Quality and Stability Equivalence of High Pressure and/or Thermal Treatments in Peach–Strawberry Puree. A Multicriteria Study

Abstract

A bottom-up approach identifying equivalent effects of high-pressure processing (HPP—600 MPa, 20 °C, 10 min), thermal treatment (TT—70 °C, 15 min) and high pressure-mild thermal processing (HPMT—600 MPa, 50 °C, 10 min) on quality and stability of peach–strawberry puree was applied during refrigerated storage. TT and HPP ensured 3-log aerobic bacteria inactivation at first, while HPMT reduction was below the detection limit. After 21 days all samples had equivalent microbiological stability. A 2.6-fold increase in the residual activity of PPO and POD was found in the HPP sample compared to TT and HPMT samples (1st day); after 21 days PPO, POD and TPC were equivalent for TT and HPP peach–strawberry purees. Equivalent volatile profile and rheology behavior was observed after 21 days of all samples’ storage. Meanwhile, the color of the HPP, TT and HMPT samples remained significantly different (p < 0.05) throughout the whole storage period, with the lowest browning index registered for HPP samples.

A Quality Assessment of Strawberry Nectar Stabilized by Thermal and High-Pressure Processing Conditions

“…It is possible to associate this decrease with the residual activity of the enzymes [6]. b * value indicates the yellowish component and is higher in the TT sample, which disagrees with studies conducted on strawberry and peach puree, which attributed this result to browning caused by nonenzymatic reactions [24]. Aditionally, C * differs according to the type of treatment and during storage and always shows higher values in the case of the heat-treated sample.…”

“…Some scientific literature suggests that treatments at pressures higher than 500 MPa are necessary to ensure microbial safety in certain food processing applications [18,24]. However, in the specific case of our study, it is apparent that this level of microbial safety was not achieved.…”

Recent Progress in the Synergistic Bactericidal Effect of High Pressure and Temperature Processing in Fruits and Vegetables and Related Kinetics

“…It has been mentioned that the use of high temperatures during heat treatment can inactivate A. acidoterrestris inoculated in apple juice, but also deteriorate the nutritional and sensory qualities of apple juice [ 7 ]. Among various food products, fruit and vegetable products, the majority of which contain heat-sensitive ingredients, exhibit significant degradation in their nutritional value, appearance, taste, and flavor following heat treatment [ 8 , 9 ]. Some fruits, such as carambola [ 10 ] and muskmelon [ 11 ], contain volatile sulfur compounds, which are responsible for their unique flavor.…”