Drying is one of the most commonly used methods for food preservation, and in spice processing, it has a significant impact on quality. In this paper, the influences of drying at room temperature, 60 °C, and 90 °C and freeze-drying on celery and parsley roots and turmeric rhizomes were examined. The highest content of total phenolics was found in celery dried at 60 °C (C60), parsley at room temperature (PRT), and freeze-dried turmeric (TFD) (1.44, 1.58, and 44.92 mg GAE/g_dm, respectively). Celery dried at room temperature (CRT), PRT, and TFD showed the highest antioxidant activity regarding the DPPH and ABTS radicals and FRAP. The analysis of color parameters revealed that celery dried at 90 °C (C90); PFD and TFD showed the most similar values to control samples. The drying process was optimized using a combination of standard score (SS) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods. The ANN model effectively evaluated the significance of drying parameters, demonstrating high predictive accuracy for total phenolics, total flavonoids, total flavonols, total flavan-3-ols, IC₅₀^ABTS, and FRAP. TFD showed the strongest α-glucosidase inhibitory potential. Also, TFD extract showed good antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus but not against Escherichia coli. C90 and PFD extracts did not show antibacterial activity against the tested microorganisms.

This study links the traditional use of celery (Apium graveolens L.) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) roots in Balkan cuisine and herbal medicine, along with the longstanding role of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) rhizome in Ayurvedic and Asian medicinal practices, with modern technological approaches to develop a functional food formulation. A series of blend variations were evaluated for total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and sensory quality. The incorporation of turmeric significantly enhanced the antioxidant potential of celery–parsley mixtures. Celery–parsley–turmeric root blend (CPT6), comprising equal parts, was identified as optimal, exhibiting high total phenolic content (9.56 mg gallic acid equivalent/g), strong antioxidant activities, and a favourable sensory profile rated as “very good” (3.58 average score). CPT6 further demonstrated promising biofunctional properties, including potent α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activities (72% and 80%, respectively), alongside moderate antihypertension activity (ACE) (62%) and hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibition (55%). Chemometric analyses (PCA) and machine learning modelling (ANN) confirmed the significant role of turmeric proportion in enhancing both bioactivity and consumer acceptability. This research highlights the synergy between tradition and technology in creating novel, multifunctional food ingredients suited for functional food and nutraceutical applications.

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of buckwheat flour addition on the selected quality parameters of nutritive enriched wheat scones. Wholegrain buckwheat flour was used to subsitute 15%, 30% and 45% of white wheat flour to produce buckwheat enriched wheat scones. The dough for scone making was prepared from a mixture of wheat and buckwheat flour with the addition of salt, yeast, mixture of additives and water. Proximate composition and sensory evaluation of buckwheat enriched wheat scones were analyzed and compared. Descriptive sensory analysis of scones was conducted evaluating the following sensory properties: shape and volume, external appearance, appearance of crumb (cross-section), taste and flavor of crust and crumb. All results of descriptive sensory evaluation were presented as percentage from maximum possible quality (100%), and were in interval of 77.63%-91.41%, indicating that two samples of scones (produced with 15% and 30% of buckwheat flour) had excellent and very good quality, and only scone sample produced with 45% of buckwheat flour, had good quality, but relatively low for placement on market. Based on the results, it can be concluded that wheat flour scones enriched with wholegrain buckwheat flour up to 30%, have excellent or very good technological and sensory quality.