CREATION OF FUNCTIONAL SOLID FOOD MODEL ENRICHED WITH CALAMINTHA NEPETA (L.) SAVI.: KINETIC GAIN OF PHENOLICS COMPOUND

The current research looks to benefit from Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi. in food enrichment by using osmotic dehydratation (OD) for supplementing a solid foodstuff model. The kinetic gain of food model in terms of individual phenolics using HPLC-DAD, total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids contents (TFC) as well as antioxidant properties were examined at different impregnation times. The food model gained the same phenolics profile of osmotic solution dominated by acacetin and Cryptochlorogenic acid. The enrichment process created a rich osmo-dehydrated food in TPC and TFC reaching the bioactive features of most of rich-in-phenolics human foods. The food model exhibited a potent antioxidant activity, even at a short impregnation time (4h), attaining 92.07±3.63% as β-carotene bleaching potency and 47.64±0.59% (at 10 mg/mL) as DPPH scavenging capacity. The kinetic gain of individual phenolics compounds depends on their concentration. This investigation supports valorization of Calamintha nepeta for the production of functional foods.