Effect of Apple Pomace (malus Domestica 'gala') Addition on the Processing Conditions and Antioxidant Potential of Extruded Snacks

This article presents the results of an analysis of the extrusion-cooking process and of the antioxidant potential of extruded snack pellets and expanded snacks enriched with apple pomace. The use of pomace in the production of food extrudates has great processing potential as it not only contributes to reducing the negative impact of fruit industry by-products on the environment, but also allows for the enrichment of snack products with valuable nutrients. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the addition of apple pomace on the extrusion-cooking process and also to determine the antioxidant activity of the obtained products. In the research conducted it was observed that the addition of pomace has the effect of reducing the energy consumption of the extrusion-cooking process, and that the efficiency of the manufacturing process decreases slightly with an increase in the amount of pomace addition in the mixture. During the chemical analyses, it was noted that increases in the phenolic compound content is accompanied by increases in the functional additive content. The results obtained demonstrate that apple pomace is an additive with a functional nature with possible uses in the production of extruded snack pellets.