Fruit and vegetable chips as snacks with health-promoting potential in the modern diet [pdf]

Background.Growing demand for healthier snack products has increased interest in fruit and vegetable chips as potential alternatives to conventional snacks.However, there remains a need for integrated studies combining physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant properties, and microbial quality.The present study aimed to conduct a preliminary assessment of the nutritional composition, antioxidant properties, and microbial quality of selected commercially available fruit and vegetable chips, specifically apple, pear, beetroot, and sweet potato chips.A supplementary bibliometric analysis was undertaken to identify the main research themes in the literature on fruit and vegetable chips and to provide a broader context for the experimental assessment.Material and methods.Dry matter, salt, crude fibre, vitamin C, total polyphenol content, and DPPH radical scavenging activity were determined using standard analytical methods.Microbial quality was assessed using standard culture-based methods in accordance with ISO procedures to detect Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., as well as yeasts and moulds.Depending on data distribution, statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA or the Kruskal-Wallis test.A supplementary bibliometric analysis of Web of Science records was performed using VOSviewer to identify the main research themes related to fruit and vegetable chips.Results.The analysed products differed significantly in their physicochemical properties, indicating a clear effect of raw material type on product quality.Sweet potato chips had the highest dry matter, salt, and vitamin C contents, whereas beetroot chips had the highest crude fibre and polyphenol contents, as well as the highest antioxidant activity.S. aureus, E. coli, and Salmonella spp.were not detected in any sample.Yeasts and moulds were detected only at low levels and were more frequently found in fruit-based than in vegetablebased chips.The bibliometric analysis revealed that, within the literature retrieved by this search, research focuses primarily on processing conditions, physicochemical quality, and antioxidant-related properties, with limited attention given to safety issues such as acrylamide formation, whereas microbial quality is less prominently represented.Conclusion.The findings suggest that beetroot and sweet potato chips are promising plant-based snacks with favourable nutritional and functional characteristics.The study also highlights the importance of combining physicochemical and microbial assessment when evaluating the quality and safety of dried snack products.The bibliometric analysis further showed that microbial quality was not prominently represented within the literature retrieved by this search.Further research should examine a broader range of commercial samples from different manufacturers and production batches to verify the wider applicability of the observed results.