THE USE OF BLACK LEAVES OF BERGENIA IN FOOD PRODUCTION

The article shows that a wild herbaceous plant (Bergenia crassifolia (L.) Fritsch ) can be referred to promising food-borne wild plants that have high nutritional value due to the presence of vitamin C, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, minerals, organic acids, carbohydrates. Leaves and roots of bergenia are widely used in the manufacture of medicines, food and biologically active additives, balms, syrups, beverages, various kinds of herbal tea. There are perspectives of using bergenia in the technology of such groups of food products as foods of animal origin, bakery and confectionery products, various sauces, canned foods and others. Studies have shown that practically all the compounds found in the leaves pass into the aqueous extract, but only in different amounts while the solids of the extract contain the largest amount of tannins and phenolic compounds. The results of the study on chemical composition of black leaves of bergenia and aquatic bergenia extract are presented, as well as studies on the use of black leaves of bergenia extract in the technology of meat and fish products - smoked-boiled pork products and preserves from omul. The peculiarity of the developed technologies is the use of the bergenia extract in the amount of 10% of the syringe brine during production of the carbonade "Osobyi" and 20% of the pickling brine during the production of «Omul marinated» preserves. The increase in the shelf life of the developed products has been proved in comparison with the regulatory data due to the bacteriostatic and antioxidant properties of the bergenia extract. The result of evaluation of commercially valuable properties of the selected promising plant source of biologically active substances - black leaves of the bergenia - as a food component and the study of the possibility of its use in the production of meat and fish products enable us to conclude that to produce products of a new generation with high consumer properties is possible.