ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Characterization
Enhancing the bioactive profile of dark chocolates with encapsulated native berry peel extracts
Provisionally accepted
Weyler Requejo-Santacruz1Katherine Reyna-Gonzales1
Ives Yoplac1Juan Quispe-Neyra2Ilse S. Cayo-Colca1Efraín M. Castro-Alayo1
César R. Balcázar Zumaeta1*- 1Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
- 2Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
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The food industry is focusing on incorporating functional ingredients to enhance the nutritional and bioactive value of food products. However, the inclusion of additional compounds during formulation may modify their chemical and sensory properties. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of incorporating encapsulated peel extracts from four berry species at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5% on the functional properties of dark chocolates, where was evaluated antioxidant activity by three assays; total phenolic content (TPC); and individual phenolic compounds (catechin, epicatechin, theobromine, caffeine, and gallic acid) were quantified by UHPLC. Incorporation of berry peel extracts at concentrations between 1.5 and 2.5% in dark chocolates was the most effective, producing significant enhancements in antioxidant activity, TPC, and phenolic compounds. Within the antioxidant assays, FRAP showed the greatest sensitivity for detecting differences among formulations. The DC/Rf sample exhibited the highest levels of TPC, FRAP, gallic acid, and catechin. Similarly, the DC/Vc formulation showed elevated values of TPC, FRAP, and gallic acid. In conclusion, microencapsulation of native berry peel extracts enhanced the bioactive composition of dark chocolates, resulting in higher antioxidant capacity and phenolic compound content, thereby indicating their potential application in the development of functional foods.
Keywords: Antioxidants, Chocolates, encapsulation, peels, phenolic compounds
Received: 18 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Requejo-Santacruz, Reyna-Gonzales, Yoplac, Quispe-Neyra, Cayo-Colca, Castro-Alayo and Balcázar Zumaeta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: César R. Balcázar Zumaeta
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