Evaluation of chitosan as clarification aid in production of sour cherry juice and its effect on quality during storage

The present study was aimed to develop a novel clarification aid using chitosan, replacing the existing clarification techniques/methods which has a predominant importance in the production of sour cherry juice. The effectiveness of chitosan as clarification aid was compared with existing clarification aids, during the storage of the sour cherry juice at 4ºC and 25ºC for six months. Based on preliminary experiments, sour cherry juices were prepared and turbidity, pH, titration acidity, soluble solids content, total anthocyanin, total phenols and antioxidant capacities were estimated from juices prepared from chitosan-based clarification aid and other clarification aids, and comparative analysis was done. Sour cherry juices produced with chitosans as clarification aid showed at least as good properties as the commercial mixture, especially when evaluated in terms of phytochemical properties such as total phenolic content, anthocyanin content, and total antioxidant capacity, at both 4 and 25℃ storages. Chitosan, obtained from recycling waste, has been successfully used to clarify sour cherry juice instead of commercial chemical mixtures. Chitosan has been validated as a valuable alternative to commercial clarification aids.