An evaluation of the retention of quality characteristics in fresh and freeze-dried alpine strawberries

Alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) are used in fruit juice, marmalade, or jam production and as a result have economical importance in food sector. The fresh alpine strawberries have a tendency to lose their quality in a few days as a result of high water loss and spoilage. In this paper, the results of a study on the effects of freeze drying process on the characteristics of the alpine strawberries, such as firmness, sugar content, pH, colour, weight loss, dissolved solids, anthocyanin and vitamin C content with reference to the fresh, are reported. Freeze‐drying indicated no difference in the characteristics of the alpine strawberries when compared with the fresh. It is found that a slight acid or base addition onto the rehydrated alpine strawberry juice preserved the stability of pigments and the colour. In addition, the rehydrated alpine strawberry juice exhibited an antimicrobial activity towards an important foodborne pathogen, Enterobacter faecium ATCC 6057.