Assessment of stability of antioxidant properties of enriched beverages during storage

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility and feasibility of using innovative packaging for storing functional drinks, including those enriched with antioxidants. The packaging used in the research was developed by LLC “ADK Technologies” and makes it possible to store the biologically active substance in a dry form separately from the liquid system of the product in an opaque plastic compartment cover, thus preventing undesirable degradation processes of the biologically active substance during storage of the beverage. In the present study, the flavonol dihydroquercetin was used as a functional ingredient of antioxidant action. To assess the effectiveness of the packaging, the test beverage samples, control and enriched, were subjected to accelerated aging procedures with correction of two exposure factors: temperature and light. The study assessed the drink's resistance to clouding (transparency), determined the mass fraction of flavonoids in terms of dihydroquercetin and the antioxidant activity by the DPPH method. The results showed that the use of innovative packaging for storage of functional drinks allowed to provide absolute stability of the indices determined. Thus, a decrease in transparency after 72 hours under conditions of accelerated aging (equivalent to 6 months of storage in the recommended mode) was fixed at 1 point, whereas when using traditional packaging colloidal processes were active already after 48 hours of storage. No decrease in the mass fraction of flavonoids and in the antioxidant activity of the beverages was observed with the use of innovative packaging. Whereas the use of traditional packaging resulted in a loss of quantitative dihydroquercetin content and antioxidant activity by more than 30%. The results obtained in the course of the research showed the feasibility of using the innovative packaging of LLC "ADK Technologies" to ensure the stability of quality indicators of non-alcoholic beverages and preserve their functional properties during the declared shelf life.