Composition and antioxidant capacity of a novel beverage produced with green tea and minimally-processed byproducts of broccoli

Organic green tea, one of the most-consumed beverages worldwide, is rich in bioactive compounds (flavonols and flavanols) with healthy properties. Broccoli byproducts, consisting of leaves and stalks, are rich in bioactive compounds, including nitrogen–sulphur compounds (glucosinolates and isothiocyanates) and phenolics (chlorogenic and sinapic acid derivatives, and flavonoids), as well as essential nutrients (minerals and vitamins). They are of high interest as a source of health-promoting compounds, useful as ingredients for the development of functional foods. This work analyses minimally-processed broccoli byproducts as a source of bioactive ingredients to design novel beverages, using organic green tea as a food matrix. Green tea enriched with broccoli concentrates showed improved physical quality, phytochemical composition and antioxidant capacity. The functional quality of these novel beverages depends on the proportion of broccoli extracts added to the green tea. The results obtained in the present work should encourage the use of broccoli byproducts as ingredients in novel functional foods. The industrial use of broccoli byproducts as an ingredient in the development of novel, functional foods may help to add value to the large amount of plant wastes generated in every cropping season, thus reducing their environmental impact. The objectives and aims of the EU producers, industry and stakeholders on the relationships between foods, nutrition and health, and therefore, the use of suitable ingredients from the agriculture to have impact on human health and the environment, with a sustainable use of natural resources are in agreement with this work, adding value to broccoli byproducts and encouraging the production of novel products and applications for nutritional and/or health claims under the EU Regulations (EC) No. 1924/2006 and 834/2007.