGROUND: The European Union registered a consumption of about 10.7 billion litres of juices in 2011 and a great part of this amount is imported from other countries, which makes the monitoring of their quality essential. This work was aimed at mapping the quality of various juices from different botanical origins from instrumental taste, chemical marker and antioxidant capacity perspectives. It also characterized the individual phenolic composition of juices previously classified according to their antioxidant activity and total phenolic material level.
RESULTS: Overall, by using correlation analysis and chemometrics (HCA and PCA), data showed that total phenolics, specifically gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, anthocyanins, flavanols and flavonols, are the main contributors to the antioxidant activity. Elderberry and pomegranate juices presented the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activity. On the other hand, orange, apple and cranberry juices had the lowest levels of total phenolics and flavonoids, DPPH and CUPRAC.
CONCLUSION: The use of chemometrics coupled to ANOVA seems to be a suitable approach to evaluate the quality of fruit juices from different botanical origins. Additionally, the instrumental taste profile correlated well with the chemical composition and antioxidant capacity, showing its potential application in assessing the functionality of juices.