Effect of pasteurisation on sensory quality of natural soursop puree under different storage conditions

Pasteurisation effects on natural soursop (Annona muricata L.) puree were evaluated in terms of appearance, colour, flavour, odour, consistency and overall acceptability for 12 weeks. The packaging and storage temperature combinations used were laminated aluminium foil (LAF), lacquered can (LC) and high density polyethylene plastic bottle (HDPE) at ambient temperature (28–38°C), 15, 4 and −20°C. Results showed pasteurisation at 79°C for 69 s significantly improved the sensory colour, flavour, appearance and overall acceptability of the puree. Pasteurised puree packed in LAF at 4°C had the highest score for almost every attribute evaluated. Overall, all samples were found acceptable by judges during the 12 week storage period. The better stability, in terms of colour, consistency and flavour characteristics, of pasteurised puree packed in foil at 4°C than the frozen control could be an additional and cheap advantage for storage and transport.     

Changes in Quality Attributes During Storage of High-Pressure and Thermally Processed Pineapple Puree

The primary issue of the pineapple puree processing industry is its limited stability. The study compares the quality changes in high-pressure and thermally processed pineapple puree at different storage conditions and estimates the shelf-life. The untreated (S1) and treated samples (S2, S3, and S4 treated at 600 MPa/50 °C/13 min, 600 MPa/70 °C/20 min, and 0.1 MPa/95 °C/12 min, respectively) packed in ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and multi-layered (ML) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pouches were stored up to 125 days at 5, 15, and 25 °C. The total color change (?E*) and browning index during storage increased according to zero-order kinetic model, whereas ascorbic acid (AA), total phenolics, and total antioxidant capacity followed the first-order decay. The overall sensory acceptability (OA) of S2 was higher than both S3 and S4 at 5 °C, and it dropped rapidly at 15 and 25 °C. The activity of polyphenol oxidase and pectin methylesterase in S3 and S4 was less than 10 % up to 120 days at 5 °C. The consistency (κ) and residual enzyme activity in S2 decreased with storage duration and temperatures. For estimating the shelf-life, the change in OA was crucial for S2 and S3, whereas retention of AA served as the critical parameter for S4. The sample S2 packed in ML pouch was found to be the best sample having the shelf-life (microbial count?<?6-Log cfu g^?1, ?E*?<?12, OA?>?5, and AA?>?200 mg kg^?1) of 120, 50, and 25 days at 5, 15, and 25 °C, respectively.     

Microbial, Enzymatic, and Chemical Changes During Storage of Fresh and Processed Orange Juice

Microbial, enzymatic, and chemical comparisons were made on orange juice stored at 4°C without pasteurization, with light pasteurization (66°C, 10 sec) directed at vegetative microorganisms, and with full pasteurization (90°C, 60 sec) directed at the heat stable isozyme of pectinesterase. Effects of oxygen-barrier and nonbarrier packaging were also examined. Oxygen-barrier packaging did not benefit unpasteurized juice. However, lightly and fully pasteurized juices in barrier cartons exhibited lower microbial counts, greater ascorbic acid retention, and apparent slowing of cloud loss by the third week of storage. During the first 22 days storage, microbial, cloud, sugar, and ascorbic acid values for lightly pasteurized juice were similar to those of juice receiving full pasteurization.     

Comparison of high pressure treatment and thermal pasteurization effects on the quality and shelf life of guava puree

The effects of high pressures and thermal pasteurization on the survival of microorganisms, enzyme inactivation and quality changes of guava puree during storage at 4°C were investigated and compared with untreated samples. After treatment at a pressure of 600MPa and 25°C for 15 min, the microorganisms in guava puree were inactivated to less than 10 cfu mL⁻¹ and the product exhibited no change in colour, pectin, cloud and ascorbic acid content as compared with fresh samples. The inactivation of enzymes in guava puree by thermal pasteurization was greater than by high pressures. The microbial count in guava puree reduced to 200 cfu mL⁻¹ and the product showed marked changes in viscosity, turbidity and colour when heated at 88–90°C for 24s. The content of pectin, cloud and ascorbic acid as well as colour in untreated and high pressurized (400MPa) guava puree gradually decreased, whereas these changes were not observed in pasteurized (88–90°C) and high pressurized (6000MPa) puree during storage at 4°C for 60 days. The guava puree treated at 600MPa and 25°C for 15 min retained good quality similar to the freshly extracted puree after storage at 4°C for 40 days.     

Effects of pre‐freezing,puree content and pasteurisation regime on colour stability of strawberry nectar made from puree

BACKGROUND: Heat treatment during processing of strawberry products has been proposed to negatively affect colour stability. Moreover, the role of enzymes with respect to colour stability is ambiguous when consulting the existing literature. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of various processing parameters (pre‐freezing, puree content, pasteurisation temperature and heating time) on the colour stability and anthocyanin monomer and L ‐ascorbic acid contents of strawberry nectars made from puree. In addition, the effect of different enzyme activities on colour stability during storage of strawberry nectars was investigated. RESULTS: Pre‐freezing of strawberries before processing had a significant positive effect on the colour stability of nectars made from puree. No significant effect on colour stability was found for higher puree contents. Increasing both the pasteurisation temperature and the heating time had a significant positive effect on colour stability. Results showed that colour degradation during storage was mainly due to residual enzyme activities. The shelf‐life of strawberry nectar could be extended about fivefold by adding an enzyme inhibitor. CONCLUSION: The colour stability of strawberry nectar made from fresh puree may be improved to some extent by an appropriate pasteurisation regime. Enzymes play an important role in colour degradation during storage of the nectar. Inactivation of these enzyme activities, however, could not be achieved even after a heat treatment at 90 °C for 60 min. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Nutritional, Microbiological, and Sensory Qualities of a Peanut Beverage Prepared Using Various Processes

Nutritional, microbiological and sensory qualities of peanut beverages processed at 85°C, 100°C and 121°C for 15 min and 121°C for 3 sec were determined. Heating improved the digestibility of peanut beverages, particularly those processed at 121°C for 3 sec and 85°C for 15 min. Methionine was particularly sensitive to the treatment at 121°C. The limiting amino acids were threonine, cystine, valine, lysine and tyrosine. No microbial growth was observed in products processed at 100°C and 121°C followed by storage at 4°C and 30°C for 20 days. Beverage processed at 85°C and stored at 30°C for 3 days contained an aerobic microbial population of 2.4 × 10⁴ CFU/mL. The beany flavor was least pronounced in beverages processed at 100°C for 15 min and strongest at 121°C for 3 sec.     

Modeling the inactivation of pectin methylesterase in pineapple puree during combined high-pressure and temperature treatments

The inactivation of pectin methylesterase (PME) in pineapple puree was studied within the domain of 0.1–600 MPa/30–70 °C/1 s–40 min. The combined effect of pressure-build up and decompression, as characterized by pulse inactivation (PI value), was modeled by the artificial neural network (ANN) through a tan-sigmoidal function of target pressure, target temperature, compression, and decompression time. Besides, nth order kinetic model was fitted during the isobaric-isothermal hold period. The extent of pulse inactivation of PME ranged from 15% (200 MPa/30 °C) to 67% (600 MPa/70 °C) and it increased at a higher temperature and/or pressure. The inactivation orders (n) during thermal (0.1 MPa/30–70 °C) and high pressure (100–600 MPa/30–70 °C) treatments were 1.15 and 1.3, respectively. The rate constant (k) ranged within 4.0 to 71.2 × 10⁻³ Uⁿ⁻¹·min⁻¹. A nonlinear model considering the pressure dependency of activation energy, and temperature dependency of activation volume was developed which adequately described the inactivation behavior of PME within the domain.Industrial relevancePectin methylesterase (PME) in the pineapple puree results in a product with a modified texture and consistency that is usually not entertained by the consumer. Therefore, pineapple puree has to be processed to inactivate PME to avoid the cloud loss. Now-a-days, high-pressure processing is being used for fruit products to retain the heat sensitive nutrients. In this sense, a model capable of predicting the exact inactivation behavior of PME during the treatment is very much obligatory for process design. This combined model developed in the study will help the food industry to come-up with the exact pressure-temperature-holding time combination achieving a certain degree of PME inactivation.     

Optimization of Apple Juice Production by Single Pass Metallic Membrane Ultrafiltration

Apple puree was treated with various amounts of commercial liquefaction enzyme (0%– 0.066%) for 2 hr at 50°C. To produce clarified juice purees were pumped through a metallic oxide membrane ultrafiltration system, consisting of 3.27 ft² (0.304 m²) of membrane coated internally onto a l–1/4 inch (i.d.) × 10 ft (3.12 cm × 3.04 m) sintered stainless steel tubing. All enzyme treatments reduced viscosity 70–80% within 1 hr but steady state flux increased with higher concentrations of enzyme. Alcohol insoluble solids (AIS) and total pectins of the apple puree after enzyme treatment decreased as enzyme concentration increased to 0.044%. A large scale system, l–1/4 inch (i.d.) × 120 ft (3.12 cm × 36.48 m), was operated at 86% juice yield with minimal pressure drops as predicted by a mathematical model.     

Freezing Qualities of Raw Ovine Milk for Further Processing

Raw whole ovine (sheep) milk was frozen at −15°C and −27°C and microbiological and physico-chemical properties were evaluated periodically. Total bacteria decreased at a faster rate in milk stored at −15 than at −27°C. Acid degree values for milk stored at −15°C were significantly higher than that stored at _27°C. Samples stored at −15°C exhibited protein destabilization after 6 mo of storage, while those stored at −27°C were stable throughout the 12-mo storage period.Frozen ovine milk was evaluated in several products including cheese, yogurt, and whey protein concentrates. Products produced from milk frozen at −27°C exhibited good sensory and functional characteristics. Ovine whey showed a higher proportion of β-lactoglobulin, about the same proportion of α-lactalbumin and lower proportions of serum albumin and immunoglobulin than bovine whey. Ovine whey protein concentrate showed significantly better foam overrun, foam stability, and gel strength than bovine or caprine whey protein concentrates.     

Changes in Volatile Flavor Components of Guava Puree during Processing and Frozen Storage

The changes in volatile flavor components of guava puree during processing (85–88°C, 24 sec) and storage at 0°C, - 10°C and -20°C for up to 4 months was evaluated by Likens-Nickerson distillation and capillary GC-MS. Pasteurized guava puree showed increases in aldehydes and hydrocarbons with decrease in esters when compared with unpasteurized puree. There was only a slight decrease in alcohols and hydrocarbons of pasteurized guava puree stored at - 20°C for 4 mo. Remarkable increases in ethyl alcohol, n-hexanal, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid and ethyl acetate in pasteurized guava puree were observed when stored at 0°C and - 10°C for 2 and 4 mo, respectively.     

Effect of drying and storage time on the physico-chemical properties of mango leathers

Fruit leathers are made by drying a very thin layer of fruit puree to obtain a chewy product. The objective of this work was to minimise the drying time required to produce mango leathers with no preservatives and no sugar added, and to evaluate their acceptance and storage stability. Mango puree was spread on Petri dishes and oven‐dried according to a central composite design with two independent variables: drying temperature (60–80 °C) and puree load (0.4–0.6 g cm^?2). The minimum drying time (120 min) resulted from drying a puree load of 0.5 g cm^?2 at 80 °C. The product was well accepted, especially in terms of flavour. The mango leathers were packed in polypropylene buckets and stored at 25 °C. The combination between low water activity (0.62) and low pH (3.8) allowed the product to be microbiologically stable for at least 6 months, without the need for chemical preservatives.     

Pasteurization of kava juice using novel continuous flow microwave heating technique

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of continuous flow microwave heating on the reduction of microorganisms in kava juice to extend the shelf life. Chemical and microbial properties of treated juices were analyzed using key parameters such as microbial counts, kavalactones, and pectin methylesterase activities. The microbial population was reduced from 3.3×10⁶ to 5×10⁵, 8×10³, and 4.5×10² CFU/mL at 41.4, 52.3, and 65.2°C, respectively. The amounts of kavalactones such as kavain (K), demethoxyyangonin (DMY), and yangonin (Y) were kept constant or increased after pasteurization at different treatment temperatures. The effect of microwave heating on the pectin methylesterase activities decreased significantly from 83 to 34% by increasing the temperature values from 41.4 to 65.2°C, enhancing juice cloud stability. The developed pasteurization technique is expected to deliver the adequate lethal effect to the kava juice without major deterioration of food quality.     

Effects of Drying,Packaging, and Temperature on the Quality of Fried Onion Slices

Abstract: Onion is used widely as a condiment for meat and other types of food in Iran. Because of the high sensitivity of this product to storage conditions and having not enough storage under controlled atmosphere (CA), the effects of drying method, packaging, and temperature during storage on thin slices of fried red Azershahr variety onion were investigated. To prepare this processed food with excellent organoleptic properties and useful in the food service industry onions were sliced (2 mm), deep-fried with corn frying oil in a batch fryer at 150 °C, and dried to a water content of 3-4% in a hot-air dryer at 70 °C for 24 h and a microwave system. Samples were packed in aluminum foil, which was purged by nitrogen gas, and cellophane-sealed with thermal sewing. Then these samples were kept for one year at laboratory temperature and in a freezer at −18 °C. During the storage time the moisture content, peroxide value, vitamin C content, total microbial count (TMC), and organoleptic characteristics of the samples were analyzed every 2 mo. The results of microbial analyses indicated that after 6 mo all of the samples had higher TMCs than the permission limits so the expiration date was set before that. The moisture contents and peroxide values showed a noticeable increase, probably due to seal failure, whereas vitamin C decreased up to 66% during storage. The loss of sensory properties was parallel to the microbial and chemical results. The findings revealed that the best sample was oven-dried, packed in aluminum foil under inert gas, and kept in a freezer (OAF) up to 6 mo.     

The use of continuous-flow electrophoresis to remove pectin in the purification of the minor pectinesterases in lemon fruits (citrus limon)

Continuous-flow electrophoresis was used to separate pectin and coloured substances from extracts of lemon pectinesterase. Two minor lemon pectinesterases were subsequently separated from two major pectinesterases, using chromatography on Sephadex G-75 and CM-Sephadex C-50. One minor pectinesterase was stable at low pH, showed the same initial pectinesterase activity at 88°C as at 25°C, and was active at 85°C for 9 min. This enzyme destabilised the cloud of single-strength lemon juice. It is suggested that the minor pectinesterases might not be true isozymes, but could arise from association of a major enzyme with pectin.     

Microbial growth in vacuum packaged frankfurters produced in Spain

The effects of storage temperature and time on the microflora of vacuum packed frankfurters were analysed. Total aerobic counts, lactic acid bacteria, Brochothrix thermosphacta and yeast and moulds, were determined as functions of time. Statistically significant differences were observed (P ≤0·001) amongst the counts obtained at 2 and 7°C. At the end of the controlled storage period (42 days) the sausages kept at 7°C showed signs of spoilage. The appearance of superficial slime occurred after 28 days in samples with lactic acid bacteria at counts higher than 10⁸ cfu g⁻¹. The swelling of the pack showed after 42 days in those samples which had a level higher than 5 × 10⁸ cfu g⁻¹. On the contrary, the samples kept at 2°C did not show the aforesaid spoilage signs during the period of controlled storage. Basing our conclusions on the results obtained, a period of shelf life of 28 days was established at 7°C, whilst at 2°C a minimum shelf life of 42 days was obtained.     

Effect of vacuum-thermosonication on the inactivation of Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus,polyphenol oxidase and the quality parameters of soursop puree

The combined effect of vacuum, heat and ultrasound (vacuum-thermosonication, VTS) on soursop puree was investigated with regard to the viability of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, inactivation of polyphenol oxidase and sensory quality. The VTS conditions were: vacuum (8.46, 11 and 16.93 kPa), heat (40, 45 and 50 °C), 1–3 intermittent vacuum pulses and ultrasound (24 kHz and 0.34 W/g of acoustic energy density) during 10 min. According to response surface methodology, the best conditions to obtain the highest microbial inactivation of ≥7 log CFU of inoculated E. coli and S. aureus, and reduction in polyphenol oxidase activity (94%) were 16.5 kPa vacuum, 50 °C, and three intermittent vacuum pulses for 10 min with ultrasound. The best VTS conditions did not negatively affect the quality parameters, and there were no significant changes in sensory attributes of the puree (a panel of 50 untrained judges). Therefore, we conclude that VTS appears a viable option in the processing of soursop.     

Storage stability,color kinetics and morphology of spray-dried soursop (Annona muricata L.) powder: effect of anticaking agents

Soursop is a tropical fruit that undergoes postharvest deterioration rapidly. Conversion into powder is an ave nue to value-add the fruit as it helps to reduce postharvest losses. Although powder production is not complicated, studies have shown that caking is a common problem often associated with fruit powders. Thus, an addition of a food additive is needed to improve the storage stability of powders. In this study, soursop powder was produced by spray-drying an enzyme-liquefied soursop puree incorporated with either tricalcium phosphate (TCP) or calcium silicate (CS), at three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% w/w). The control was considered powder without the addition of anticaking agent. Storage stability of the powder packed in aluminum-laminated polyethylene (ALP) pouches was examined at conventional (25 ± 1°C) and accelerated (38 ± 1°C) temperatures for 91 days until lumpiness was observed. Statistical analysis showed that the addition of anticaking agent significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the process yield of powder (7.2%). The moisture content, water activity, density, and water solubility index of the powder were significantly affected by storage time, storage temperature, and concentration of the anticaking agents. The critical moisture content, X_c, for control and powder incorporated with either TCP or CS was 0.07 g H₂O/g ds. The total color difference (ΔE) of the powder increased throughout the storage period, followed by a zero-order kinetic reaction. Kinetics-derived Arrhenius model showed that the activation energy (Ea) of color change ranged between 6.5 and 17.3 kJ/mol. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the freshly spray-dried powder was composed of spherical particles with smooth surfaces but these particles tended to agglomerate and form liquid bridges after storage for 91 days. Overall, TCP and CS exhibited a protective effect by lowering moisture adsorption and improved the glass transition temperature of the powder.     

Quality and consumer acceptance of radio frequency and traditional heat pasteurised kiwi puree during storage

To explore the feasibility of using radio frequency (RF) heating as a method to process kiwi puree, this study compared the effects of RF heating with traditional heat pasteurisation (TP) on various properties of kiwi puree. RF treatment completely inactivate of microbes in kiwi puree, with total aerobic bacteria counts (TAC) decreased by 4.81 log CFU mL^?1 and yeast and mould counts (YMC) decreased by 2.62 log CFU mL^?1, which are similar to TP treatment. During the 7 weeks’ storage, RF‐treated puree showed retarded growth of microbes. The pH, titratable acidity and °Brix values of RF‐treated samples were significantly different from those of the control. The vitamin C, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of RF‐treated samples were significantly higher than those of TP‐treated samples during storage. RF‐treated sample retained better colour than TP‐treated sample throughout storage. The customer satisfaction analysis indicated that consumers prefer RF‐treated kiwi puree than TP‐treated samples. These findings suggest that RF heating has potential applications in processing of kiwi puree or similar products.     

Effects of β‐cyclodextrin addition and farming type on vitamin C,antioxidant activity,carotenoids profile,and sensory analysis in pasteurised orange juices

The effects of organic farming, pasteurisation and addition of β‐cyclodextrin on the content of vitamin C, colour, carotenoids and antioxidant capacity of orange juices were studied. After pasteurisation at 98 °C (20 s) and subsequently storage along 145 days at room temperature (20–25 °C), the loss of vitamin C content was around 30%. The effects of the thermal process on carotenoid were clearly observed in lutein (loss of 16% for organic and traditional 8%) and especially β‐cryptoxanthin (loss of 30%). The colour changes were noticeable after the pasteurisation of orange juice and subsequent storage, with significant decreases being observed in lightness and the coordinate a*, while increases were found for coordinates b*, Hue* and chroma. The antioxidant capacity was 0.075 ± 0.01 and 0.053 ± 0.01 mMT mL^?1 for organic and conventional, respectively, with losses around 40% being found at the end of the storage period. The addition of β‐cyclodextrin caused no significant effects on the parameters under analysis. These data showed that strong thermal treatments, such as pasteurisation, adversely affect the nutritional and sensory quality of orange juices.     

The effect of temperature on microbial growth in apple cubes packed in film and preserved by use of orange juice

Red delicious apple cubes were packed in fresh orange juice containing chemical preservatives (citric and ascorbic acid, potassium sorbate) and covered with plastic films of different gas permeabilities (polyethylene and EVA‐SARAN‐EVA) before storage at 4, 10 and 20 °C. The concentration of potassium sorbate in the product was optimized with respect to colour and microbial growth. Yeast and mould growth was modelled by Gompertz and linear equations to derive parameters such as lag phase, maximum microbial population and specific microbial growth or rates of decline. Activation energies for the specific growth rates were estimated from Arrhenius‐type equations and the time required to reach microbial counts of 10^6±0.2 CFU g^?1 was determined in all cases. At 4 °C, these values were longer than 25 days in all systems tested. The use of a low gas permeability film and an adequate potassium sorbate concentration extended storage life at higher temperatures.