Production and evaluation of total phenolics, antioxidant activity, viscosity, color, and sensory attributes of quince tea infusion: Effects of drying method, sonication, and brewing process

This study aimed to examine the influence of drying approaches (convective and infrared (IR)), sonication, and brewing time on the total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity (AA), viscosity, color indexes, and sensory attributes of quince tea infusion (QTI). The AA and TPC in the QTI dried in the IR dryer were higher than in the convective dryer. The TPC and AA of QTI prepared by convective and IR dryers increased when the ultrasound treatment and brewing time were increased. In terms of viscosity and Brix, there was no differences between the QTIs and the average viscosity and density of the samples were 1.79 ± 0.28 mPa.s and 3.18 ± 0.07°Brix, respectively. The QTI prepared by the IR has a reddish-brown hue (higher a* value), but the samples prepared with the convective dryer were yellow (higher b* value). The sensory attributes scores of QTI prepared by IR were higher than those of convection-dried samples. In general, the use of an IR dryer for drying grated quince, ultrasound treatment for 8 min, and brewing time for 30 min is a promising condition for the production of QTI with higher TPC and AA, and with appropriate color and sensorial acceptance.