Dried fruits are important, healthy and popular snacks, despite the limited information on their nutritional profiles and phytochemical composition. The present work was aimed to study the chemical composition of freeze-dried fruits from four fruit species: two common commercial snacks (apple and goji) and two innovative products (kaki and kiwi). Sugar and organic acid levels, total phenolics (TPC), and main health-promoting phytochemicals were studied by HPLC fingerprinting analysis. Furthermore, in vitro antioxidant capacity (AOC) was preliminarily observed in these products. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out as a multivariate approach as well. The TPC ranged from 210.9 mg GAE/100g DW (kiwi) to 872.6 mg GAE/100g DW (kaki), while dried fruit antioxidant capacity ranged from 23.09 mmol Fe²⁺/kg DW (goji) to 137.5 mmol Fe²⁺/kg DW (kaki). The most important phytochemical class in apple (two cultivars), kiwi, and kaki dried fruits was phenolics (from 74.6% to 93.3%), while monoterpenes were the first class in goji (67.5%). No anthocyanins have been identified in dried fruits because these compounds are most likely converted to phenolic acids during the drying process. This research intended to stimulate large-scale exploitation of commercial dried fruits as functional foods as well.

New technology development and globalisation have led to extreme changes in the agri-food sector in recent years that need an important food supply chain characterisation from plant materials to commercial productions. Many analytical strategies are commonly utilised in the agri-food industry, often using complementary technologies with different purposes. Chromatography on-line coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most selective and sensitive analytical methodologies. The purpose of this overview is to present the most recent MS-based techniques applied to food analysis. An entire section is dedicated to the recent applications of high-resolution MS. Covered topics include liquid (LC)– and gas chromatography (GC)–MS analysis of natural bioactive substances, including carbohydrates, flavonoids and related compounds, lipids, phenolic compounds, vitamins, and other different molecules in foodstuffs from the perspectives of food composition, food authenticity and food adulteration. The results represent an important contribution to the utilisation of GC–MS and LC–MS in the field of natural bioactive compound identification and quantification.

A large species diversity characterises the wide distribution of chestnuts in Asia, North America, and Europe, hence reflecting not only the adaptation of the genus Castanea to diverse environmental conditions, but also to different management strategies encompassing orchards. The characterisation and description of chestnut populations and cultivars are crucial to develop effective conservation strategies of one of the most important Italian and European fruit and wood species. Chestnut cultivars grown in the same pedoclimatic conditions and on the same clonal rootstock were characterised with sensory, spectrophotometric, and chromatographic analysis to determine the phytochemical composition and nutraceutical properties. A multivariate approach, including principal component analysis and conditional inference tree models, was also performed. The ease of peeling, seed colour, and intensity of sweetness were the sensory descriptors that allowed us to differentiate C. sativa cultivars. Antioxidant capacity ranged from 9.30 ± 0.39 mmol Fe⁺² kg⁻¹ DW (‘Bouche de Bètizac’) to 19.96 ± 1.89 mmol Fe⁺² kg⁻¹ DW (‘Garrone Rosso’). Monoterpenes represented the main component, reaching 88% for hybrids, followed by polyphenols (10–25% for hybrids and chestnuts, respectively). A multivariate approach showed that phenolic acids and tannins were the bioactive classes with the highest discriminating power among different genotypes, and that genotype is a significant variable (p < 0.05). In addition, most of the analysed chestnut cultivars showed a content of bioactive compounds similar to or higher than the main hazelnut, walnut, and almond varieties. Chestnut agrobiodiversity could be intended as strictly associated to the genotype effect and underlines the large variability within the genus Castanea, and therefore, the importance of in farm and ex situ conservation of local germplasm is part of a global strategy aimed at increasing the levels of agrobiodiversity.

Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) is a deciduous shrub tree widely distributed in Asia and Southern Europe and grown as ornamental species. It is locally used for human consumption, as relevant medical value is attributed to the berries. Information about its composition, especially concerning the characterization of bioactive and health-promoting compounds, is limited. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the main bioactive compounds and nutraceutical proprieties of autumn olive fruits, via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint and spectrophotometric analysis, in order to strengthen the knowledge about this underrated species and promote potential applications as a food supplement. Concerning nutraceutical traits, total polyphenolic content (325.366 ± 13.019 mg of gallic acid equivalents (mg GAE)/100 of fresh weight (g FW)) and total anthocyanin content (194.992 ± 0.817 mg of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (mg C3G)/100 g FW) recorded considerable values. The phytochemical fingerprint revealed the presence 23 bioactive compounds. Polyphenols (65.56%) were the largest class, followed by monoterpenes (27.40%) and vitamin C (7.04%). Anthocyanins were the most represented compounds among polyphenols (71.9%). The antioxidant capacity (20.031 ± 1.214 mmol Fe²⁺/kg) was similar to that recorded for other small fruits with proven health-promoting properties. The present work underlined the potential of E. umbellata as a source of health-promoting bioactive compounds. Further studies should deepen the knowledge of nutraceutical aspects, which turned out to be interesting.

Freeze-drying fresh vegetables and fruits may not only prevent post-harvest losses but also provide a concentrated source of nutrients and phytochemicals. This study focused on the phenolic composition of different freeze-dried products derived from horticultural crop remains (HCRs) in the vegetable and fruit production chain. These products may be considered as a potential health-promoting solution for preventing post-harvest fruit spoiling and losses. The total polyphenolic content (TPC) and the main phenolics were studied using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a diode array detector (DAD). Additionally, an in vitro chemical screening of the antioxidant capacity was carried out using the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay. These analyses were performed together with an investigation of the correlations among phenolics and their antioxidant properties, and a bioinformatic approach was used to estimate the main potential bio-targets in human beings. Furthermore, a statistical approach using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out for a multivariate characterization of these products. Catechins, flavonols, and phenolic acids were the predominant and most discriminating classes in different products. The TPC values obtained in this study ranged from 366.86 ± 71.30 mg GAE/100 g DW (apple, MD) to 1077.13 ± 35.47 mg GAE/100 g DW (blueberry, MID) and 1102.25 ± 219.71 mg GAE/100 g DW (kaki, KD). The FRAP values ranged from 49.28 ± 2.88 mmol Fe²⁺/kg DW (apple, MD) to 80.43 ± 0.02 mmol Fe²⁺/kg DW (blueberry, MID) and 79.05 ± 0.21 mmol Fe²⁺/kg DW (kaki, KD). The proposed approach may be an effective tool for quality control and valorization of these products. This study showed that the utilization of crop remains can potentially lead to the development of new functional foods, providing additional economic benefits for farmers. Finally, the use of freeze-drying may potentially be a sustainable and beneficial solution for growers who may directly utilize this technology to produce dried products from the crop remains of their fruit productions.

Herbal products are now considered among the most important sources of phenolic compounds: the FINNOVER project aimed at the creation and development of sustainable supply chains to extract and use natural biologically active agents. Vitis vinifera is one of the most utilised herbal products derived from buds and sprouts as polyphenolic food supplements for its homeostatic and astringent properties. This research was aimed to describe the antioxidant capacity and the phytochemical composition of V. vinifera herbal products by the application of spectroscopic and chromatographic fingerprints considering phenolics as potential markers to significantly differentiate traditional preparations (macerates) from innovative extracts obtained by an ultrasound extraction from V. vinifera buds. Two different commercial products were also considered. Flavonols were the most abundant class in ultrasound extracts (45%), while phenolic acids were the most important class in traditional macerates (49%) and commercial bud-preparations (about 50%). This study may support the potential use of V. vinifera bud-products (starting from pruning byproducts) as food supplements to integrate human diet with good amounts of phenolics. Finally, the use of different extraction methods on the same plant material could be an important development to produce innovative herbal products with a phytochemical composition similar to traditional preparations.