MONIKA SUJKA*, URSZULA PANKIEWICZ
*Corresponding author
Department of Analysis and Evaluation of Food Quality,
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Skromna 8, 20-704 Lublin, Poland

Abstract

The present study compares the antioxidant properties of different blends containing green tea leaves and 10, 20 or 30% addition of dried fruits (quince, cranberries, orange, lemon, and grapefruit). Sensory characteristic of the blends (taste and aroma) as well as consumer acceptability was also studied. Among all tested blends the highest antioxidant properties showed the blend with 30% addition of quince (over 40% higher than pure green tea), whereas the highest scores for consumer acceptability were obtained for the blend with 30% addition of cranberries. The blends with dried fruits can be a good alternative for the consumers who do not accept the taste and aroma of pure green tea brew but they would not like to resign from the pro-healthy properties of this tea.

INTRODUCTION 

Nowadays green tea is more and more eagerly consumed for its health benefits although it is still not so popular in the West as black tea e.g. in 2013, black tea and green tea accounted for about 88% and 12%, respectively, of total (recorded) EU consumption (1). As non-fermented tea, green tea contains more polyphenols (flavanols, flavandiols, and phenolic acids) and has higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activities than semi-fermented (red and oolong tea) and fermented teas (black tea) (2). However, the amount of bioactive compounds in the brew depends strongly on extraction conditions such as time, temperature of water or multiple repetition of the extraction procedure (3).
To increase the attractiveness of green tea by improving its taste, aroma and colour, many producers create blends with flowers (e.g. jasmine, lotus, rose), spice, herbs or dried fruits in the last stage of processing (before packing). The last mentioned type of blend usually contains only a few percent of fruit addition. As showed the studies of Vinson, Zubik and Bose (4) and Pellegrini et al. (5), dried fruits are a superior sourc ...