Spray Drying of Chokeberry Juice—Antioxidant Phytochemicals Retention in the Obtained Powders versus Energy Consumption of the Process

The production of chokeberry powder, an important functional additive in food, should exhibit both maximization of bioactive properties retention and minimization of energy consumption. The process of spray drying chokeberry juice on a maltodextrin carrier was tested on a semi-technical scale. The research scope included the variability of the inlet air temperature in the range of T = 150–185 °C and concentration of the feed solution in the range of U(d.m) = 15–45% d.m. The powder yield, energy consumption and bioactive properties of the obtained powders were determined. The highest levels of bioactive properties retention were expressed in total polyphenol content (TPC) and anthocyanin content (AC) and obtained at T = 150 °C and U(d.m) = 25–30% d.m. However, the most advantageous process parameters in terms of specific energy consumption (SEC) minimization were T = 160–170 °C and U(d.m) = 30–35% d.m. Analysis of the dependence on SEC versus TPC and SEC versus AC showed that the most favorable drying parameters for chokeberry juice were as follows: inlet air temperature T = 170 °C and feed solution concentration U(d.m) = 35%. Hence, under such process conditions, chokeberry powders were produced with approx. 3% lower bioactive properties retention (in relation to the maximum values), but with 20.5% lower SEC.