Bioactive properties of six dried Himalayan plum cultivars and the impact of their powders on lipid peroxidation in meat emulsions

Plum fruits are among the richest sources of bioactive compounds and thereby have several therapeutic effects, in addition to being effective replacers of synthetic antioxidants in foods such as meat sausages, which are more prone to lipid oxidation. Plums have a short shelf life and are therefore mostly processed into dry forms. The study included six plum varieties and the effects of drying on their antioxidant and antiproliferative characteristics were examined. Drying resulted in the almost complete degradation of the anthocyanins. During the six months, DPPH, FRAP and ascorbic acid decreased by 11.7 %, 5.9 % and 33 % respectively, in the Krassivica plum cultivar. Compared to fresh cultivars, dried plum cultivars showed greater antiproliferative potential against both cancer cell lines, with dried Krassivica exhibiting the greatest cell proliferation inhibition of 38.63 and 94.1 % against HCT-116 (a colon cancer cell line) and MCF-7 (an estrogen-positive breast cancer cell line), respectively. Evaluation on the effect of different concentrations (2 %, 4 % and 6 %) of plum on lipid oxidation in the meat emulsion showed that with the addition of plum powder there was a significant reduction in the TBARS. A non-significant difference was observed in the TBARS values at the 1st and 3rd months of storage between the emulsion samples containing 6 % Au Rosa plum pulp powder and the sample with BHA. Thus, it was concluded that although drying has a marked influence on the quality of plum fruits, dried plums represent a good source of antioxidants, thereby promoting their use as a functional food.