Influence of different distillates and extraction times of fungus Ganoderma lucidumon the antioxidant potential and sensory characteristics of special herb brandies

Contemporary research studies have shown that the moderate intake of alcoholic beverages rich with phenolic compounds has a positive effect on the consumer‟s health. Since the distillates have insignificant content of bioactive compounds, the producers examine different innovative raw materials in order to improve their functionality. Fungi and herbs, which additionally enriched the sensory characteristics of distillates, are considered to be a promising source of bioactive compounds. A multicomponent mixture produced from different fungi and herbal extracts is traditionally used for alcoholic beverages production in Asian countries. The medicinal fungus Ganoderma lucidum is highlighted as the most important, because it contains very diverse bioactive compounds such as triterpenes, phenolic compounds and β-glucans. In this study, we have investigated the influence of two factors, extraction time (7, 21 and 60 days) and different alcohol bases (wine, grape, grain and plum distillates), on the antioxidant and sensory characteristics of herb brandies. The herbal extract was produced from 39 aromatic herbs, 4 dried fruits and oak bark. The total phenolic content (TPC) of analysed herb brandies was determined by using the FolinCiocalteu spectrophotometric method and the antioxidant capacity by using the following two methods: DPPH and FRAP methods. Sensory evaluation of analysed samples was performed by trained experts using model of positive ranking. Both factors as well as their interaction had statistically important influence on TPC, but the time of extraction did not have statistically important effect on the antioxidant capacity. Since the correlation between results of AO and TPC was very high, it can be concluded that the phenolic compounds have a strong influence on the AO. The total sensory scores of special herb brandies were in the range of very good to excellent quality (scores of 16.85 to 18.55). The herbal extract and the fungus G. lucidumare promising raw materials for the production of alcoholic beverages with improved functional characteristics.