Physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant activity, and acceptability of strawberry-enriched ketchup sauces

[Display omitted] •The use of half of strawberry pulp did not change consumer acceptability for ketchup.•Strawberry pulp in ketchup enriches the final product with new antioxidants.•The addition of strawberry pulp to ketchup could reduce the need to add sugar. The addition of strawberry pulp to ketchup sauces may be an alternative to attend the consumers’ demand for innovative products with functional appeal. Sauces were made using different tomato/strawberry pulp ratios (100:0; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75; 0:100) and characterized for the physicochemical characteristics, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, and consumers’ acceptance. The strawberry-enriched ketchup sauces presented higher phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and increased fluidity, and lower browning index, hue angle, chroma, pH, and Bostwick consistency. The antioxidant activities (ABTS and DPPH) were positively correlated with phenolics (r = 0.96 and 0.91) and flavonoids (r = 0.92 and 0.89) contents, respectively. The replacement of up to 50% tomato pulp by strawberry pulp did not change the acidity, flavor, and overall acceptance of the samples. The strawberry pulp has proven to be an effective alternative to increase the concentrations of bioactive compounds while reducing the amount of sugar used in traditional ketchup formulations.