Comparative effects of freeze-drying, oven drying, and air drying on physicochemical properties and bioactive compounds of five wild fruit species

Wild fruits are valuable natural sources of bioactive compounds with significant nutritional and functional properties. This study comparatively evaluated the effects of freeze-drying (FD), oven drying (OD), and open-air drying (AD) on the physicochemical properties, total phenolic content (TPC), vitamin C content, and antioxidant properties of five wild fruit species naturally growing in the Gümüşhane region of Türkiye: wild pear (Pyrus elaegrifolia Pall.), hawthorn (Crataegus orientalis), rosehip (Rosa canina L.), cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.), and barberry (Berberis vulgaris).Drying method markedly affected both physicochemical characteristics and bioactive compounds. Oven drying produced the lowest water activity values (0.10–0.34), indicating enhanced microbiological stability, whereas freeze-dried samples generally showed superior preservation of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The highest TPC was observed in air-dried cornelian cherry (935.59 mg GAE/kg), while freeze-dried rosehip exhibited the highest TPC among freeze-dried samples (907.63 mg GAE/kg). Vitamin C was highly sensitive to thermal processing, and most oven-dried samples showed values below the detection limit (