Producing food supplements by complex processing of fruits and vegetables of reduced quality using biotechnology methods

The actuality of processing of substandard by external signs fruit and vegetables is caused by their higher volumes in the processing industry and retail chains, and additionally by their high biopotentials. The aim of research is to ground complex processing of such raw materials to obtain food supplements containing natural biologically active components, and assessment of their nutritional functionality. The experiments used apples, bananas, oranges, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers that did not meet the freshness criteria of GOST 57976-2017, but without any signs of microbial damage. Three types of experimental mixtures were made from this raw material: fruit, vegetable and fruit-vegetable. The key processing operation was the enzymatic hydrolysis of the mixtures with various carbohydrases (cellulase, ?-glucanase, amylase and glucoamylase). The hydrolyzed mixtures were fractionated, followed by dehydration of the fractions to obtain water-soluble and water-insoluble powder supplements. During the fermentation process, the accumulation of simple sugars, dry substances in water-soluble fractions, and the yield of finished products were studied. The highest concentrations of sugars are found in water-soluble fractions from fruit mixtures. In the resulting supplements from three types of mixtures, organoleptic characteristics, chemical composition, and the content of functional food ingredients – vitamin C, substances with P-vitamin activity, and dietary fiber have been studied. The qualitative composition of dietary fiber and other polysaccharides in a water-insoluble supplement has been established using IR-spectra. Taking into account the obtained data, calculations have been made to satisfy the daily physiological needs for established biologically active substances when consuming 100 g of supplements for ordinary people and athletes. It is recommended to use supplements as enriching agents for functional purposes in specialized antioxidant, immunomodulatory and prebiotic nutrition, including as part of dietary supplements for athletes.