Impact of the agglomeration process on the flow, reconstitution, and antioxidant properties of an Andean berry powder mix

BACKGROUND: There is consumer interest in berries due to their nutritional properties, especially biologically active compounds. Spray drying technologies improve products stability and shelf life, and the agglomeration process subsequently enhances powder instantaneousness and flow properties. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the effect of the fluidized bed agglomeration process on flow, reconstitution, and antioxidant properties of cape gooseberry, strawberry, and blackberry powder mix obtained by spray drying and a water and vitamin C binding solution. METHODS: A face-centered central composite design with 15 experiments was used; independent variables were fluidization temperature (T), binder solution atomization pressure (P), and process time (t), while dependent variables were moisture, solubility, wettability, particle size, antioxidant capacity, total phenols, Vit. C, β-carotenes (β-car), and total anthocyanins. RESULTS: The best process conditions from experimental optimization were T = 70 °C, P = 1.1 bar, and t = 29.1 min. This agglomerated product had low moisture values, good solubility, and 0.5 min wettability; the values for Vit. C = 246.4±3.4 mg/100 g db, β-car = 4.0±0.5 mg/100 g db, and total anthocyanins = 230.7±3.0 mg C3G/100 g db were noteworthy. CONCLUSIONS: An agglomerate berry-based powder product was obtained with 100% Vit. C RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) and 15% vitamin A RDA. Flow and instantaneousness properties of the agglomerated powder also significantly improved with the applied process.