DEVELOPMENT OF BERRY DRINKS WITH A HIGH CONTENT OF ASCORBIC ACID

This work is devoted to the development of innovative soft drinks based on raw materials from wild and cultivated plants characterized by high organoleptic quality and a high content of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Strawberries, bilberries, blackberries, and black currants were taken as berry raw materials. Using these berries is due to their chemical composition. According to the results of the experimental studies, the optimum ratio of the recipe components has been established, which allows achieving the research objectives. As a result, the recipes of the fizzy drinks Zdorovya and Vesnyany, sbitens Vitaminka and Yahidny Kokteyl, fruit drink Syla have been developed. At the first stage, the organoleptic analysis of the samples was carried out, since the taste is a major factor in the consumer’s perception of an innovative product. The sensory evaluation of the beverages developed was conducted by five independent tasters. The results of the analysis show that the suggested products have high organoleptic quality characteristics. The next step in the research was to determine the ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content, which was done in two stages. First, a qualitative analysis was carried out to confirm the presence of this vitamin in the beverages developed and in the control samples. The quantitative content of ascorbic acid was then determined. The results of the study show that the ascorbic acid content increased on average, compared to that in the control samples, by 44% in the fizzy drink Zdorovya and by 20.5% in the fizzy drink Vesnyany; by 20% in the sbiten Vitaminka; by 11% in the sbiten Yahidny Kokteyl; and by 114% in the fruit drink Syla. In quantitative terms, it is 50–120 mg/100 ml, which is by 33% more than the daily requirement. The results obtained allow drawing a conclusion that industrial manufacture of the drinks developed will help solve the problem of vitamin C deficiency in the Ukrainian people’s diet.