Anteroxanthin concentration during refrigerated storage in orange juice treated by PEF

Abstract

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) processing inactivates microorganisms without significant adverse effects on flavor and nutrients. In this work was studied the transformations of antheraxanthin and mutatoxanthin when natural orange juice is treated by pasteurisation (90°C, 20 s) or PEF (30 kV/cm, 100 μs), and also its evolution during seven weeks of storage in refrigeration at two different temperatures (2°C and 10°C). The results showed that antheraxanthin concentration decreased during the storage. The decrease was greater in the untreated, pasteurised and PEF-treated orange juices stored at 10°C and this carotenoid was not detected from the 6th week onwards. The same result was observed in the PEF-treated juice stored at 2°C. However, in the untreated and pasteurised juices stored at 2°C, this carotenoid was detected throughout the storage period, although its concentration decreased. Mutatoxanthin was detected in the 6th week of storage, appearing in the cases in which antheraxanthin disappeared. This was not observed in the untreated or pasteurised orange juices stored at 2°C.