Valorization of Anthocyanins from Black Chokeberry Fruit By-Products: A Review

Annually, fruit juice generates large quantities of by-products (peels, pomace, and seeds) that can be valorized by minimizing waste generation and maximizing resource efficiency, thus promoting the circular economy. Valuable compounds, such as anthocyanins, can be extracted, purified, and used to ensure their circularity in the food industry. Anthocyanins are a group of phenolic pigments that give a deep purple color to black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa) and can be used as natural colorants for the production of high-value-added food products. Replacing synthetic dyes with natural phenolic compounds as anthocyanins offers potential biological benefits, but their contribution to nutritional value and human health requires further validation. The main disadvantage of natural anthocyanins compared to synthetic dyes is color change due to chemical reactions with food, as this pigment has chromophoric groups that are very sensitive to pH changes. Microencapsulation allows minimizing nutritional and sensory losses and increasing the half-life of active substances. Applications in the food industry of microencapsulated anthocyanins are relatively new in terms of reducing synthetic dye utilization and enhancing potential biological activities. This review aims to provide a better understanding of the characterization of black chokeberry pomace, anthocyanin extraction methods, purification and characterization of extracted anthocyanins, microencapsulation of anthocyanin extracts, and their use in the food industry.