The effect of different drying techniques on color parameters, ascorbic acid content, anthocyanin and antioxidant capacities of cornelian cherry

•Drying of cornelian cherry with four different drying techniques.•Determination of drying period and energy consumption of drying methods.•Measuring the color parameters, anthocyanin, vitamin C, and total phenolic compound.•Determination of antioxidant capacity according to DPPH*, ABTS*+, TEACCUPRAC methods.•Selection of the most suitable drying method according to all measured parameters. Cornelian cherry was dehydrated using different drying techniques: namely natural, microwave, convective, and combined drying. The moisture content of cornelian cherry was reduced from 72.56% to 10.27%. The color parameters closest to the fresh samples were measured at 50 °C, 70 °C, 90 °C, and at 100 and 300 W. Both fresh and dried cornelian cherries show high antioxidant capacity and comprise of various polyphenolic compounds. TEACCUPRAC is the most suitable method for determining the total antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry. We measured the total anthocyanin content closest to the fresh cornelian cherry with 2.62 and 2.11 mg (CDE) g−1 (dw) at 70 °C and 300 W. Also, we found the closest vitamin C to the fresh ones with values of 25.02 and 20.08 mg 100 g−1 (fw) at 300 and 500 W. Generally, the suitable drying technique in terms of physical parameters and phytochemical compounds was the microwave drying at 300 W.