PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF HAWTHORN BERRIES

AND RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF HAWTHORN JELLY

Mădălina Iuga
Faculty of Food Engineering, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
Advisor: Associate Prof. Ph.D. Eng. Silvia Mironeasa

Keywords: hawthorn fruits, physico-chemical properties, viscosity.

Introduction
Hawthorn is the common name of all plant species in the genus Crataegus (Rosaceae
family) that occurs around the temperate region of the world. It is a thorny shrub with woody
branches, green leaves, white or red flowers and bright red berries [1]. The major hawthorn
species from Europe are Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata [2]. It is used mostly in
the herbal medicine because of it’s antispasmodic, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypotensive properties.
Hawthorn fruits can be consumed also as canned fruits, jam, jelly, syrup or alcoholic drink [3].
Aim
The aim of this study was to investigate the physico-chemical properties of hawthorn
berries and to determine the viscosity profile of hawthorn jelly at different temperatures.
Materials and methods
Fruits
Wild hawthorn berries (Crataegus monogyna) were collected from Gura Humorului
(Suceava county, Romania) at the end of october, after full ripening. The fruits were stored at the
refrigeration temperature (4°C) until berries analysis and jelly manufacture.
Jelly manufacture
The hawthorn juice obtained from chpopped and scalded (at 70°C for 5 minutes) fruits was
processed to jelly by addition of appropriate amounts of sugar and lemon juice to reach 69 °Brix and
3.2 pH units in the final product with 500 g of juice for 1000 g of jelly. The classical method for jelly
manufacture was used: the ingredients were boiled for 15 minutes at 103 °C, at the atmospheric
pressure.
Physico-chemical properties of hawthorn berries
The kernel percent was determinated by gravimetric methods. The water content of
hawthorn fruits was determinated according to STAS 2445-83. The determination of total acidity of
the samples was achieved by using the titrimetric method according to SR ISO 750:2008.The
soluble solids content of hawthrn fruits was achieved by using the Abbe Leica Mark II Plus
Refractometer at room temperature, acording to SR ISO 2173:2008. The pectin content was
achieved by the gravimetric determination of the calcium pectate [4]. The total fat content of
hawthorn fruits was achieved by intermittent Soxhlet extraction apparatus. The pH was determined
by potentiometric method with the electronic pH meter, according to SR ISO 1842:2008.
Rheological behavior of hawthorn jelly
The viscosity of jelly was evaluated at different temperatures and shear rates using a rotational
Brookfield viscometer. Viscosity characterization was made with help of power law model (Eq. 1) [5]:
ha = k �g ( n -1)
where ηa is the apparent viscosity (Pa·s), k is the consistency index (Pa·sn), γ is the shear rate (s-1)
and n is the flow behaviour index (dimensionless).
Statistical analysis
All the experimental results were showed as average values ± standard deviation (S.D.) of
three measurements.
Results and Discussion
Physico-chemical properties of hawthorn berries
There are many factors than influence the chemical composition of hawthorn fruits, including
the region, the state of ripening, the weather. The composition of the wild hawthorn fruits affects the
properties of jelly [5]. The physical and chemical properties of hawthorn berries are given in Table 1. As
shown in Table 1, kernel percent (%), moisture (%), pH, acidity (%), soluble solids content (%), pectin
content (%) and fat content (%) were 41.09, 69.14, 5.96, 0.46, 22.19, 1.01 and 0.79, respectively. The
values of studied parameters were similar to those found by Gundogdu et al. [6].
Rheological behavior of hawthorn jelly
The apparent viscosity (Pas) of hawthorn jelly was measured at different temperatures (40 ºC,
45 ºC, 50ºC), at the speed of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 rpm. The flow curves were evaluated by using the
power low (Ostwald-de-Waele) model. The rheological parameters of power low model are given in
Table 2. As shown in Table 2, the power low model is suitable to describe the flow behavior of jelly,
indicating high values for the determination coefficient (R2): 0.999, 0.993 and 0.983. The values of
flow behavior index (n) ranged from 0.49 to 0.69; all this values were less than 1, so the hawthorn jelly
has a non-Newtonian pseudo plastic behavior. The consistency coefficient k (Pa·sn) decreased with the
increase of temperature from 53407 to 12505. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the viscosity of hawthorn
jelly decreased as the temperature and speed increased.

Table 1. Physco-chemical properties of fruits Table 2. Rheological parameters of power low model
Properties Content n
Tempera-
Kernel percent (%) 41.09 ± 1.98 Cod k (dimen-
ture R2
Moisture (%) 69.14 ± 1.07 sample (Pa·sn) sionless)
(oC)
pH 5.96 ± 0.05
Acidity (%) 0.46 ± 0.01 35 S1 53407 0.69 0.999
Soluble solids (%) 22.19 ± 0.86 40 S2 37339 0.66 0.999
Pectin (%) 1.01 ± 0.02 45 S3 22035 0.62 0.993
Fat (%) 0.79 ± 0.18 55 S4 12505 0.49 0.983
Fig. 1. Shear stress vs. shear rate of jelly samples
Fig. 2. The flow behaviour of the jelly at
different
temperatures
Conclusions
The obtained results showed that hawthorn
fruits are rich enough in pectin to obtain strong
jelly without adding gelling agents. It is
necessary to know the rheological
characteristics of the hawthorn jelly because a
good design of each type of equipment is
essential for an optimum processing. The results
showed that the viscosity increased as the
temperature decreased, so the packing of hawthorn jelly must be done at high temperature.

References
1. Heinerman J., 1996, Heinerman’s Encyclopedia of Healing Herbs and Spices, New York: Parker.
2. Jurikova T. et al., 2012, Polyphenolic Profile and Biological Activity of Chinese Harthorn (Crataegus
pinnatifida) fruits, Molecule, 17, p. 14490-14509.
3. Chang Q., Zuo Z., Harrison F., Chow S.S.M., 2002, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 42, p. 605-612.
4. Dimitriu C., 1980, Control metods and techniques of food and catering, Bucharest: Ceres.
5. Yildiz O., Alpaslan M., 2012, Properties of Rose Hip Marmalades, Food Technology and
Biotechnology, 50 (1), p. 98-106.
6. Gundogdu M. et al., 2014, Organic acids, sugars, vitamin C content and some pomological
characteristics of eleven hawthorn species from Turkey, Biological Research, 47(1).