Towards Wine Waste Reduction: Up-Cycling Wine Pomace into Functional Fruit Bars

Due to the beneficial composition of wine pomace, it has found several applications in the food industry, mostly in the form of flour or extracts. This study suggests the use of grape skin separated from the pomace as a functional ingredient for fruit bars based on the hypothesis that grape skin can contribute to fruit bar antioxidant potential. Fruit bars were produced with dried figs/dates, grape skin, and cocoa/hazelnut mix in different proportions (48–70%, 30–50%, and 0–2%, respectively). The addition of grape skin proved beneficial for the total polyphenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity. Furthermore, consumers appeared to like the newly developed functional product, and the addition of up to 30% grape skin did not have an adverse effect of sensory properties. The bars were graded A based on the NutriScore value and were microbiologically compliant to food safety regulations. These results demonstrate the possibility of grape skin use in the development of a functional fruit bar product, which can be beneficial not only from chemical and sensory point of view, but also economically feasible and environmentally friendly.