Quality and Sensory Study of Fresh Sour Cherry Juices Upon Cultivar, Growing Area and Weather Conditions.

Freshly squeezed sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) juices of Maraska Brač (BR), Maraska MA (MA), Oblačinska 18 (18), Oblačinska Osječka (OS), Rexelle (REX), Heimann conserved (HEI), and Kelleris 16 (KEL) grown in different climate regions (Mediterranean and continental) in two consecutive harvest years were analyzed for quality and sensory properties. Obtained results showed that investigated sources of variation (cultivar, growing area, harvest year) significantly influenced physical, chemical, and sensory properties of tested juices. All juices had high soluble solids (SS) (17.26% to 25.89%), especially BR (24.19%), MA (25.89%), 18 (24.66%), and OS (23.61%). Juices also had considerable total phenols (TP) content (2.19 to 5.87 mg GAE ml-1 ) and antioxidant capacity (AC) (0.020 to 0.045 mmol TE mL-1 ) with BR, MA, REX, and HEI containing the highest amounts of bioactive compounds (BR = 5.87 mg GAE mL-1 , MA = 5.68 mg GAE mL-1 , REX = 4.42 mg GAE mL-1 , HEI = 4.27 mg GAE mL-1 ). Sensory evaluation showed that all juices had satisfying sensory profiles with BR, MA, 18, OS, and KEL juices scoring particularly high (5.3 to 8.9 of 10) in desirable sensory properties (color intensity [CI], sour cherry taste [SCT], harmonious taste [HT], taste fullness [TF], sour cherry odor [SCO], and viscosity [V]) of fresh sour cherry cloudy juice. Juices from Mediterranean area achieved higher values for SS, pH, SS/TA ratio, TP, AC, SCT, HT, TF, SCO, and V compared to continental zone juices. Harvest year with higher temperatures and less rainfall also resulted in higher SS, pH, TP, and AC as well as stronger expression of desirable sensory properties. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The results of this study provide an insight into sour cherry potential for use in functional food products, including today's popular smoothies, since it is fruit rich with health contributing compounds and possesses desirable sensory characteristics (color intensity, sour cherry taste, harmonious taste, taste fullness, sour cherry odor, and viscosity) at the same time, which can differ due to cultivar, climate diversity as well as weather conditions.