Effects of two sweet cherry cultivars (Prunus avium L., cvv. ‘Ferrovia’ and ‘Lapins’) on the shelf life of an innovative bakery product

Sweet cherries are important fruits for human health, but their consumption is quite limited because of their seasonality and short shelf life. Consequently, these fruits are often subjected to technological treatments, but as a result, their consumption may involve significant intake of sugar and calories that tend to enhance many metabolic diseases. Agricultural science has characterized the different cultivars of fresh sweet cherries, but less literature is available about the suitability of different cultivars for industrial applications. The aim of this research was to design a model system to create an innovative bakery product with minimally processed fruits. Moreover, an evaluation of the suitability of two sweet cherry cultivars was performed to determine how to use these cultivars in an innovative bakery product and the effects on their shelf life. The results showed that the ‘Ferrovia’ cultivar is more suitable for use as a bakery product filling than ‘Lapins’ sweet cherries. During 75 days of storage at room temperature, ‘Lapins’ sweet cherries had aw and moisture values lower than those of ‘Ferrovia’. Moreover, samples filled with ‘Lapins’ sweet cherries were harder than samples filled with ‘Ferrovia’ cherries. The technological processing of the sweet cherries caused a loss in antioxidant capacity that was more pronounced for ‘Lapins’ than ‘Ferrovia’ cherries (from 13.63 to 0.67 TEAC µmol g−1 DW and 11.37–2.70 TEAC µmol g−1 DW, respectively). This research highlights the importance of the cultivar for fresh consumption and processing of sweet cherry fruits, and the results show that if both cultivars are equally ripe, the cherry cultivar that retains a higher flesh firmness is more preferable for use.