The effect of pressure level and cycling in high-pressure homogenization on physicochemical, structural and functional properties of filtered and non-filtered strawberry nectar

This study evaluated the effect of HPH (up to 200 MPa) and number of cycles (at 200 MPa) on the physicochemical, structural and functional attributes of strawberry nectar, with and without the common filtration step that removes part of the polyphenols. HPH reduced particle size, and negatively affected the stability against sedimentation. Surprisingly, viscosity of the filtered drink at low shear-rates increased after homogenization. Color and anthocyanin content were only slightly affected by pressure levels, while total polyphenol concentration was not affected by pressure levels yet significantly increased (up to 30%) following cycling, possibly because of polyphenol extraction from the pulp and achenes. Thus, HPH cycling can be a promising technology for enhancing health-promoting capacity of polyphenol-rich matrices.Industrial relevanceEnhancing the health promoting potential of foods is a major driving force for the utilization and further development of novel process technologies. High pressure homogenization is known to decrease the microbial count while significantly disrupting the plant matrix due to the extensive shear forces. This disruption may have, on one hand, major impact on the techno-functional properties like physical stability, rheology and color, yet on the other hand it might result in the release of various bioactive compounds from the plant matrix. Strawberry nectar is a valuable commodity that is often considered as a functional product due to t...

Source: Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies - July 31, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research